Being a Value-Focused Business Analyst (BA)
Nov 18, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Education Hours: 1.0 CDUs for IIBA Recertification
Location: Online via Zoom, link sent after registration
Location: Online via Zoom, link sent after registration
Agenda:
Networking 6-6:30 PM
Event 6:30-7:30 PM
Price: F R E E
Price: F R E E
Session Overview
Companies create value by providing capabilities, products, and services that enable customer outcomes – and receiving value in return. Yet organizations often lack a shared understanding of what value means, how their work contributes to it, and how to know whether it has been realized. The resulting disconnects can undermine execution, growth, and customer outcomes.
Business Analysts are uniquely positioned to help close these gaps. Their ability to clarify needs, connect perspectives, model how work gets done, and make assumptions visible can help organizations align around value. This presentation explores what it means to be a value-focused BA – connecting requirements and deliverables to the customer and business outcomes they are intended to enable. Participants will learn how to bring a broader organizational perspective to their work and use familiar BA practices and artifacts to support value definition, delivery, and realization.
This presentation will cover:
- The context of value and value management – a frequently missing connection
- How approaches to pursuing value have evolved over several decades
- Where BAs fit in project and product environments, including Agile ways of working
- The unique role and opportunity for BAs in strengthening organizational alignment
- Defining value in the context of BA work
- How AH Consulting’s engagement process uses BA practices and artifacts to make value and alignment tangible
- Q&A
About the Speaker - Anne Hartley
Anne Hartley, also known as the “hat lady,” began her professional journey as a pioneering woman in technology, starting as a programmer in the mid-1970s. Over the next 20 years, she worked with commercial software companies – from startups to established businesses – leading people, shaping methodologies, and connecting technology capabilities to business needs.
In 1997, Anne founded AH Consulting to bridge business and technology. Her work has evolved around a consistent purpose: helping leaders and teams create the clarity and alignment needed to solve problems and deliver meaningful value.
Today, that work is grounded in Unified Value Management™ – connecting how value is defined, delivered, and realized. Through Frameworks for Success™, she helps leaders and teams co-create a tangible, shared definition of what needs to exist, how it should work, and the outcomes it should enable – whether the focus is an operating model, a product, a service, or an organizational capability.
That perspective is at the heart of “Being a Value-Focused Business Analyst (BA)”: looking beyond requirements and deliverables to clarify purpose, connect the work to customer and business outcomes, and help ensure that what gets created delivers value.
Favorite Business Analysis Technique:
Visual modeling – especially mind maps, RACI models, workflow/process maps, SIPOC, and context diagrams. I like techniques that make the big picture visible and create structured, tangible artifacts that people can use to build shared understanding.
Visual modeling – especially mind maps, RACI models, workflow/process maps, SIPOC, and context diagrams. I like techniques that make the big picture visible and create structured, tangible artifacts that people can use to build shared understanding.
Favorite Local Restaurant:
Merritt’s Grill in Chapel Hill is a definite favorite – perhaps the best BLT on the planet! My husband and I go there often for BLT lunches and the relaxed atmosphere.
Fun Fact not related to Job/Profession:
I have a wall of hats! Hats are purposeful, make life interesting, and seem to uplift others. You can never have too many, although I do have a couple of seasonal favorites. They’re my protective roof – rain or shine!