The Power of Business Analysis: A Volunteer Journey to Strengthen Ukraine

I am sure that for most readers of this year's 'Volunteer of the Year' announcement, seeing my name was as much of a surprise as it was for me. That's why I decided to share more about my volunteer journey over the past few years.

Volunteering has become a common practice in Ukraine today, but often when people hear the word 'volunteer,' they think of soldiers or those raising money to support the Ukrainian Army or war victims. Many of our friends and colleagues have joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and two Ukrainan IIBA chapter board members, Dmytro Zubets and Volodymyr Koval, are among them. Most of my colleagues and I do everything we can to support them. However, we are doing this as citizens of Ukraine, and it is not the scope of this article.

I truly believe in the power of business analysis to drive significant change, whether in professional settings or personal life. It’s a crucial tool for rebuilding our country and establishing Ukraine as a reliable partner for other nations during and after the war. By spreading knowledge of business analysis, we can be a game-changer for our economy and society, empowering us to overcome challenges and build a brighter future. That is why my fellow volunteers and I chose a slightly different path: we decided to dedicate our free time to translating IIBA materials into Ukrainian and promoting them to a Ukrainian audience. Let me explain our decision using IIBA The Business Analysis Core Concept Model? (BACCM?) by defining our Context, Stakeholders, their Needs, the Solution we chose, Change that we enabled, and Value we created.?

Let's start with Context. The first major challenge Ukraine faces is the ongoing war, which has placed immense pressure on the nation's social, economic, and cultural fabric. For nearly 300 years, Ukrainian identity has been suppressed by different iterations of the russian empire: the russian empire, the soviet union, and now the russian federation. Today, we are living through renewed efforts to erase our culture and independence through a full-scale invasion. This invasion is aimed not only at the physical destruction of Ukrainians but also at denying our identity and erasing our language.

The second critical challenge is the lack of access to modern management methodologies for Ukrainian business professionals. Many business practices in Ukrainian companies rely on outdated soviet-era or russian translations of international best practices. Additionally, most up-to-date business resources are only available in English, which presents a significant barrier for professionals who lack proficiency in the language.

That's why we have not only the ongoing war in the eastern part of Ukraine but also low-efficient business practices based on outdated methodologies.

Stakeholders: The key stakeholders affected by this issue include Ukrainian business analysis professionals and Ukrainian business professionals in general. Ukrainian business analysis professionals are striving to continue their work, even under the constant threat of air raids and destroyed electricity generation facilities. Many of these professionals have joined the armed forces, leaving their business roles behind to support their country. Additionally, Ukrainian business professionals are working tirelessly to support the national effort by rebuilding destroyed facilities or establishing new production facilities from scratch.??

Need: As you can understand from previous sections, Ukrainian business professionals need accessible, high-quality resources in their native language. Specifically, they require translations of internationally recognized business analysis methodologies and frameworks to continue their work efficiently and contribute to rebuilding Ukraine. The need also extends to fostering a sense of community and solidarity among business analysis professionals, especially during a time of war.

Solution: To address this need, our group of volunteers organized by me has taken on the task of translating crucial business analysis methodologies and resources into Ukrainian. We helped to finish the translation of the Glossary for the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (IIBA BABOK Guide) and translated the Standard of Business Analysis from IIBA. I have been hosting an online podcasts to promote these translations and spread knowledge of business analysis practices among the Ukrainian audience.?

Change: Completing these translations demonstrated that complex materials can indeed be translated into Ukrainian. This experience enabled us to start new projects like localizing the updated IIBA website. We aim to share our knowledge to encourage even more translations.?

Value: As a result, Ukrainian business professionals now have access to modern business analysis methodologies. This is crucial not only for working professionals but also for students, who can use these translations and webinars as valuable study resources. To further simplify key business analysis concepts, I invited various practitioners to my webinars to illustrate them with real-life examples.

After discussing the value created, I want to include the international business community as an additional stakeholder. International business communities can benefit a lot from the development of business analysis in Ukraine. Even amidst the full-scale war, Ukrainian business analysis professionals, as part of IT teams, have developed numerous high-tech products, ranging from drones and robotics to government and commercial digitization initiatives. These innovations have significantly improved everyday life, enabling ordinary citizens like me to get a new credit card within hours without visiting a bank or even get married without leaving home. Remarkably, many of these products were conceived and implemented after the full-scale russian invasion began. Just imagine the value that Ukrainian companies and teams, equipped with the best modern development and production methodologies, can bring to the international community once this war ends.??

Final Thoughts

I'm deeply grateful for the honor of being a finalist for this volunteering award. However, this recognition is not just for me; it's for all the incredible volunteers who participated in these translation projects. It's also for all business analysis professionals and everyone volunteering to support our army and civilians during this challenging time. Most importantly, this honor belongs to the brave volunteers fighting on the front lines, whose courage allows us to do this work. Their sacrifice is the true embodiment of what it means to volunteer.

In conclusion, I want to share my dream with you: to see all IIBA materials translated into Ukrainian, along with ECBA, CCBA, AAC, CBDA, CCA, and CPOA certification exams available in our language. I believe leaving the CBAP certification in English will encourage our business analysis professionals to enhance their English skills, allowing them to better integrate into the international business analysis community. However, having all other certifications available in Ukrainian would significantly boost expertise and help share best practices more effectively across Ukraine.

If you want to support Ukraine, you can do it via the United24 platform (https://u24.gov.ua/), via the Come Back Alive fund (https://savelife.in.ua/en/) or just ask any of your Ukrainian partners - most of them are volunteers!