5 Questions With John Fraser

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John Fraser brings an energy and commitment to all his projects that truly compliments and builds upon his years of experience in strategic business process improvement. In short, you know when John is in the room and today he joins me for five questions about his career and his insights on being a Business Analyst.

John Fraser, Lead Business Analyst/BA Practice Lead, North Highland
John will be speaking at the Virtual Business Analysis Conference Europe 21-23 September 2020 on the subject, ‘The Importance of Scope Management for A Business Analyst
This article was written by David Newstead for BATimes.com

You Bring A Lot Of Enthusiasm To Your Work, What Motivates You As A BA?

I am a BA Enthusiast that is committed to getting the job done. I do this by managing both expectations and project constraints, which results in an atmosphere where project members feel proud of the result and ensure client expectations are exceeded. Our Process & BA Capability Lead, Scott Rainey, always says “Our Business Analysis Team is directly connected to the problem statement and the value from business case to implementation,” and it’s the truth! What also motivates me is seeing BAs come into their own going from an Entry-Level to a Junior Role, to a Senior Role – to Thought Leaders in their craft!

What Positive Trends Are You Seeing Across Your BA Community Of Practice? And How Are You Addressing The Challenges That Inevitably Arise In BA Work?

What is trending majorly is the skills for BAs to understand, Data Management, Data Visualization, and Robotic Process Automation to help streamline activities for organizations. To help combat BA Challenges, we meet bi-weekly and discuss challenges and come up with solutions to help address those challenges. In our Community of Practice, all the BAs have a voice. Our CoP’s purpose is to provide a forum for continuous improvement of North Highland’s Business Analysis skillset through collaboration, mentoring, and education.

Throughout Your Career, You’ve Worked Across Several Different Industries. How Has Your BA Role Varied From One To Another?

BA roles differ in organizations because some organizations want BAs to focus on one thing (i.e. Process Mapping) when that’s only a subset of a skilled Business Analyst. BAs should be involved in multiple areas to truly provide value back to any organization.

What’s Your Favorite Technique?

My favorite technique is the Context Model helps describes the intended business change by helping stakeholders understand:

  • How does the solution provide traceability and/or contribute to the goals of your organization?
  • What are the expected, provable measures that indicate solution success?
  • When is the solution considered done?
  • Who will key stakeholders in the process?
  • What are the impacted systems?
  • Who will use the solution?
  • What are key assumptions, constraints and out-of-scope items?

What Project Do You Want To Tackle Next?

I would like to tackle a “game changing” effort that really pushes the needle for an organization that will benefit the industry and the BA’s role in its success.

John is BA Enthusiast | Coach | Keynote Speaker | Transformational Leader | focused on Purpose, Impact, and Organizational Success. With 15+ years’ experience, a proven track record of success as a leader in strategic business process improvement / change management initiatives in multiple industries. He does this by managing both expectations and project constraints, which results in an atmosphere where project members feel proud of the result and ensure client expectations are exceeded. John is currently working as a Lead Business Analyst / Capability Lead (US) for the Process & BA Capability at North Highland, a global management consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta. Twitter: @fraser_iii

Copyright David Newstead for BATimes.com

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