Updated: See our latest video: Creating a Requirements Document Using ChatGPT ChatGPT has the potential to completely revolutionize how we do our jobs as business analysts.  There will be profound changes coming to our profession in the next few years, and this episode is our first step towards embracing the new world that is coming to us.   Join our Community (BA Spaces)   https://bablocks.com/membership   Become a High Performing BA (BAPC)   https://bablocks.com/courses/   Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ Watch our exploration of ChatGPT on our YouTube Channel: Gaining Domain Knowlege Using OpenAI ChatGPT User Stories Using OpenAi ChatGPT The post 9: The 4 Ways ChatGPT and AI Will Change Business Analysis appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

Updated: See our latest video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDEgHCWhP-k&amp;list=PLhKYsEEINGHurc8N5cGflO4w2H2IrU-Tu&amp;index=1" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Creating a Requirements Document Using ChatGPT</a> ChatGPT has the potential to completely revolutionize how we do our jobs as business analysts.  There will be profound changes coming to our profession in the next few years, and this episode is our first step towards embracing the new world that is coming to us. Join our Community (BA Spaces) <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Become a High Performing BA (BAPC) <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> Watch our exploration of ChatGPT on our YouTube Channel: <a href="https://youtu.be/TgAEJki-lTs" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Gaining Domain Knowlege Using OpenAI ChatGPT</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/QRB_cs-Uh54" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">User Stories Using OpenAi ChatGPT</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/the-4-ways-chatgpt-and-ai-will-change-business-analysis/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">9: The 4 Ways ChatGPT and AI Will Change Business Analysis</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

9: The 4 Ways ChatGPT and AI Will Change Business Analysis

Business analysts can find themselves on projects that deliver many different types of solutions.  Most business analysis training programs do not address this aspect of our jobs, yet, it makes such a big difference in the way we do our analysis work to produce business requirements and specifications. In this episode, I define COTS and custom build solutions, and provide you with a few good examples of how delivering each type of solution affects the way you do business analysis for your clients/employers. This episode is just a small part of the conversation that we had in a 1-hour live session inside our community.   WATCH FULL 1-HOUR LIVE SESSION REPLAY  Members can click the following link to go directly to the video post inside our community. Feel free to leave your comments and ask any questions you might have about the different types of solutions. LINK TO COMMUNITY POST &gt; https://members.bablocks.com/posts/business-analysis-processes-live-session-replay Non-members will have to first join our community before they can see the community post.  JOIN OUR COMMUNITY  If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need  to build a meaningful career for yourself.   Community   https://bablocks.com/membership   Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/   Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 8: Customer Requirements for COTS vs. Custom Built Solutions appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

Business analysts can find themselves on projects that deliver many different types of solutions.  Most business analysis training programs do not address this aspect of our jobs, yet, it makes such a big difference in the way we do our analysis work to produce business requirements and specifications. In this episode, I define COTS and custom build solutions, and provide you with a few good examples of how delivering each type of solution affects the way you do business analysis for your clients/employers. This episode is just a small part of the conversation that we had in a 1-hour live session inside our community.  <h1> WATCH FULL 1-HOUR LIVE SESSION REPLAY </h1> Members can click the following link to go directly to the video post inside our community. Feel free to leave your comments and ask any questions you might have about the different types of solutions. LINK TO COMMUNITY POST &gt; <a href="https://members.bablocks.com/posts/business-analysis-processes-live-session-replay" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://members.bablocks.com/posts/business-analysis-processes-live-session-replay</a> Non-members will have to first join our community before they can see the community post. <h1> JOIN OUR COMMUNITY </h1> If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need  to build a meaningful career for yourself. Community <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/cots-vs-custom-built-solutions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">8: Customer Requirements for COTS vs. Custom Built Solutions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

