In anticipation of his presentation at Building Business Capability in Vegas, Oct 31, – Nov. 4, 2016, we asked Alfred Maeso, Lead Expert in Project Management and Business Analysis at Netmind, a few questions about pursuing business excellence. Check out his interview in relation to his BBC presentation entitled, A Firm Commitment To Business Analysis:  Creating a BA Method For a Global Energy Company.

Q: In what ways do you see your group helping your organization pursue business excellence?

A: To get the best business results, organizations need competent and committed people. I am working as a trainer and consultant in business analysis and project management for some years, and our goal is to help IT teams to lead the digital transformation in their organizations, allowing them to improve their capabilities and develop their professional talent by providing training and mentoring services.

Q: Can you describe the challenges you face or have already overcome in establishing more robust business capabilities for your organization?

A: My experience tells me that although processes and technology, of course, are very important, the main challenge you face when trying to introduce a change in an organization is always changing mind-sets. You have to overcome the resistance of “we’ve always done it this way” mentality, which I think is often the worst enemy to improve. In these situations, the business analyst has a key role in effectively and constantly engaging and communicating with all the people involved.

Q: What are your short-term goals for becoming more agile?

A: We are currently developing and implementing a catalogue of services and methodology to help organizations increase their agility and start a continuous improvement process.

Q: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned in the past year?

A: I think the most important thing I learned last year is the power of ‘gamification;’ the power of introducing ‘games’ in the professional activities. Games allow people to be more focused, helps to engage them and it can be very funny! I have practised it in both training and consultancy activities, and the results are amazing.

Q: What do you see as the most important goal or trend for business analysts and other professionals to keep in mind?

A: I think a business analyst has to be prepared nowadays for a big rate of change in all organizations. Every change initiative in an organization has to provide business outcomes quickly. So being agile is not just an option but a core skill that a business analyst has to possess. I also expect the business analysts to be more and more close to the strategy, so irrespective of the title the business analyst have, must constantly be learning about the business, their needs and goals, trends and opportunities to improve and their competitors.

Q: What’s the latest method/process/tool you’ve implemented to help your business operate more effectively? Have you seen any results yet?

A: As a consultant, I’m helping different organizations to improve their capabilities. This year, for example I’m collaborating with a government organization to implement a new project management method. We are trying to be agile on this, so they are already working with this method while we are still defining it. That gives us the opportunity to learn what works and what doesn’t, and also allows us to spread the news throughout the organization gaining more and more commitment on the new method. Some quick wins related to user satisfaction and strategy alignment have already been achieved.

Q: If you could go back 5 years in time and give some professional insight or advice to yourself, what would it be?

A: To focus more about the value and what the business wants than on methods, best practices, knowledge guides and techniques. Although they are important, you always have to adapt them in order to get the best business results. Also I would advise not to try to change your customers, but change yourself instead in order to understand them better.

Q: Sneak preview: Please tell us a take-away that you will provide during your talk at the Building Business Capability (BBC) conference this year?

A: I will be presenting a real case. The work that we carried out last year helping an important organization to define a standard way to perform business analysis activities in all their projects. My presentation will explain the why, the what, the how and the who regarding that particular implementation of a business analysis method in that company, with a focus on the main challenges.

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Don’t miss Alfred’s presentation, A Firm Commitment To Business Analysis:  Creating a BA Method For a Global Energy Company, at Building Business Capability on Thursday, November 3, 2016 from 3:20 to 4:20 pm.  Click here to register for attendance.