Washington University in St. Louis
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BAC300: Business Analysis Fundamentals (14 hrs)

Course summary:

Delays, cancellations and defects in systems development projects stem in large part from our inability to understand project requirements and the environment in which they exist, as well as our inability to communicate those requirements clearly enough to enlist the collaboration and commitment of stakeholders. In Business Analyst Fundamentals, you will learn key communication skills, interaction techniques, and problem solving skills required to leverage your IT and business knowledge to effectively understand, document, and present the requirements that define a project's scope. This indispensable course solidifies the foundations of business analysis and equips business analysts with the critical thinking, analytical skills, and necessary people skills to thrive in their roles and add measurable value to every project.

This two-day business analyst training course will give you hands-on experience with proven techniques for discovering, understanding, and documenting the business environment; understanding and depicting project scope; identifying, documenting, and confirming business objectives; modeling current and desired business processes; and communicating all of these expertly to colleagues, sponsors, and business customers. Lively lectures combined with insightful demonstrations and realistic practice exercises provide you with the competence and confidence to improve project outcomes through better project scope and business requirements definition.

 
Course outline:
  • The Business Analysis Profession
  • Communication in the Business Analysis Context
  • Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving
  • Interaction Skills for Business Analysis
  • Business Knowledge
  • Strategy Analysis
  • Project Initiation and Analysis
  • Requirements Analysis
  • Requirements Collaboration
  • Solution Evaluation
Learning outcomes:
  • Define the Business Analyst profession
  • Document requirements from the business perspective
  • Bridge the communication gap between business stakeholders and technology solution providers
  • Clearly document and communicate the scope of your projects
  • Target your analysis and understand consequences of solutions
  • Pursue questions to discover root causes, not just symptoms
  • Capture and verify business requirements
  • Negotiate with business stakeholders and developers
  • Improve your communication skills through hands-on practice
  • Organize and categorize project requirements

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Notes:
This introductory course is targeted for business customers, users or partners; business analysts; business systems analysts; systems analysts; project managers; systems architect or designers; systems or application developers; QA professionals; systems testers; leaders of systems projects or teams; and, anyone wanting to enhance their business analysis skills. 
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