Vocabulary Lesson for a Business Analyst

Many industries have their own vocabulary and usually full of acronyms. It seems like the financial industry seems to lead the way. It can be interesting since some acronyms have more than one meaning. Example: POS- Point of Service, Policyowner Service, and Piece of (fill in the blank). I always taught a new Business Analyst to include a Glossary of Terms in any document you create. The first time you use the word, spell it out with the abbreviation behind it. That allows you to use the acronym throughout the rest of the document.

International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) is still a young organization as it approaches 18 years old in March. Some industry language has changed since it was founded in 2003. One example is to refer to “Requirements Elicitation” as opposed to “Requirements Gathering.” This is dedicated to my good friend Jared Gorai as I know this is a personal peeve. It’s funny because I always corrected people when I worked at a company, but I occasionally slip. Jared is on many of my meetings, and he never misses that word. I am certain he doesn’t listen to everything I say that closely.

This year I rearranged my home office, and I noticed one of my certificates from The George Washington School of Business in “Intro to Gathering and Document User Requirements.” I may send Jared a picture of that. Since IIBA is Global, I have learned quite a bit about other countries.

Two words that come to my mind are Project and Process. You are like what; those are clear words. In many areas outside the US, they are pronounced differently. I can once again tease Jared since Canada is one of those countries. I say PROject, and he says project (soft emphasis on the pro.) The other word process has the same emphasis. We good-naturedly tease each other, but maybe someday I should record a video about it. I hope I brought a smile to your face with this part of the story. Until next time, please keep your glass at least half full.