BUSINESS ANALYST EXAMINING BEHAVIOURS OF HIGH-PERFORMING BUSINESS ANALYSTS 4TH ANNUAL. Gain insight into leading NZ companies with presentations from:

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1 4TH ANNUAL EXAMINING BEHAVIOURS OF HIGH-PERFORMING S Gain insight into leading NZ companies with presentations from: Russell McVeagh Sealord Mainfreight Westpac Davanti Consulting ACC Vodafone Equinox Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Promapp Meridian Energy HALF DAY WORKSHOPS: 18 APRIL 2013 WORKSHOP A: How Agile can you be? Agile techniques in a traditional world WORKSHOP B: Facilitation and workshop skills for Business Analysts 7 SEND YOUR TEAM AND SAVE! 2ND AND SUBSEQUENT DELEGATES $995 + GST *Conference only. See back page for details Sponsor Supporting Organisations

2 4TH ANNUAL DAY ONE 8.30 Registration and Coffee 9.00 Opening remarks from the Chair 9.10 From good to great: The anatomy of a high performing BA Are there certain behaviours that need to be part of a BA s repertoire? This session will examine the traits of senior BAs and take an inside look at the hallmarks of a successful BA. What makes a Senior BA, senior? Recognising the importance of interpersonal skills The role of mentoring and building the next generation of BAs 9.55 CIO Address: Deciding on project priorities What are the most important factors for a CIO when prioritising IT projects? Is there any one factor which is weighted higher than the rest? Hear from Craig as he examines what he expects from a Business Analyst and the factors which influence the project prioritisation process. Time money or urgency? Which is the most important? Deciding the different levels of prioritisation for both requirements and the projects themselves Why are quick wins so important? What is expected of a Business Analyst? Craig Columbus, CIO, Russell McVeagh Morning break and refreshments Case Study: Building a BA team by thinking outside the square A background in finance, combined with quick learning and a strong commitment to the BA team s development and vision, have been the keys to Sealord s BA team being a pivotal link between the business and the IT department. Kausalia will share her experiences and the path she has taken to create this link. Understanding the business, the processes, and how to enable them with best of breed IS solutions Prioritising to develop a fully functioning governance process, plus resource and release management, to ensure we effectively add value to the business Maintaining energy, attitude and a passion for learning more, and juggling to achieve the classic work/family balance Kausalia Apparao, Business Analysis Manager, Sealord Kausalia was a finalist for the ICT Manager of the Year award at the 2012 ITEX Computerworld Awards and received a special recognition award for her work at Sealord I d better check the procedures manual. Yeah Right. Ivan and Kevin will present on some of the contradictions they have uncovered while helping to achieve change and improvement in processes and the impact this has had on the wider organisation. Simple processes v chapters of procedures Human involvement v automation Signed-off processes v the reality of ignorance Ivan Seselj, Director, Promapp Kevin Drinkwater, Global CIO, Mainfreight Lunch 1.35 Thinking outside the box - working across business boundaries BAs straddle the business and IT realms on a daily basis - but what happens when you need to push against a brick wall to improve processes? Hear from Leeanne as she discusses her experiences in breaking down roadblocks and uncovering creative solutions to ensure successful project delivery. Looking at other options to get the project done Gaining new perspectives within the company to understand project requirements Leeanne Riddington, Portfolio and Product Manager, EROAD 2.20 Getting stakeholders to take ownership of projects Who owns a software development project? Encouraging ownership of the project, its outcomes and the process is integral to ensure the timely delivery of the end results. In this session hear from Gopi on how you can encourage ownership and build cohesiveness through the project team Why is ownership so hard to achieve What a Business Analyst can do to overcome this Gopi Dinakaran, Business Analyst, Westpac 3.05 Afternoon break and refreshments 3.30 Negotiation and the Business Analyst: why understanding requirements helps build relationships Business analysts need to negotiate or facilitate at every turn. Whether it is in the early stages of a project to determine requirements or in latter stages to determine the severity of bugs or errors, negotiation are critical skills to have. Improving your negotiation skills tips and tricks to make this process easier Understand the real needs of the negotiating parties and considering these during facilitation The benefits of building trust, having a good attitude and great communication skills Kevin Barron, Senior Business Manager, Davanti Consulting

