Shadowing Practice: Business Analyst Interview Questions & Answers - Scenario Based Questions - Learn English Speaking with Video
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I'm going to be trying my best to answer 12 scenario -based questions to try to assess a candidate's practical knowledge,
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problem -solving skills, and ability to apply business analysis techniques to real -world situations.
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scenario A stakeholder provides vague requirements for a new requirement.
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How would you proceed to clarify and document these requirements?
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The first thing I would do is try to paint a bigger picture of what the situation is.
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So I'm going to want to learn more about the context.
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Like, why are we even trying to solve this problem?
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What is the problem that we're trying to solve?
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What is the intended value that we're trying to get?
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at the end of this project or this requirement.
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And really, all of those things that should have happened prior to somebody giving me a vague requirement, usually -- What you'll see is if the requirements fake,
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then it's possible that some of that upfront work hasn't been done properly that's kind of strategic analysis.
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So I really start to help build or paint that picture who for whoever the stakeholders, so they could better understand what it is that they're trying to accomplish and then go back and clarify those requirements.
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You are working on a project with conflicting stakeholder interests.
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How do you manage and align these interests to ensure project success?
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Very similar to the last one.
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Your goal is, again, is to make sure everyone's aligned on what the actual goal of the project is.
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What's the objective?
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What's the value that we're trying to achieve at the end?
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And then you take these conflicting requirements, these conflicting needs, these conflicting asks, and you align them to what the objective is and what that value is that you're trying to deliver,
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and then get those stakeholders to come into the room and say, "Hey, these are the things that you guys are asking for
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but these are the goals of the project and these are how they do or don't align to that.
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So how can we make adjustments to make sure we're building things
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and doing the right things that actually align to the goals of the project itself?
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You have a list of requirements.
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But due to time and budget constraints, not all can be implemented.
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how do you prioritize which requirements to work on first?
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That's a great question, and pretty much the day -to -day of anybody working on a software team that you know, trying to build something that's productive and valuable.
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And the way you do it is essentially you document all those requirements.
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You document characteristics about those requirements that help you weigh them against one another.
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For example, if there's a particular value that you're trying to achieve with your initiative for which these requirements exist, or your product, or whatever it is,
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to make sure you document in some way how to -- how rank how much value
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that these things are delivering and also how much effort it takes to deliver these things.
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You may find that you'll have something
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that provides a lot of value that's low effort and if there's a lot of those, it's better to put those up front
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and do those first than to do something that doesn't provide a lot of value but requires a lot of effort.
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So then you waste a bunch of time doing one thing that wasn't even that valuable.
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And so you essentially
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capture attributes or information about these requirements to help you rank them
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and understand how difficult they are to help you best organize which items to prioritize first.
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A major change request is introduced in the middle of a project.
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How do you evaluate and manage this change?
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Depending on the methodology that you're working on that I'm working on would
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or rather the methodology that I'm working with will determine how I deal with the change in waterfall.
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uh, it's much harder to make changes because Waterfall is very phase -based
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and gate -based and almost contractual in a way
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because you get something approved and then you do what was approved
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and then you get something approved and then you do what was approved.
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And so you're essentially changing waterfalls.
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Um, what you're going to be doing based off of something that was already approved.
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So typically that means you need to evaluate the change, make sure everybody who previously approved, you know, what we're going to do understands why the change might need to be made,
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how it might be valuable to them.
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and how it's better to go forward with a change than proceed with the way things are going.
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Usually, organizations have pretty well thought out change -- well, I shouldn't say that, not all organizations,
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but some organizations have well thought out change management processes or change request processes to facilitate this.
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If not, then it's up to you as a business analyst to make sure you're talking to all those stakeholders, aligning it to the objectives, making sure everybody understands that we're doing something different now,
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but it's for the better of the project.
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You need to develop use cases for a new system.
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What steps would you take to ensure they're comprehensive and accurate?
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The mechanism I usually use is a functional decomposition.
