Business Analysis Post Pandemic & Beyond – How Agile Can Help

John O’Connor, Liqueo Senior Consultant

Although it looks like the worst of the pandemic is behind us, the effects it had on the financial service industry could remain for some time (and in some cases become the working standard). Hybrid work schedules and firms limiting travel business travel may become “the new normal”. During the pandemic, many consulting firms and their clients have discovered it is possible to successfully conduct business analysis not entirely on site.

Because of these changes, traditional best practices in business analysis can’t always be followed to the letter. The lack of access to meeting business users in person, fewer opportunities to call ad-hoc meetings, and being unable to simply drop by to ask a one-off question – all these factors present new challenges. Yet these challenges can potentially be overcome.

In many cases, Business Analysis falls outside the mandate of an Agile project or is not thought of at all. Agile doesn’t always account for the Business Analysis role – but the current environment presents an opportunity to leverage some Agile principles within Business Analysis.

Here is a summary of traditional Business Analysis activities:

• Interviews – discovering current state and core requirements, identifying gap, and determining future state.

• Documentation – documenting requirements based on interviews.

• Workshops – reviewing documentation and open questions, soliciting feedback on requirements.

• Prototyping – demonstrations to support existing and future workflows based on requirements and identifying any further gaps.

• Approvals/Signoff – business approval for both workflow documentation and prototypes.

What this article will recommend is not that we encase Business Analysis in a purist Agile environment and throw away traditional methodology. Instead, we should leverage some key principles to better align the business analysis role with an Agile project.

Consider the following example:

A typical Liqueo engagement could involve the replacement of a legacy trading system. The client has already selected a new system. The remit is for Liqueo to identify and document business requirements and workflows as well as assist with implementation.

Taking three of the twelve principles of Agile, it’s easily demonstrated how they can be applied to business analysis.

1. Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery.  

Conduct shorter meetings/calls with the trading desk versus long requirement gathering sessions.

Iteratively provide feedback through product demos and/or concise documentation. Shorten the timeframe between sessions and communication to the trading desk.

2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.

Requirements repivoting at a grand scale are never welcomed but it’s worth allowing for some flexibility within the defined scope.

3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.

While Business Analysts typically do not deliver software, they do deliver workflows and prototypes based on requirements. If a requirement is identified early on that can be demonstrated within the software even at a high level, take advantage of this and solicit feedback.

In conclusion, while traditionally Business Analysis isn’t folded into the Agile process, there are opportunities to leverage Agile and deliver value from the business analysis side.

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