Linking Your Plan to the Organization’s Strategy
Receive free IIBA updates and exclusive content!
When business analysis professionals link their plan to the organization’s strategy, they get better results. But how does a business analysis professional or project manager align their goals with a company’s strategy? They can do this by using techniques found in the BABOK® Guide.
Predict the Outcome of Your Business Analysis Plan to Get the Best Results
There are several ways to effectively link your business analysis plan to a company’s strategy. One is to predict the outcome of your plan. The business analysis value spectrum tool, found in figure 6.0.1. in the BABOK® Guide, will help you accurately predict the outcome of your business analysis plan and know what to focus on to bring about the desired results. The BABOK® Guide states,
“When performing strategy analysis, business analysts must consider the context in which they are working, and how predictable the range of possible outcomes is. When a change will have a predictable outcome, the future state and possible transition states can typically be clearly defined, and a clear strategy can be planned out.”
The BABOK® Guide says if the outcome of a change is tough to predict, the strategy should probably focus more on mitigating risk, testing assumptions, and changing course until the correct strategy is found. The right strategy is one that will succeed in reaching an organization’s business goals.
Analyze Business Capability to Align Your Plan with the Company’s Strategy
Business capability analysis is a technique discussed in the BABOK® Guide (figure 10.6) that is helpful to analysts who wish to align their business analysis plan with the organization’s strategy. It enables business analysts and other business analysis professionals to provide a framework for scoping and planning by generating a shared understanding of outcomes, identifying alignment with strategy, and providing a scope and prioritization filter. The BABOK® Guide defines business capability analysis as what an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, has the ability to do.
“Business capabilities describe the ability of an enterprise to act on or transform something that helps achieve a business goal or objective,” the BABOK® Guide states. “Capabilities may be assessed for performance and associated risks to identify specific performance gaps and prioritize investments…. As long as an enterprise continues to perform similar functions, the capabilities required by the enterprise should remain constant—even if the method of execution for those capabilities undergoes significant change.”
There are several elements of business capability analysis, including capabilities, using capabilities, performance expectations, risk model, strategic planning, capability maps, and more.
BABOK® Guide is an invaluable resource for business analysis professionals. It is the globally recognized standard for the practice of business analysis guiding professionals in their work and adopted by enterprises to achieve better business outcomes. IIBA’s KnowledgeHub provides instant online access to the BABOK® Guide, plus community-driven content, such as relevant “how do I” scenarios, videos, tips, tools, and templates that can be applied to everyday business analysis practices.
Only IIBA Membership gives you exclusive access to IIBA’s KnowledgeHub. If you are not yet a Member, join today to become a Member of IIBA and start experiencing all the benefits.
About The Author:
Susan Moore is the Community Engagement Manager at the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). She is a Product Management professional with more than 20 years’ experience in the Finance and Insurance industries. Before coming to IIBA, Susan worked in Business Analysis and Project Management roles, incorporating business analysis leadership and agile practices into the business analysis teams where she worked. Susan also writes on these topics at TheVirtualBACoach.com. Susan holds several business analysis and Agile certifications including IIBA’s Agile Analysis Certification.