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That's really starting at the kind of top.
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to say what are the business objectives, What are the different features and functionalities that we want to meet those business objectives?
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And how are each of those features
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and functions going to work for all the different users who are going to be in the system, right?
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And so if you're talking about...
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Say something like an ATM.
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right there's the interfaces that i need to withdraw money deposit money all those things there's interfaces
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that administrators maybe cash managers who have to come in
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and you know open the thing up add cash
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and essentially input how much they put in there
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so the system understands how much money is in the machine
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and so then you you get through all those use cases so you kind of
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have to go to the full scope of your product all the things it needs to do, all the people who need to do those things, and then you get down to your use cases,
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and that should give you a pretty comprehensive view of all the different functionalities.
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And due to the nature of use cases, which are very scenario based, and you have to kind of essentially.. document in the line what things need to be true for the specific scenarios.
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It allows you to think through both positive and negative scenarios or maybe scenarios that would happen side by side.
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Or if, you know, I'm doing something, what things an administrator or an operator might need to do on the other side of things to facilitate that.
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So the use cases themselves on top of
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going through this functional decomposition actually help you create a comprehensive kind of bank of use cases when creating a project.
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You have identified a bottleneck in an existing process.
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How would you approach improving this process?
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Well, first and foremost is to document the process.
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Ideally, in this scenario where you're specifically trying to improve a bottleneck in the process,
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it's important to use a more stringent version of business process modeling notation,
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because that more stringent version actually forces you to document things in a more realistic way
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that allows you to do a very specific kind of analysis on the different gates
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and choices and tasks and activities that happen in a process flow.
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which would essentially allow you to see areas for improvement, things that could happen in parallel, things that have to come for one before the other, things that could be automated.
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That's really why BPMN was invented in the first place.
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So the way I would approach this is to document it with strict BPMN notation.
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And if I have a tool available, you could even simulate a business process diagram if you use that notation.
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So you can say, you know, at different volumes, this is the way it might work.
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And then you could simulate the new version, the 2B version, and see how it might potentially work fix the problem.
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So I would definitely create a business process model using strict BPMN notation, or at least as strict as necessary to document it accurately.
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You were given a large dataset with no clear insights
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What steps would you take to analyze the data and extract meaningful information?
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First, I would take an inventory of the data that's been
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made available to me to try to make sure I understand as much of it as possible.
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So I would, you know, see what's there, see what fields are available, see what tables are there, and try to make sense of it.
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It may not be feasible to understand all of it right away, but you could take note of the things that you do understand, the way the information is structured.
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then of course you go start asking questions
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and try to get some context around around the business as
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a business analyst um that's extremely important to me to kind
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of understand what's the context of the business what's the context
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of this data how is it gathered where is it coming from what are maybe some of the challenges
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that that that portion or
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that context of the organization might be facing to kind of
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wrap my head around what data might be valuable important for the business
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no data provides any valuable if it's not solving any real problems
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so you have to kind of Also on the other side of it understand the context of the business
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and the problems that they might be facing.
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And that's how I would go about kind of starting that analysis mining process is really just to understand my landscape, both the data as well as the business that's producing this data.
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Different team members use varying formats for documentation.
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How do you standardize documentation?
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process--practices across the project.
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It kind of depends on the nature of how I'm coming in.
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Obviously, in this scenario, say I just got hired and I'm trying to understand the lay of the land, then the first thing I would do is try to understand why everybody's doing things in different ways.
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the same things, which ones are the better versions at capturing it,
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and essentially try to put together a singular standardized version that captures everybody's needs,
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and is essentially the best version of what everybody has kind of put together, but also in a mechanism that doesn't create a whole bunch of overhead and simplifies things for people.
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So that's important too because if you come up with something that makes everybody take more time to do their job, they're not going to necessarily want to do it.
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And so if you could do something that makes it easier for everybody to do their job, maybe even putting it in a system that allows them to more easily capture and align things,
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you know, even better, But ultimately, it's really about what do we need to capture to be successful on the project,
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standardize those things, and focus on those things.
