How to align business decisions with Stakeholders' expectations

Stakeholders in business analysis are the reason we carry out all the business analysis activities. By definition from IIBA, they are an individual or group of individuals that business analyst is likely to interact with directly or indirectly. While PMI defines them in the Business Analysis Guide as individual, group, or organization affected or perceived to be affected by activities and decisions related to the solution.

As a business analyst you need to make a detailed analysis about the stakeholders to know their needs, power, influence, and how they are impacted by the solution you determine and propose to the organization.

It is important to start identifying stakeholders early in your work, as missing single stakeholder can cost you re-work specially if he or she would be impacted in a great way by the solution and at the same time has high degree of influence and power.

As a business analyst you have to keep in mind that stakeholders don't have requirements, but they may have

• Needs, that business analyst has to identify and know if they are aligned with the organization value, vision, and business goals and objectives.
• Goals and Objectives
• Decisions that may affect the organization, your analysis, or the outcome of your analysis
• Lives that may be affected by the outcome of your analysis and/or organization decision

Since projects are done for stakeholders, by stakeholders. Same as business, all operations are carried out by stakeholders and it is running for stakeholders. So it is important to align business decisions with stakeholders expectations because it will:

1. Increase stakeholders satisfaction, this will lead to increasing stakeholders loyalty
2. Enhance organization reputation, as it will be viewed as trustworthy and this will lead to increase the word of mouth about the business and enhance the reputation and improve the brand image.
3. Improve decision making, considering stakeholders and their expectations in the decision making process will lead to better decisions because they come with different perspectives and experiences.
4. Manage risk, yes it will minimize the negative risk and exploit the positive risk. Stakeholders can help you as BA identify all sources of risk and help you identify the proper risk strategy to use, finally
5. Increase transparency, aligning business decision with stakeholders expectations will promote transparency and accountability and this will help building trust among stakeholders and enhance the business credibility.

An example of aligning business decision with stakeholder expectations would be introducing new product. "Customer" as one of the stakeholders will expect high-quality product that meet their needs with reasonable price. Aligning the business decision with stakeholders' expectation would include conducting market research to identify customer preferences and needs and developing a product those meets with reasonable price, and communicating with the customer about this product. The benefit of this would be improving customer satisfaction, increasing sales, and building brand loyalty.

Now the question is, how can I align business decisions with stakeholders' expectations?

Well, the answer is not difficult and you may have been through this but it was not identified as a process, in simple steps to do that:

1. Identify the stakeholders, understand their expectations. Keep in mind that stakeholders might include, employees, customer, vendors, users, regulators, and more
2. Conduct stakeholders analysis, you need to understand their needs, interest, and expectations by methods including, interviews, surveys, focus groups
3. Develop communication plan. Communication always is the key to success, it is also the key to align business decision with stakeholders' expectations. Develop a communication plan that outlines how you will communicate with stakeholders and keep them informed of decisions that affect them.
4. Define the problem or opportunity, Clearly define the problem or issue you are trying to solve or opportunity you want to explore. This will help you identify the most appropriate solution that meets stakeholder expectations.
5. Analyze the data, Collect and analyze data to help you make informed decisions that align with stakeholder expectations. This can include financial data, market research, customer feedback, and more.
6. Consider multiple options, Consider multiple options for addressing the problem or issue. This will help you identify the most effective solution that aligns with stakeholder expectations.
7. Evaluate the impact, Evaluate the impact of your decision on stakeholders. This can involve conducting a cost-benefit analysis, risk analysis, or other types of impact assessments.
8. Monitor and adjust, Monitor the implementation of your decision and adjust as needed. Keep stakeholders informed of any changes and solicit their feedback to ensure ongoing alignment with their expectations.

By following these steps, you can effectively align business decisions with stakeholder expectations in the context of business analysis.

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