30 Business Analysis Techniques –

Explained with examples

Diwakar Singh
Strategic Techniques
SWOT Analysis:
Detail: Involves identifying internal
strengths and weaknesses, along with
external opportunities and threats. The
goal is to leverage strengths, address
weaknesses, capitalize on
opportunities, and mitigate threats.
Example: A software company might
recognize its strong development team
(strength) but a lack of marketing
expertise (weakness). They see a
growing demand for cloud-based
solutions (opportunity) but face
competition from established players
(threat).
MOST Analysis:
Detail: Aligns a company's mission
(reason for existence), objectives
(specific targets), strategies (plans to
achieve objectives), and tactics
(actions within strategies).
Example: An online retailer's mission
is to provide affordable fashion. Their
objective is to increase sales by 20%.
Strategies include expanding product
lines and improving website
navigation. Tactics might involve
running promotions and optimizing for
search engines.
Business Process Modeling (BPM):
Detail: Creates visual representations
(flowcharts, diagrams) of business
processes, showing the sequence of
activities, decision points, and
interactions.
Example: A BPM for a customer
support process might depict how a
customer complaint is logged,
assigned to an agent, resolved, and
then followed up for feedback.
PESTLE Analysis:
Detail: Examines external macro-
environmental factors that can
influence a business. Helps anticipate
changes and adapt strategies.
Example: A hotel chain analyzing how
political instability in a destination
country (political), economic
recession (economic), changing travel
preferences (social), advancements in
booking technology (technological),
new safety regulations (legal), and
climate change (environmental) might
affect their business.
MoSCoW Prioritization:
Detail: A straightforward method for
prioritizing requirements based on
their importance and urgency. Helps
manage stakeholder expectations and
focus resources.
Example: A project team deciding
which features of a new mobile app
are essential (Must Have), which are
important but can be delayed if
needed (Should Have), which are nice
to have but not critical (Could Have),
and which are not currently feasible
(Won't Have).
Root Cause Analysis (RCA):
Detail: Goes beyond surface-level
symptoms to uncover the fundamental
causes of problems, often using tools
like the "5 Whys" or fishbone
diagrams.
Example: A manufacturing plant
experiencing high defect rates might
use RCA to trace the problem back to
faulty machinery, inadequate training,
or poor quality control processes.
Investigation & Elicitation
Techniques
Interviews:
Detail: Direct conversations to gather
information and perspectives from
stakeholders. Can be structured
(predetermined questions) or
unstructured (more open-ended).
Example: Interviewing sales
representatives to understand their
challenges with the current CRM
system and what improvements they
would like to see.
Workshops:
Detail: Collaborative sessions
involving stakeholders to brainstorm
ideas, define requirements, or solve
problems. Often facilitated by a
business analyst.
Example: A workshop with marketing,
sales, and product teams to align on
the messaging and features of a new
product launch.
Surveys/Questionnaires:
Detail: Written sets of questions
distributed to a large group to collect
standardized data. Useful for
gathering quantitative data and
opinions from a broad audience.
Example: A survey sent to customers
after a service interaction to gauge
their satisfaction and identify areas for
improvement.
Observation:
Detail: Watching people in their
normal work environment to
understand how they use systems,
make decisions, and interact with
colleagues.
Example: Observing call center agents
handling customer inquiries to identify
common issues and opportunities for
process optimization.
Document Analysis:
Detail: Reviewing existing
documentation like reports, manuals,
and policies to extract relevant
information and insights.
Example: Analyzing sales data from
the past year to identify trends, peak
periods, and underperforming product
categories.
Modeling Techniques
Use Case Modeling:
Detail: Illustrates how users (actors)
interact with a system to achieve
specific goals. Each use case
represents a distinct functionality of
the system.
Example: A use case diagram for an e-
commerce website would include use
cases like "Browse Products," "Add to
Cart," "Checkout," and "Track Order."
Data Flow Diagrams (DFD):
Detail: Shows how data moves
through a system, highlighting the
processes that transform data and the
entities that store or generate it.
Example: A DFD for a payroll system
would show how employee data is
input, processed to calculate salaries
and deductions, and then output to
generate paychecks.
Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD):
Detail: Visually represents the
relationships between entities (things,
people, concepts) within a system,
typically using a graphical notation.
Example: An ERD for a school
database would show the entities
(students, teachers, courses) and their
relationships (students enroll in
courses, teachers teach courses).
Decision-Making & Prioritization
Techniques
Cost-Benefit Analysis:
Detail: Compares the expected costs
of a project or decision with the
anticipated benefits, often expressed
in monetary terms.
Example: Before launching a new
product line, a company might assess
the costs of development, marketing,
and production against the potential
revenue and market share gains.
Decision Trees:
Detail: Uses a tree-like model to map
out possible decisions and their
consequences. Helps visualize
choices and their potential outcomes.
Example: A decision tree might be
used to evaluate different investment
options, considering factors like risk
tolerance, expected return, and
market conditions.
Pareto Analysis (80/20 Rule):
Detail: Identifies the most significant
factors that contribute to a problem or
outcome. Often, 80% of effects come
from 20% of causes.
Example: Analyzing customer
feedback might reveal that 80% of
negative reviews are due to slow
shipping times, indicating a key area
for improvement.

