Top 11 most effective business analysis techniques

Defining business analysis

Business analysis is an umbrella term that describes the combination of knowledge, techniques, and tasks used to identify business needs, suggest changes, and create solutions that deliver value to stakeholders. While many of today's business analytics solutions incorporate elements of software and digital databases, many experts in the field ultimately advise on organizational changes, process improvements, and new policy development. and may also participate in strategic planning.

Therefore, business analysts drive change within an organization by assessing and analyzing needs and vulnerabilities, creating and implementing optimal solutions. Much of the information used to draw these conclusions comes from data collected through a variety of means, often falling under the term “big data.”

What is business analysis method?

Business analysis techniques are processes used to identify a company's needs and create and execute the plans necessary to deliver the best results. Every business and organization is different, so there is no “one size fits all” approach.

best business analysis techniques

Here we introduce key business analysis techniques. Keep in mind that business analysts who want to become project managers should be familiar with most, if not all, of them.

1. Business Process Modeling (BPM)

BPM is often used during the analysis phase of a project to understand and analyze the gap between current business processes and the future processes the business desires. This technique consists of her four tasks:

1. Strategic planning

2. Business model analysis

3. Process definition and design

4. Technical analysis for complex business solutions

Many industries, especially the IT industry, prefer this method. This is because it is a simple and easy to understand way to present the steps of the execution process and show how it works in different roles.

2. Brainstorming

There's nothing like good old-fashioned brainstorming to generate new ideas, identify root causes of problems, and come up with solutions to complex business problems. Brainstorming is a group activity technique that is also commonly used in other methods such as PESTLE and SWOT.

3. Catwoo

CATWOE identifies key players and beneficiaries and gathers the perceptions of various stakeholders into one unified platform. Business analysts use this technique to thoroughly evaluate how a proposed action will affect various stakeholders. The acronym stands for:

• • Customers: Who benefits from your business?
  • Actor: Who are the players in this process?
  • Transformation process: What is the core transformation of the system?
  • Worldview: What is the big picture and its implications?
  • Owner: Who owns the affected systems? What is the relationship between the two?
  • Environmental constraints: What are the constraints and how do they affect the solution?

4. MoSCoW (must, should, can, will)

MoSCoW prioritizes requests by providing a framework to evaluate each request against the remaining requests. This process requires asking questions about the actual need for certain elements. Is the item a must-have or a should-have? Is the request something that could improve the product or would be a good idea in the future?

5. MOST (Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics) Analysis

MOST is a robust business analysis framework and is considered one of the best techniques for understanding an organization's capabilities and objectives. This method involves conducting a detailed and complete internal analysis of the organization's goals and how to approach those goals. The acronym stands for:

• • Mission: What is the purpose of the organization?
  • Purpose: What are the key goals that will help you accomplish your mission?
  • Strategy: What options are available to achieve your goals?
  • Tactics: What methods does the organization follow to execute its strategy?

6. Pestle analysis

Business analysts use the PESTLE model (also known as PEST) to identify environmental factors that can affect a company and how best to address them when making business decisions. To do. Their effects are:

• • • Politics: financial support and subsidies, government initiatives, and policies.
    • Economics: Labor and energy costs, inflation, interest rates.
    • Sociology: education, culture, media, life, population.
    • Technology: New information and communication system technology.
    • Legal: Local and government regulations and employment standards.
    • Environment: waste, recycling, pollution, weather.

By analyzing and studying these factors, analysts can gain a deeper understanding of how those factors influence an organization's story. This understanding makes it easier for the analyst to develop a strategy on how to deal with the problem.

7.SWOT analysis

One of the most popular methods in the industry, SWOT identifies strengths and weaknesses in a company's structure and presents them as opportunities and threats. This knowledge helps analysts make better decisions regarding resource allocation and recommendations for organizational improvement. The four elements of SWOT are:

• • Strengths: The qualities of a project or business that give it an advantage over competitors.
  • Weakness: A characteristic of a business that places a project or organization at a disadvantage when compared to competitors or other projects.
  • Opportunity: An element present in the environment that a project or business can take advantage of.
  • Threats: Elements in the environment that can hinder a project or business.

SWOT is a simple and versatile method that is equally effective for quick and in-depth analysis of organizations of all sizes. It is also useful for evaluating other subjects such as groups, jobs, and individuals.

8. 6 thinking hats

This business analysis process guides group thinking by encouraging consideration of different ideas and perspectives. The “six hats” are:

• • White: Focus on data and logic.
  • Red: Use your intuition, emotions, and intuition.
  • Black: Consider the potential negative consequences and what could go wrong.
  • Yellow: Focus on the positive. Keep an optimistic perspective.
  • Green: Be creative.
  • Blue: Consider the big picture, process management.

The Six Thinking Hats technique is often used in conjunction with brainstorming and serves as a way to direct a team's mental process and force them to consider different perspectives.

9. Five Whys

This technique is common in Six Sigma as well as in business analysis circles. While journalism uses the “Five W's” (who, what, when, where, and why) in reporting, the Five Whys technique simply manipulates the “why” in a series of key questions. is. This approach helps business analysts pinpoint the cause of the problem in the first place. After asking why the problem exists, follow up by asking “Why?” Questions related to the first answer, etc. An example is shown below.

• • Problem: A client is refusing to ship some 3D printers.
    • why? Because the wrong model was shipped.
    • why? This is because the product information in the database was incorrect.
    • why? This is because insufficient resources are allocated to modernizing database software.
    • why? Because our managers didn't think this issue would be a priority.
    • why? Because no one realized how often this problem was occurring.
  • Action: Improve incident reporting, ensure administrators read the reports, and allocate budget to modernize your database software.

10. Analysis of non-functional requirements

Analysts apply this technique to projects where technology solutions are replaced, modified, or built from scratch. Analysis defines and obtains the required characteristics of a new or modified system, most often addressing requirements such as data storage and performance. Non-functional requirements analysis typically covers:

• • • logging
    • performance
    • reliability
    • safety

Non-functional requirements analysis is typically implemented during the analysis phase of a project and performed during the design phase.

11. Design thinking

Design thinking is a business analysis method primarily used for problem solving and innovation. It's a human-centered approach that emphasizes empathy, collaboration, and creative thinking to develop solutions that meet user needs and create positive user experiences. Design thinking is often used to address complex, ambiguous, or user-centered problems by focusing on understanding end users' perspectives, motivations, and pain points.

Do you want to become a business analyst?

If you are looking for a more rewarding and higher paying career, you should consider business analysis. Increasing demand for business analysts means security, marketability, and superior financial returns. According to Salary.com, business analysts earn an average annual salary of $75,400. Simplilearn offers business analytics certification training courses designed to make your first steps easy.

A graduate business analysis program will give you expertise in the latest BA tools and techniques, such as those mentioned above. Master planning and monitoring, data analysis and statistics, visualization, Agile Scrum methodologies, and SQL databases. This course complements your training with real case studies and helps you become an AI-powered business analyst.