8: Customer Requirements for COTS vs. Custom Built Solutions

Interviewing for a new role can be a stressful experience for many of us, but there are things you can do to improve your chances of passing the interview with flying colors. Rishi and I recently sat down for a mock interview where Rishi talked to us about his experiences and skills. In this interview, I played the role of the hiring manager and asked the types of questions that interviewers would normally ask of a senior business analyst.  INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WE COVERED    Tell us a little about your self.   Can you talk a little about a project where things have not gone so well?   What is your approach for dealing with stakeholders who don’t understand their own business needs well?   How do you deal with a situation when two director level executives disagree on what your project should be delivering?   Can you talk about your experiences working with a development team that has high expectations from their business analysts?   Can you tell me a little about how your programming background factors into your business analysis career?   On a larger project that requires the involvement of a business analysis team, do you see yourself as more of a team member or more of a BA team lead?   Would you be comfortable managing more junior analysts on such a project?    WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION  Members can click the following link to go directly to the video post inside our community. Feel free to leave your comments and ask any questions you might have about the interview session that Rishi did. LINK TO COMMUNITY POST &gt; https://members.bablocks.com/posts/how-to-perform-well-in-an-interview-an-example Both Risih and I will receive notifications of your comment and question and will provide answers they come in. Non-members will have to first join our community before they can see the community post.   JOIN OUR COMMUNITY  If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need  to build a meaningful career for yourself.   Community   https://bablocks.com/membership   Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/   Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 7: How To Ace Your Next Business Analyst Interview (Part 1) appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

Interviewing for a new role can be a stressful experience for many of us, but there are things you can do to improve your chances of passing the interview with flying colors. Rishi and I recently sat down for a mock interview where Rishi talked to us about his experiences and skills. In this interview, I played the role of the hiring manager and asked the types of questions that interviewers would normally ask of a senior business analyst. <h1> INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WE COVERED </h1> <ol> <li> Tell us a little about your self. </li> <li> Can you talk a little about a project where things have not gone so well? </li> <li> What is your approach for dealing with stakeholders who don’t understand their own business needs well? </li> <li> How do you deal with a situation when two director level executives disagree on what your project should be delivering? </li> <li> Can you talk about your experiences working with a development team that has high expectations from their business analysts? </li> <li> Can you tell me a little about how your programming background factors into your business analysis career? </li> <li> On a larger project that requires the involvement of a business analysis team, do you see yourself as more of a team member or more of a BA team lead? </li> <li> Would you be comfortable managing more junior analysts on such a project? </li> </ol> <h1> WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION </h1> Members can click the following link to go directly to the video post inside our community. Feel free to leave your comments and ask any questions you might have about the interview session that Rishi did. LINK TO COMMUNITY POST &gt; <a href="https://members.bablocks.com/posts/how-to-perform-well-in-an-interview-an-example" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://members.bablocks.com/posts/how-to-perform-well-in-an-interview-an-example</a> Both Risih and I will receive notifications of your comment and question and will provide answers they come in. Non-members will have to first join our community before they can see the community post.  <h1> JOIN OUR COMMUNITY </h1> If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need  to build a meaningful career for yourself. Community <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/business-analyst-interview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">7: How To Ace Your Next Business Analyst Interview (Part 1)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

7: How To Ace Your Next Business Analyst Interview (Part 1)

Dean Kulaweera

Agile software development is one of the most widely misunderstood concepts in the IT industry. This episode contains my discussion with Dean Kulaweera during his #TechTalks interview on LinkedIn live. We start the discussion off with some basic definitions and then we move quickly into answering the following questions.   03:16   Can you explain what a business analyst is?   04:28   What is agile?   06:13   Most organizations are not a good fit for pure agile.   09:51   Less than 5% of business analyst roles are pure agile.   11:48   What is  hybrid-agile  and is it effective?   14:19   Why do companies claim to be pure agile when they're really hybrid-agile?   15:42   Can you comment on hybrid-agile being used in most organizations?   16:45   If my team developed software, which methodology do you suggest we use? Agile or Hybrid-agile.   18:52   What are some of the key challenges in getting developers to move to more of an agile approach?  CONNECT WITH DEAN KULAWEERA    Podcast   https://anchor.fm/dean-kulaweera   LinkedIn   https://www.linkedin.com/in/deankulaweera/   Instagram   https://www.instagram.com/deankulaweera/   Twitter   https://twitter.com/deankulaweera   YouTube   https://www.youtube.com/c/DeanKulaweera   Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/DeanKulaweera/  JOIN OUR COMMUNITY  If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself.   Community   https://bablocks.com/membership   Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/   Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 6: Agile Myth vs. Agile Reality: An Interview With Dean Kulaweera appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

