From the course: Introduction to Business Analysis

Problem, situation, opportunity, vision statements

From the course: Introduction to Business Analysis

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Problem, situation, opportunity, vision statements

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- In business analysis, we start with defining the problem or opportunity. How this is framed dictates the success of everything that follows. Defining the challenge isn't always something that's asked of a business analyst, but it is expected. Without it, you can easily go in the wrong direction and not know it. This critical task leads to well-informed decisions, analysis, and helps you keep the details in focus within a larger context. Think of it this way, you may be given an assignment as a BA and it may be very detailed or quite vague. Either can happen, but understanding the context is always a great place to start. Context is everything. So we can use three rather simple statements to help us frame up the problem or challenge. This involves clearly understanding and articulating the current situation, the challenge, and the vision. These statements are what we use to help us think, express, collaborate, and communicate the analysis we do. Let's look at what each of these might look like. First is a situation statement. It's a statement that describes the current context creating the problem or opportunity to address. It contains context and facts. For example, our company has experienced a 15% decline in sales over the last quarter. Customer satisfaction scores have also decreased by 20% during this period. Key competitors have recently launched new products with innovative features. We are working on ways to address this situation and increase sales and customer satisfaction. Okay, next is a problem statement. It addresses the specific challenge to address with your work effort. We want this to be defined from a customer, user, and business point of view. For example, customers are unable to place orders online due to the option for pickup being missing. This is causing abandoned orders, frustrated customers, and increased call volumes to the call center for customers who want to pick up their orders. We want to make sure that the focus is not on the technical. It's not about the dropdown box for pickup or the screen design, it's really focused on the customers and their problems, not the tech. And last, a vision statement. It defines what success looks like for the future when the challenge is solved for and we've gotten to a desired outcome. For example, we envision providing customers flexibility in placing orders online and picking up their orders as part of an option to save them time. These statements are about impacts and they may or may not be formally shared, but they help you anchor in the impact you will make. I've created a challenge canvas for you to use as a working document to help you organize what you know and don't know. It will help you ask good questions to others, research the context, and to keep the challenge you are looking to solve in a holistic view. You can find it in the exercise files for the course. Once you feel you have a solid grasp of the challenge, situation, and vision, you are well on your way down the path of good business analysis. For some work efforts, this can be a very quick effort, and for large projects, it may take a lot more time. It's about taking a step back and asking why, about getting started on the right path. This ensures we do not jump to a solution before defining success.

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