What Should BA Capability Assessments Assess?

by Kitty Hass and Lori Lindbergh, PhD

We don’t get asked this question very often; however, we should. The reason we think we don’t is that most people continue to accept the one-dimensional perspective that standards organizations and other assessment providers promote. It’s a BA assessment; you assess BA skills, right? Well, that’s not quite correct, unless you simply are looking for a passing score or a high level of proficiency. Hooray, you!

But, to really get more than just a score and understand how your BA workforce’s level of proficiency translates into business outcomes, you need more. You need to examine the application of your BAs’ skills within the context of your organization and your BAs’ current work responsibilities.

What are the nuts and bolts of a BA Workforce Capability: What is Assessed?

We introduced our BA Workforce Capability Model back in our March 5^th blog entry. The model provides the skills and capabilities required for BAs to be successful on projects of increasing complexity. To state the obvious, as the complexity of work assignments become more complex, higher level skills and competencies are needed.  One could say levels 3 and 4 of the model are much more about leadership and creativity than about BA technical competencies.

BA Workforce Technical Competencies and Techniques

All tasks required in the BABOK^® Guide should be included in a BA Workforce Capability Assessment – and much more.

 

BA Workforce Supporting Competencies

Since and business analysts fill a leadership position within organizations, driving change and improvements, they need to possess effective knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that are related to successfully bringing about positive change and innovation through their projects.  The following supporting competencies are also assessed as a vital component of a BA Workforce Capability Assessment.

BA Workforce Characteristics

In addition to evaluating technical competencies, techniques used, and supporting competencies, a BA Workforce Capability Assessment should collect data on the following workforce dimensions:

·       BA workforce demographics, including:

o   Years of experience

o   Education Level

o   Acquisition of skills

o   Professional training attendance

o   Percentage of time performing PM or BA activities

o   Other roles played on projects

·       Project and workload information, including:

o   Number of core work requests and number of concurrent projects

o   Project complexity characteristics of current projects

o   Perception of current workload status (under/over allocated)

·       Organizational culture influences and support

Without this information AND the detailed analyses necessary to create meaningful findings, your BA assessment score is just a one-dimensional score with little meaning. What good is a high BA competency score when your organization’s projects continue to be challenged and deliver less business value? You don’t need us to answer that question for you.