by John Parker | Jan 31, 2014 | Business Analysis, Uncategorized |
Ask someone about business value and you will most likely get a blank stare or many different answers. Is business value the same thing as Shareholder Value or Customer Value? OK—if all else fails, let’s go to Wikipedia; it is always a trusted source right? Here is the definition of Value in Wikipedia: In management, business value is an informal term that includes all forms of value that determine the health and well-being of the firm in the long run. Business value expands concept of value of the firm beyond economic value (also known as economic profit, economic value added and shareholder value) to include other forms of value such as employee value, customer value, supplier value, channel partner value, alliance partner value, managerial value, and societal value. Wow, I don’t think this helps much. Let’s look at another source. IIBA’s new BABOK (Version 3) that will be published this year is heavily focused on value. IIBA recently conducted a webinar on Value and posted it on YouTube. According to the IIBA and the new BABOK, value is defined as “The importance of something to a Stakeholder in a Context.” I am not sure that I agree with IIBA’s definition of value but I definitely agree with the IIBA when they say “Value is not understood.” At first look, this definition is nebulous, but it has components that are very important. There are three key words here that we have to focus on: Importance, Stakeholder, and Context. Importance – Importance allows us to compare one option to another and make decisions in terms of what delivers the most value....
by John Parker | Jan 29, 2014 | Business Analysis, Uncategorized |
The Standish Group 2013 CHAOS Manifesto Report titled “Think Big Act Small” presents two core concepts to achieve more successful projects. The first key is to break a project down into small independent components that can be managed and delivered separately. The second key is eliminating features that provide little or no business value. Let’s examine both of these. Breaking a Project Down It is important not to confuse breaking down projects as simply defining milestones, phases, critical paths, and activities. These are simply components of a single large project. It literally means breaking a project down into a series of independent smaller projects. Each smaller project is defined, developed, and delivered independently producing a valuable result. The Standish Group says “A large project has virtually no chance of coming in on time, on budget, and within scope, which is The Standish Group definition of a successful project.” The Standish Group reports that large projects are 10 times more likely to fail, meaning the project will be canceled or will not be used because it outlived its useful life prior to implementation. In contrast, small projects have more than a 70% chance of success. Breaking down a large project into a series of smaller projects does not require migrating to agile, although use of the agile methodology can help in this regard. Breaking one large project into five or ten smaller projects and delivering each one independently can greatly improve the likelihood of overall success. Breaking down a project is not always easy, but can be done. The writers of this CHAOS Manifesto Report state flatly that they have come...
by John Parker | Jan 27, 2014 | Agile, Uncategorized |
The term Dual-Track Scrum, invented by Jeff Patton, independent Agile Coach from AgileProductDesign.com, represents an approach to software development that assumes that there are two key tracks for agile product development: Discovery and Delivery, as shown in the diagram below: This approach has a lot of merit and can eliminate a lot of frustration and costs in agile development. Often, agile teams have long and frustrating sprint planning meetings because backlog items are not well defined, understood, or validated. This often results in slow velocity and extra development iterations because a basic understanding and design details are worked out during the sprint using code. The amount of waste and rework is very high because backlog items have not been defined and validated properly. To get around this, some agile coaches have recommended that teams spend 10% of their time grooming the backlog. Some agile coaches even recommend conducting separate meetings for grooming, sometimes referred to as “Story Time” sessions, for the sole purpose of grooming the backlog. An agile project, like other projects, is subject to “scope creep” in the form of user stories that get created but do not really yield substantial value , yet were thought to be “good ideas at the time.” Another problem is that teams and often product owners are not qualified to assess business value and validate ideas for need. A much better method to prevent these problems is to implement a dual track for discovery and delivery. I firmly believe this dual-track approach will increase velocity, provide higher quality products, and at a much lower costs. The discovery track is all about...
by George Casey | Jan 21, 2014 | Business Analysis, Uncategorized |
A business model outlining and explaining how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value is used to launch new ideas or readjust the practices of an existing company. A comprehensive business model encourages strategic thinking and holistic design. In Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur describe the importance of developing and revisiting an organization’s business models. They assert that to stay healthy, you should continually reassess your business model’s current viability and future promise. The modeling process is improved when it is performed on a recurring basis and there is an honest and comprehensive vetting of ideas. Because almost all business models eventually become obsolete, proactive companies actively conceive and pursue new models. Doing this helps business leaders question long-held assumptions and make better decisions for their companies. To define a business model, the authors outline nine interrelated parts that cover a company’s customers, offer, infrastructure, and financial viability. For a thorough approach to new ideas or new ways of doing business, ample time and energy must be given to examining each component. Customer segments – Identify one or more types of customers. Mass markets and niche markets require different approaches. Your organization may have multi-sided platforms in which you sell different services to two or more different groups of customers. Value propositions – Determine which benefits lead customers to your company rather than to your competitors. Your organization may offer something new, perform better, or be designed to meet specific needs. Capture that information succinctly. Channels – Select the best customer touch points to communicate value and to...
by George Casey | Nov 11, 2013 | Business Analysis, Uncategorized |
Every year companies lose money in staff time and resources by hosting poorly planned and organized conference calls. Starting late, tangents, and lack of follow-up all distract from successful meetings. Byron Van Arsdale led a great webinar for Enfocus Solutions. In “No More Lame Conference Calls,” Van Arsdale revealed several tips to taking control of conference calls and virtual meetings, keeping everyone engaged, and ending on time. The speaker quickly outlined the problem. In 2010, there were over 6.2 million conference calls held each week. TeleSpan Publishing Corp reported that in the same year consumers spent 9.3 billion minutes on free conference calls and 45.3 billion minutes on paid conference calls. Van Arsdale said the business cost in terms of lost productivity, wasted time, and lost sales opportunities when conference calls are inefficient or unproductive is astronomical. Van Arsdale explained that companies and organizations continue to waste precious resources on “lame” conference calls for one reason: Everyone thinks they lead great conference calls and are not inclined to take responsibility for any calls that do not go well. To address the challenges in leading conference calls, Van Arsdale offers several points: Remember you are a unique leader. Most people learn to lead conference calls based on what they learned from other professionals. Yet often their attempts to be like their role models go to far, and they end up not being themselves as they lead calls. Van Arsdale asserts you should develop your own style, based on your own strengths and qualities, so that you appear real and authentic. Make an agenda and distribute it well in advance of...
