Business Analysis Framework: 8 most popular Business Analysis Techniques

July 26, 2023
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In the previous article, we discussed Business Analysis Framework as one of the key elements that are crucial for achieving successful results in business analysis activities. If you haven't read it, you can catch up here.

In today's post. we are going to highlight the techniques of business analysis that you should know and that will aid your journey as a business analyst.

The techniques used in business analysis are similar to other job roles such as requirements analyst, project manager, etc. Business analysts need to understand the ins and outs of the business, the processes, and operations, but they also need to understand how the company's various departments fit together and what their roles are. They need to create detailed plans that take all of these things into account, but they also need to know when to adjust their plans based on new developments.

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List of the 8 Best Business Analysis Framework Techniques

1. SWOT Analysis: The term SWOT stands for its four elements: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This tool is used to analyze a business's environment and how it will affect the company's performance. Strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities are internal factors that affect the company, while threats are external factors that affect the company.

2. MOST Analysis: The term MOST stands for its four elements – market size and growth rate, operating costs and profit margins, the technical expertise required, and target market's needs and wants. This tool can be used to determine an organization's interest in entering a new market space or in determining if an industry is a good fit for its organization's culture.

3. Business Process Modelling (BPM): A business process model is a static representation of the activities and tasks that describe how an organization, department, or unit accomplishes its mission. Business processes are made up of activities, and these activities are carried out by people, information systems and other resources. A process model serves as a reference so that everyone involved in the organization's operations can have a common understanding of how things work and what needs to be done in order to reach desired objectives. Business process modelling is used to analyze existing or potential business processes in order to improve them. Modelling enables you to understand the current business processes, which helps you identify opportunities for improvement. It is particularly important in organizations where the individuals who perform processes may not have a clear picture of how their activities connect with other functions in the organization. The main objective of business process modelling is to produce a model that shows each activity performed in an organization and also shows how these activities relate to one another.

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4. Use Case Modelling: Another great method is use case modelling or UCM for short. UCM lets you look at your system from the perspective of your customer, and it's a great way to make sure you're answering all their questions and making sure they get what they need out of your service or product. You can also use it to keep track of all the possible ways that different people and groups might interact with your company. In short, it's like a detailed map for your business operations, where everyone knows their role and what they're responsible for.

5. Brainstorming: Brainstorming is a technique to be used when generating requirements and writing what-ifs. Brainstorming is a technique that can help to find all requirements and trace them back to the source. Also, just because a product has been released doesn't mean it's finished. To ensure your product is the best it can be, you need to constantly solicit feedback from users and identify where it's lacking. Brainstorming is a great way to get ideas flowing. If you're having trouble getting started, ask questions like: Why was this feature added? What does this do for the user? How does it make the user feel? Or maybe just give each person three Post-it notes and tell them to write down all their thoughts on one note, then pass that note to someone else who will write down their thoughts on the second note, then pass that note to someone else who will write their thoughts on the third note. You can also ask questions related specifically to your project: How can we improve X? What problems do we want to solve with X? What do users really want Y to do? Check out the effective questions all Business Analyst should ask

6. Non-functional Requirement Analysis: Non-functional Requirement Analysis (reviews requirements that aren't directly related to the functionality of the product). In other words, it is a technique used when a technology solution is changed. 

7. PESTLE Analysis: P stands for Political, E is for Economic, S is for Social, T is for Technological, L is for Legal, and E stands for Environmental. These categories are used to analyze the impact of external factors on an organization. It is the most common business analysis framework technique. This framework is used to determine the macroenvironment that the business will exist in. The components of the PESTLE analysis are Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Ecological. These components are then analyzed and given a score from 0-10, where 10 is considered favorable for the business and 0 is unfavorable. This technique is best used to identify existing threats and opportunities as well as to help understand what would need to change for the business to be more successful.

8. Requirement Analysis: Requirement analysis is an often-overlooked, but critically important aspect of business analysis. If done right, it can take your project from good to amazing.

Conclusion

Business Analysis is a very complex methodology that requires a lot of knowledge and experience to master. To get the best out of your projects and stakeholders, you will need to find techniques that work best for you. This article is not just about learning, it is about understanding the business side of things.

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