Agile software development is one of the most widely misunderstood concepts in the IT industry. This episode contains my discussion with Dean Kulaweera during his #TechTalks interview on LinkedIn live. We start the discussion off with some basic definitions and then we move quickly into answering the following questions. 03:16 Can you explain what a business analyst is? 04:28 What is agile? 06:13 Most organizations are not a good fit for pure agile. 09:51 Less than 5% of business analyst roles are pure agile. 11:48 What is hybrid-agile and is it effective? 14:19 Why do companies claim to be pure agile when they're really hybrid-agile? 15:42 Can you comment on hybrid-agile being used in most organizations? 16:45 If my team developed software, which methodology do you suggest we use? Agile or Hybrid-agile. 18:52 What are some of the key challenges in getting developers to move to more of an agile approach? <h1> CONNECT WITH DEAN KULAWEERA </h1> Podcast <a href="https://anchor.fm/dean-kulaweera" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://anchor.fm/dean-kulaweera</a> LinkedIn <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/deankulaweera/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/deankulaweera/</a> Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/deankulaweera/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/deankulaweera/</a> Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/deankulaweera" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/deankulaweera</a> YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/DeanKulaweera" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/c/DeanKulaweera</a> Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DeanKulaweera/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/DeanKulaweera/</a> <h1> JOIN OUR COMMUNITY </h1> If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself. Community <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/agile-myth-vs-agile-reality/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">6: Agile Myth vs. Agile Reality: An Interview With Dean Kulaweera</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

6: Agile Myth vs. Agile Reality: An Interview With Dean Kulaweera

The first element of your career strategy is yourself. What do you bring to the table for your current and future potential employer(s), and what is it that you want for your own career? In this episode, we dive into the questions that you should be considering about the value that you bring to your employer in the short-run and the direction that you may want your career to take in the medium to long term. JOIN OUR COMMUNITY If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself.  Community   https://bablocks.com/membership Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/ Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 5: What Do You Want From Your BA Career? appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

The first element of your career strategy is yourself. What do you bring to the table for your current and future potential employer(s), and what is it that you want for your own career? In this episode, we dive into the questions that you should be considering about the value that you bring to your employer in the short-run and the direction that you may want your career to take in the medium to long term. <h1>JOIN OUR COMMUNITY</h1> If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself.  Community  <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses  <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast  <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/what-do-you-want-from-your-ba-career/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">5: What Do You Want From Your BA Career?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

5: What Do You Want From Your BA Career?

Without a solid career strategy, you’re putting yourself at risk of wasting the time, energy, and money that you put into your career-related actions.   The purpose of a career strategy is to give you a clear path to your goal and to help you make sure that you are achieving your goal faster.  In this episode, I lay out the three major elements you need to think about when formulating your BA career strategy. The goal of this episode is to get you in the right frame of mind for the next set of episodes where we’ll dive into the details of each element. JOIN OUR COMMUNITY If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself.  Community   https://bablocks.com/membership Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/ Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 4: The 3 Elements of Your BA Career Strategy appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

Without a solid career strategy, you’re putting yourself at risk of wasting the time, energy, and money that you put into your career-related actions.   The purpose of a career strategy is to give you a clear path to your goal and to help you make sure that you are achieving your goal faster. In this episode, I lay out the three major elements you need to think about when formulating your BA career strategy. The goal of this episode is to get you in the right frame of mind for the next set of episodes where we’ll dive into the details of each element. <h1>JOIN OUR COMMUNITY</h1> If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself.  Community  <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses  <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast  <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/the-3-elements-of-your-ba-career-strategy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">4: The 3 Elements of Your BA Career Strategy</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

4: The 3 Elements of Your BA Career Strategy

In the last episode, you learned about the top 3 sources of stress that BAs face. In this episode, I focus on the top three sources skills that you should be pursuing to kick your BA career into the fast lane. My goal for this episode is to help you focus all of your time and attention on the things that will help you accelerate your career development.  JOIN OUR COMMUNITY  If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself. Community   https://bablocks.com/membership Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/ Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 3: Top 3 Sources of Skills for Business Analysts appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

