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INTRODUCTION
One of the key aspects of business analysis is working with stakeholders. Stakeholders can support or resist change, they can clarify or confuse requirements, and they have knowledge that the analyst needs to acquire. As a result, the importance of working closely and effectively with stakeholders cannot be overstated.
Once an investigation of the business situation has been carried out the BA needs to take time to think through the issues that have been raised. At this point thinking through the information gained and the perspectives of those providing that information can be invaluable in uncovering inconsistencies, hidden agendas and personal priorities. Failing to think about these points, or delaying this thinking until a problem arises, can derail or undermine later work. Potential impacts could be the rejection of a business case, requirements conflicts, or, even worse, the failure of new processes and systems.
The process for working effectively with stakeholders has three major steps:
* stakeholder identification;
* stakeholder analysis;
* stakeholder management.
Stakeholder identification (Techniques 23-25)
Stakeholder identification involves considering all of the major groups that could have an interest in the business situation or project. This is done in order to identify the stakeholders within these groups who may have working links or interests with the area under investigation.
There are three techniques that are used to identify the stakeholders for a particular business analysis assignment:
* stakeholder nomination during interviews or workshops;
* background research through document analysis;
* the stakeholder wheel.
Identifying the stakeholders is extremely important if conflicts are to be avoided later in the project. Many initiatives have been derailed when an alternative point of view has emerged, sometimes at a late stage. Identifying the interested parties early on will help analysts to understand the range of views, and, where necessary, handle the differences.
Stakeholder analysis (Techniques 26-29)
Stakeholder analysis is concerned with examining all of the stakeholders or groups of stakeholders and categorising them according to factors such as their level of influence and their areas of concern. It is important to carry out this analysis, since this will provide a means of deciding the stakeholder management strategies to be adopted.
There are four major techniques that are used to analyse stakeholders:
* the power/interest...