Problem-Solving Techniques
The 5 Whys:
Detail: A simple yet powerful
technique that involves asking "why"
repeatedly to get to the root of a
problem. It helps avoid addressing
only the symptoms and encourages
digging deeper.
Example: If a website is experiencing
slow loading times, you might ask:
Why is the website slow? (Server
overload)
Why is the server overloaded?
(Increased traffic)
Why is there increased traffic?
(Marketing campaign)
Why did the campaign cause such a
spike? (Poorly targeted)
Why was it poorly targeted? (Lack of
data analysis)
Fishbone Diagram (Ishikawa
Diagram):
Detail: A visual tool that helps
brainstorm and categorize the
potential causes of a problem. It
resembles a fish skeleton, with the
problem as the head and potential
causes branching out as bones.
Example: A manufacturing company
facing production delays might use a
fishbone diagram to categorize
potential causes into:
Methods: Inadequate training,
outdated procedures
Machines: Equipment malfunctions,
lack of maintenance
Materials: Poor quality raw materials,
supplier issues
People: Insufficient staffing, skill gaps
Environment: Temperature
fluctuations, poor lighting
Communication & Collaboration
Techniques
Brainstorming:
Detail: A group ideation technique
that encourages generating a large
number of ideas without criticism or
judgment. The goal is to foster
creativity and explore diverse
perspectives.
Example: A marketing team might
brainstorm ideas for a new product
name, considering a wide range of
options before narrowing them down
based on feasibility and brand fit.
Mind Mapping:
Detail: A visual tool for organizing
ideas and information in a hierarchical
structure, with the main topic at the
center and branches radiating outward
for subtopics and details.
Example: A project manager might
use a mind map to break down a
complex project into smaller, more
manageable tasks, visualizing the
relationships between them.
Storytelling:
Detail: Using narratives to
communicate information or ideas,
making them more engaging and
memorable for the audience.
Example: A CEO might tell a story
about the company's early struggles
and eventual success to inspire
employees and create a sense of
shared purpose.
Additional Techniques
Benchmarking:
Detail: Comparing a company's
performance metrics or processes
against those of industry leaders or
competitors. It helps identify areas for
improvement and set realistic goals.
Example: A software company might
benchmark its customer satisfaction
ratings against those of top-rated
competitors to see where it falls short
and develop strategies to close the
gap.
Business Capability Analysis:
Detail: Identifying the core capabilities
(skills, processes, resources) that a
business needs to deliver value to its
customers and achieve its strategic
objectives.
Example: A bank might identify
capabilities like customer relationship
management, risk assessment, and
digital innovation as essential for its
long-term success.
Gap Analysis:
Detail: Compares the current state of
a business with its desired future
state, highlighting the gaps or
discrepancies that need to be
addressed.
Example: A company seeking to
expand into a new market might
conduct a gap analysis to identify the
missing skills, technologies, or
resources needed to compete
effectively.
Agile/Scrum:
Detail: Iterative project management
frameworks that emphasize flexibility,
collaboration, and delivering working
products in short cycles (sprints).
Example: A software development
team might use Scrum to break a large
project into smaller sprints, each
focused on delivering a specific set of
features.
Lean Six Sigma:
Detail: A methodology for improving
process efficiency, quality, and
customer satisfaction by reducing
defects and eliminating waste.
Example: A manufacturing company
might use Lean Six Sigma to
streamline its production process,
reduce defects, and shorten lead
times.
Value Stream Mapping:
Detail: Visually maps the steps
involved in delivering a product or
service, from the initial request to the
final delivery, to identify bottlenecks,
waste, and opportunities for
improvement.
Example: A hospital might use value
stream mapping to analyze the patient
journey from admission to discharge,
identifying delays and inefficiencies
that can be addressed.
Risk Analysis and Management:
Detail: Involves identifying, assessing,
and prioritizing risks that could impact
a project or business, and developing
strategies to mitigate or manage those
risks.
Example: A construction company
might assess the risks of weather
delays, material shortages, and labor
strikes before starting a new project.
Change Management:
Detail: A structured approach to
managing the people side of change to
minimize resistance, ensure adoption,
and achieve the desired results.
Example: A company implementing a
new software system might use
change management strategies to
communicate the benefits of the
change, train employees, and address
concerns.