In the last episode, you learned about the top 3 sources of stress that BAs face. In this episode, I focus on the top three sources skills that you should be pursuing to kick your BA career into the fast lane. My goal for this episode is to help you focus all of your time and attention on the things that will help you accelerate your career development. <h1> JOIN OUR COMMUNITY </h1> If you're an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community. This is the place where you can get your questions answered and to get the support that you need to build a meaningful career for yourself. Community <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/top-3-sources-of-skills-for-business-analysts/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">3: Top 3 Sources of Skills for Business Analysts</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

3: Top 3 Sources of Skills for Business Analysts

When you first start your BA career, your stress levels are naturally going to be higher because you’re less experienced.  Reducing your stress levels should be a key goal you work towards to help you achieve career fulfillment.  In this episode, you will learn about the top 3 stressors that most business analysts experience, and gain a clear insight on how to start reducing the stress that comes from these three sources. JOIN OUR COMMUNITY If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community and start connecting with other professionals looking to build meaningful careers for themselves.  Community   https://bablocks.com/membership Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/ Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 2: Top 3 Sources of Stress for Business Analysts appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

When you first start your BA career, your stress levels are naturally going to be higher because you’re less experienced.  Reducing your stress levels should be a key goal you work towards to help you achieve career fulfillment.  In this episode, you will learn about the top 3 stressors that most business analysts experience, and gain a clear insight on how to start reducing the stress that comes from these three sources. <h1>JOIN OUR COMMUNITY</h1> If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should consider joining the BA BLOCKS community and start connecting with other professionals looking to build meaningful careers for themselves.  Community  <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses  <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast  <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/2-top-3-sources-of-stress-for-business-analysts/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2: Top 3 Sources of Stress for Business Analysts</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

2: Top 3 Sources of Stress for Business Analysts

You’re going to spend the majority of your waking hours working at your job. It only makes sense to spend that time doing work that improves the overall quality of your life.  Career fulfillment is perhaps the most important subject to consider when thinking about the future of your business analysis career. It is also likely the subject you will think about the least. This is the reason that I dedicated the first episode of this show to the topic of career fulfillment.  QUESTION FROM OUR COMMUNITY  This episode also contains a comprehensive answer to the question asked by one of the members from the BA BLOCKS community: What is the role of the BA on agile project teams?  Should they be part of the scrum team, or should they be outside of the scrum team working with the product owners to prioritize backlog items? JOIN OUR COMMUNITY If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should join the BA BLOCKS community and start connecting with other professionals looking to build meaningful careers for themselves.  Community   https://bablocks.com/membership Courses   https://bablocks.com/courses/ Podcast   https://bablocks.com/podcast/ The post 1: How to Create a Fulfilling Business Analysis Career appeared first on BABLOCKS.COM.

You’re going to spend the majority of your waking hours working at your job. It only makes sense to spend that time doing work that improves the overall quality of your life. Career fulfillment is perhaps the most important subject to consider when thinking about the future of your business analysis career. It is also likely the subject you will think about the least. This is the reason that I dedicated the first episode of this show to the topic of career fulfillment.  <h1>QUESTION FROM OUR COMMUNITY</h1> This episode also contains a comprehensive answer to the question asked by one of the members from the BA BLOCKS community: <blockquote>What is the role of the BA on agile project teams?  Should they be part of the scrum team, or should they be outside of the scrum team working with the product owners to prioritize backlog items?</blockquote> <h1>JOIN OUR COMMUNITY</h1> If you’re an aspiring or practicing business analyst, you should join the BA BLOCKS community and start connecting with other professionals looking to build meaningful careers for themselves.  Community  <a href="https://bablocks.com/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/membership</a> Courses  <a href="https://bablocks.com/courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/courses/</a> Podcast  <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bablocks.com/podcast/</a> The post <a href="https://bablocks.com/podcast/blocks/1-create-fulfilling-business-analysis-career/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">1: How to Create a Fulfilling Business Analysis Career</a> appeared first on <a href="https://bablocks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BABLOCKS.COM</a>.

1: How to Create a Fulfilling Business Analysis Career

The Building Blocks for Your Business Analysis Career

BA BLOCKS for Business Analysts

The Best Multi-Part Documentaries, with documentaries on Obama, Federer vs Nadal, the making of Star Wars, Netflix vs Blockbuster and more. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Multi-Part Documentaries

The best podcasts about ourselves as well as the world through the lense of Science. Specific topics include things about our brain, emotions to biology, physics and more!