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A UAT phase is scheduled, but stakeholders are unfamiliar with the process.
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How do you ensure that UAT is successful and stakeholders are engaged?
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First and foremost is to communicate, teach, and help them understand why UAT, or user acceptance testing, is valuable.
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If you're reaching out to them, that means they're some kind of stakeholder who will care about the outcome of whatever software
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or hardware or whatever it is that you're producing.
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at this point is going to be good for whoever their end users are, whoever their stakeholders are.
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So, before anything, before even understanding what we're going to be doing, they already understand why it's important for them to be doing it.
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From that point forward, then it's really just a matter of explaining to them how you're going to be conducting UAT, the processes they're going to follow, the steps they're going to take,
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how to give you feedback to ensure that the product is the best
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that it can be and it meets all the needs for their constituents, whether it's stakeholders, end users, or them, they themselves.
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Two key stakeholders have conflicting requirements that cannot be easily reconciled.
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How do you handle this conflict?
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Well, you're going to have to come to an understanding of why these two requirements are in conflict.
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It could be that two systems have very different needs, and so you may need to understand why this system needs the information that way,
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and this system needs the information in a different way, and really, come to an understanding of does it need to be that way?
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If so, how can you work around that?
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If not, how do we negotiate who's who's requirement supersedes the other.
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Sometimes it might mean going back to the objectives, going back to the project sponsor, going back to the value that you're trying to deliver and see which one aligns.
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Sometimes it could just be that these two systems work in different ways,
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they have different needs, and you may need to make some or build some additional requirements to help satisfy both.
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Maybe a translation table that says, when it goes to this system, write it this way, when it goes to that system, write it a different way.
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So that way both groups get what they need and nothing breaks along the way.
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But more so than anything else, it's understanding why the conflict is there what's really needed by those two requirements,
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and then you find out how you kind of get to
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a point where both of those requirements can either be met
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or the need for both of those requirements is no longer there.
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You are working in an agile environment and the sprint is not going as planned.
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How do you address issues and keep the team on track?
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This is kind of a Scrum Master activity, but as a business analyst and a member of the team, everybody's kind of accountable for the success of a project.
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I would say that I would kind of take inventory, take stock with all the team members as to why they believe things aren't going well,
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what going well should look like, and then how we can kind of cross that bridge.
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Sometimes it might mean that we're too dependent on other teams, and so we're creating stories that we legitimately can't complete in a sprint unless another team.. is doing it,
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or we're creating stories based off of a space that we don't understand well enough.
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So it's too complex, too big.
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And so, our estimations are wrong and what we think we can accomplish is just not there, which means, you know, maybe the team needs to take a step back
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and take some time to understand their domain and the scope of what they're working on.
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Sometimes it could be that the requirements keep changing.
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Maybe the product owner or stakeholder keeps you know, saying they want one thing, and then once they see something, saying they want a different thing.
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And then so it might mean getting agreement with those stakeholders
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and the team on how you can get to understanding or being in a position to deliver the most likely,
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best, correct thing or thing that they want prior to the sprint starting, so that way you're not going back and forth and changing requirements.
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There could be a lot of things.
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Obviously, it would take investigation.
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team kind of gets together reflects on those things, talks about it, figures out ways to deal with it.
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It's usually called a retrospective.
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It usually happens at the end of the sprint.
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It usually comes or the result is usually some kind of action item, some kind of new thing that the team was going to be doing immediately to try to resolve that.
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And over a few sprints, after you have a few retrospectives, you kind of, you know, form, storm, norm, and all of those things.
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that's when you really get to the point where you're really cruising along.
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You understand how your stakeholders are thinking.
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You understand what the development team is capable of.
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on and on and on.
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until you get to essentially a well -oiled machine of a team.
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Ensuring that all requirements are met throughout the project lifecycle is critical.
