Analysis of Business Problems

ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS PROBLEMS is nothing like riding a bicycle…

Business Analysis is all about asking the right question and the same principle applies when there are issues in production. An issue might be related to application downtime, data management system or any other repetitive issue one faces in business

Here’s are steps Business Analyst take to analyse and solve business problem:

First we Identify the problem and state the problem Statement — ‘What’s going on? What are the root causes?’

Identifying the root cause is the next activity in analysing the data. Proper root cause analysis will help in subsequent phases of problem-solving.

This basic question will help you get an idea about problems being faced in. As a Business Analyst, you should always keep an eye on all issues. A problem statement defines the problem faced by a business and also identifies what the solution would look like. Afterwards we set our objective; this is the goal you will want to achieve in the end. Then know what your alternatives are…. 

And then we Gather data — ‘What do we know about the problem?’

This helps to gather the data with regards to the issue. The data should be collected as well as linked issues.

Furthermore, we can analyse this data with set criteria. — Criteria are the guidelines that you use to evaluate your alternatives to help you make a decision. So basically, setting variables that are important to you and matching them with your alternatives

Identify solutions — ‘What could be the solution?’

This is the most important step in the problem-solving phase. Based on root causes, the Business Analyst will need to work and look out for possible solutions.

Define the solution — ‘What’s the best solution?’

Once available solutions are put into perspective, the next step is to define the best solution to implement. At this stage, POC (Proof of concept) of the solution can help to finalize the solution.

Plan implementation — ‘What’s the best approach?’

This is predominantly a project management activity where the Business Analyst needs to work alongside the Project Manager to chalk up the plan and define the approach.

Test solution — ‘Is the problem solved successfully?’

Test review of the solution implemented in production should be done at this stage. This should be a continuous process to test the solution until you get the confidence of a successful resolution of the problem.

Improve solution — ‘Is there any further scope of Improvement?’

This is a retrospective to verify if there is any further scope for improvement. 

Define success and monitor results. 

This is how effective business problem solving is achieved