3 EXAMINING BEHAVIOURS OF HIGH-PERFORMING S 4.15 Networking Roundtable series: Choose the session you wish to attend in these facilitated roundtables. Take your pick of the three sessions below and discuss with your peers your experiences in the topic of your choice. Half way through we will give you the option to switch roundtables so you get the chance to delve into more than one topic Roundtable A: Understanding and working alongside different personalities Dealing with the Shadow IT behaviours of employees Working cooperatively with these personalities to create specific outcomes Identifying and creating action plans for different personality types Roundtable B: Creative communication resolutions for project teams Opening the lines of communication within a project team Adding in geographic divides - how can you communicate effectively over distance? Who needs to know what? Knowing when to share information and when to keep it to one side Holly Swainson, Contract Business Analyst Holly has worked with a variety of companies including Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and the University of Auckland. Roundtable C: Learning from projects gone awry What happens when your chosen methodology just doesn t work the way it should Learning from complications Providing a fresh view of a project that has hit a brick wall Brent Pearce, Business Analyst Practice Manager, ACC 5.15 Roundtable round-up In this session the facilitators of each roundtable will quickly summarise the main findings of the roundtables to the conference group Summary of day one and networking function 9.05 Case Study: Cohesive approaches for the BA team Ensuring all Business Analysts approach projects in a similar fashion is important for creating consistency and cohesiveness across the project board. Hear experiences with encouraging this and the lessons they have learnt along the way. BA s tool kit templates, strategies and set tasks Making sure the BAs are all speaking the same language Overcoming boundaries and implementing best practice 9.50 Case study: Tailoring the UAT process so that the project meets the user s needs Agreeing that project meets all predetermined requirements is important for ensuring the project is ready for roll out. Hear from Dan Reisch as he discusses UAT and how they personalise it for use it in their projects. Why a one size fits all approach doesn t work Tailoring the process to meet any expected or unexpected events Creating cohesiveness between the determined requirements and gaining acceptance Dan Reisch, ICT Business Analyst, Meridian Energy Morning break and refreshments Building good stakeholder relationships Starting projects right begins with creating good working relationships between the stakeholders. This session will look at experiences of building these relationships and tips and tricks learnt along the way. Trust and support the backbone of good stakeholder relationships Why honesty is the best policy when communicating with stakeholders The benefits of positive communication Case Study: Cucumber and Gherkin - A new approach to requirements Tom Jarecki will discuss Vodafone s new approach to dealing with project requirements, which not only guides developers creativity towards building only what your requirements state, but also promotes closer working relationships with project stakeholders. Cucumber is a tool for facilitating Test-Driven Development (TDD), while Gherkin is the syntax for writing the requirements and tests. Tom Jarecki, Senior Business Analyst, Vodafone Lunch DAY TWO 9.00 Welcome back from the Chair 1.15 Case Study: Business analysis within an Agile framework: Making it work This case study will examine how Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has brought BA activities into an Agile framework while operating in a highly regulated environment.