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How do you maintain requirements traceability?
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I maintain requirements traceability via functional decomposition.
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That means you start out with your objective, you break down that objective into business requirements.
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Like these are the key things that your business is going to be doing now that it wasn't doing before.
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And then you break that down into the functional or solution requirements, which is how the system is actually going to do those things.
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And then, you know, on and on data requirements and all of that.
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But all of those trace backwards, right?
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There's no data requirement that doesn't tie back to a functional requirement, that doesn't tie back to a business requirement, that doesn't tie back to an objective.
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And if at any point there is one, you need to question what that item is and why it exists in your project.
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And if you do it that way and you always, every requirement always comes from a decomposition, then everything will always naturally just be traced.
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depending on your nomenclature at your organization, down to a user story level, and then sometimes down to a task level.
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But again, everything traces up, everything has a parent, and if it doesn't, then you need to be questioning why you're working on that requirement.
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That was my attempt at running through these 12 scenario -based business analysis questions without any prep.
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I find it a little bit more fun to do these without prep.
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If I was actually planning on sitting for an interview, I probably would prep for these, usually by going through them, thinking about projects that I've been on where I've done some of these things
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so I can give real -life examples and kind of have that in the back of my mind, which is not always easy to do on the fly, which is why I didn't give a ton of real project examples that I've worked on.
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If I sat down and thought about it a little more, I probably could.
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And if I prepared for them, I definitely would.
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And so that would be the main difference that I would say if you were preparing for these
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specific questions to think about actual scenarios where you dealt with these things
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and talk about how you resolve them in those scenarios.
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If you can, if not, obviously just talk through how you would go about solving that.
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But anyways, I hope that was helpful.
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If you have any additional questions, let me know in the comments.
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or create a video just like this one to answer your question.
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So subscribe to see your questions get answered.
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And thanks for watching.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Practicing speaking through this video on business analyst interview questions and answers offers invaluable tools for English learners seeking to enhance their speaking skills in a business context. By engaging with scenario-based questions, you can simulate real-life interviews, which improves fluency and confidence. This exercise allows you to think critically about how to articulate your thoughts clearly, learn to navigate complex topics, and develop the ability to respond effectively to questions in a professional setting. Not only will you improve your English pronunciation, but you'll also gain practical insights into business analysis, making this experience multifaceted and beneficial.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Within the transcript, several key expressions provide excellent examples for English speaking practice:
- "How would you proceed to clarify and document these requirements?" - This structure emphasizes the importance of being proactive and methodical in communication.
- "Your goal is to make sure everyone's aligned on what the actual goal of the project is." - Notice the use of 'aligned on,' which conveys agreement and mutual understanding among stakeholders, essential for effective collaboration.
- "You may find that you'll have something that provides a lot of value that's low effort." - This conditional structure illustrates how to express possibilities, which can enhance your conversational flexibility in English.
- "Depending on the methodology that you're working on..." - The conditional 'depending on' helps learners understand ways to articulate various scenarios and responses in discussions.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice speaking, pay attention to potential pronunciation challenges highlighted in the video:
- “Stakeholder” - The initial 'stake' sounds subtly similar to ‘stuck.’ Be careful to fully pronounce the 'k' sound.
- “Requirement” - This word can be tricky due to the sequence of vowels. Make sure to articulate each syllable, especially the “re-quire-ment” part.
- “Objective” - The 'j' sound here can be mispronounced; practice saying “ob-JECT-ive,” focusing on the stress on the second syllable.
By focusing on these tricky words, you can greatly improve your English pronunciation. Engaging in shadowing techniques with this video, such as repeating phrases after the speaker, can also boost your conversational skills and rhythm. As you learn English with YouTube, you’ll find that repeating these key phrases not only helps in pronunciation but also prepares you for future interactions in a business context.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if I prepared for them, I definitely would |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been done · can be implemented · is introduced |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | hasn't been done · have identified · that's been |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who need · cases, which are · there, which means |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.