4 » Challenges we have faced using Agile with a formal Development Lifecycle Getting everyone on board and the role of the BA in Agile projects Choosing the right Agile framework Elliot Davis, Senior Business Analyst, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Nicholas Fourie, ICT Development Manager, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 3.00 Case study: Expanding beyond traditional business analysis skills Additional skills and experience are a useful tool to keep in your back pocket. Hear how Geoff Hunt has used his experiences prior to moving into Business Analysis to provide a different perspective and benefit to his customers. Geoff Hunt, Business Analysis Practice Lead, Davanti Consulting 2.00 Practical approaches to enterprise analysis Enterprise analysis projects can be caught up in red tape, requiring additional requirements and analysis approval. In this session gain some practical tips for projects which require undertaking enterprise analysis. Aligning enterprise analysis and architecture analysis Using enterprise analysis to identify optimum project paths Creating harmony between project requirements and wider business goals John Barris, Business Change Practice Director, Equinox 2.45 Afternoon break and refreshments 3.45 Case study: Evolution of a Business Analyst The role of the BA has gradually shifted over the past 5 years and now encompasses more than it used to. Hear from Brent as he discusses how he expanded on traditional BA skills to evolve the role and traditional Business Analyst skills to meet the demands of today s business needs. Working across domains and gaining experience in more than one field Taking a different perspective getting experience in other project team roles Brent Pearce, Business Analyst Practice Manager, ACC 4.30 Closing remarks from the Chair and end of conference HALF DAY WORKSHOPS 18 April 2013, Crowne Plaza, Auckland WORKSHOP A HOW AGILE CAN YOU BE? AGILE TECHNIQUES IN A TRADITIONAL WORLD 9.00am 12.30pm At the heart of Agile is the deeper understanding of business processes in order to maximise the amount of work done over time. In this workshop we will uncover some Agile techniques that you can include in your daily processes without the need of a fully Agile workforce. What is Agile? An overview of the processes and what it means for organisation Why Agile? What makes Agile a good fit with business analysts? Where do BA s fit in an Agile team? Understanding Scrum and how to make the most of it in your teams Examining useful Agile tools for Business Analysts: Light Agile Development (LAD) Extreme Programming (XP) Feature Driven Development (FDD) Kanban What about Lean? other methodologies that can improve BA processes Integrating Agile into your existing processes Ceedee Doyle, Agile Project Manager, Crystal Delta FACILITATION AND WORKSHOP SKILLS FOR S 12.30pm 5.00pm Being able to facilitate workshops should be part of every BA s skill set. In this session you will uncover some tips for creating more effective workshop situations so you can undertake processes effectively and with confidence. Setting yourself up for success Creating a goal for each workshop and meeting Participants: dealing with feast or famine Structuring your process The importance of the right space Managing participants Dealing with challenging behaviours Dealing with challenging situations Kevin Barron, Senior Business Manager, Davanti Consulting Kevin Barron is an experienced consultant with wide international experience of business analysis and workshop facilitation. He ran his first facilitated workshop in 1995 when someone suggested he could do it. Since then, he has run hundreds of workshops to achieve many different objectives. His business analysis career began with workshop facilitation and it is still a core of his practice. He has led BA teams for a number of organisations and currently runs Davanti s Auckland consulting team. WORKSHOP B

5 4TH ANNUAL EXAMINING BEHAVIOURS OF HIGH-PERFORMING S WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN US IN 2013? Meet with BAs from across New Zealand and share experiences and real world insights at the Networking Roundtables Presentations for the practicing BA gain insight into the projects of experienced BAs and gather tricks to take back to the office Presentations from Sealord, Vodafone, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Westpac, Mainfreight, ACC and more CIO Address: Hear Craig Columbus from Russell McVeagh discuss project priorities and what he expects from Business Analysts Customise your Masterclass with the option to attend one of our post conference workshops MEET THE CHAIR: Andrew McNaughton Andrew is an independent Business Analyst, Facilitator and Consultant. Coming from a science background, he spent 10 years honing his skills in Telecommunications before going freelance. Andrew has worked with organisations large and small across sectors such as Telecommunications, Health Sector and Software Development. He is currently a Senior Business Analyst (contract) for Southern Cross Healthcare and a facilitator with Bright*Star developing and delivering Business Analysis training. WHO ATTENDED LAST YEAR? PRIMARY INDUSTRIES INSURANCE & FINANCE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ENERGY RETAIL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOCAL GOVT CENTRAL GOVT HEALTHCARE MANUFACTURING based on percentage* » register@conferenz.co.nz

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