Udemy|Identify & Define the Problem with Business Analysis|Problem Identify|Part 1|Observation Technique

1. Concept

An observation is viewing somebody in their enviroment, watching them do work, how they do work, types of issues or problems they run into while they're performing it. It will help you to know that you can make a different for them solving that particular problem.

When they're in particular task, a particular process, they're in doing it day in and day out. They tend to forget "Why they're doing it?". They're just doing it because that's way they always do it. As a Business Analyst, you can ask them "Why they're doing it?" and digging into a little bit more details if An anwser is not valid reason. 

If you focus your attention on something specific, it's very easy to miss everything that's around you. You get tunnel vision and we kinda foucus in, be very careful on doing that when you're doing observation. You wanna sit back and look at full scope, everything that's going on, you wanna still see the detials there, but you don't wanna be so far zoomed in that you miss various items.

2. Type of Observation

There are 3: Active, Passive, Participate

2.1. Active Observation 

That could be that you're sitting next to them at the computer or standing next machine in an industry factory, maybe watching them over a camera as they are conclueting their normal work. They're doing normal process, system or interface,.. So you're watching them. Especially, you also can interupt and ask your question to them. 

Pros:

You can ask them a clarification on:

• What they are doing?

• How they are doing that?

• You're able to get their opinion on certain aspects like "Hey, you did that, was that really difficult?| Is that time-consuming?| Is there a way that we can make that easier?"

=> That's type of thing, you're grabbing that information.

 

Besides, Some of cons to active observation:

• The employer/user is going to have reduce productive. You're interupting their work flow with asking question and clarifications and They're giving you their opinion. So it's gonna slow everything down.

• When they're wateched, they tend to change the way they do things normally to be right standard, right rules. You can explain "Hey! I wanna know How you're doing it today, not how you should be doing?". Because that helps you identify major problems areas. If all users have a work around for certain process step, that shows you a red-flat that something maybe wrong.  

2.2. Passive Observation

Same Active Observaton like: That could be that you're sitting next to them at the computer or standing next machine in an industry facory, maybe watching them over a camera as they are conclueting their normal work. They're doing normal process, system or interface,.. So you're watching them. But two keys different:

• You don't get to ask question, You don't get to interact with particular users while they're doing their job. Instead, you have to sit their silently and take notes, so you're not to be interrupt their work flow.

• You could be watching them live or you could be watching some type of recording of them performing their tasks. It doesn't not matter. 

Pros: 

• Useful for those type of jobs where timing is key. If you're doing active observation, you're gonna be slowing them down and user can't keep up with line speed. Thus, impacting revenue, because it impacts the mount of widgets.

• You're able to record timming and how long it takes them to do certain actions. 

Cons:

• Can't question right away so you maybe watching them and get some question come into your head, confusing about something. You need to able write good detail notes, so you can input it into some context and understand what you were thinking at that time. 

• Similar active observation, they know they are being watched, their behavior are gonna change, their timming gonna change the gonna tweak (tinh chỉnh) things that they're doing.

There are one way to get through it. 

• Both active and passive, it's all be noticeable, meaning they know that you're there.

• With passive, you can also unnoticeable., meaning they don't know that you're there. You're watching some type of record of them where they didn't know they're being recorded.

Example, You record how somebody interact with the system. You record their screen, they don't know that. You have recorded 10 -12 different people doing the same process. You want to see average how long it tooks the user to get through that process and try to see if there certain ways that they are doing this. They do it faster or lower,... 

2.3. Participate Observation

You actually participate in completing that process or task. Generally, you're watching the user completes it one to multiple minustes. Then that some point you step in, work through and complete process or task.

By doing that, you are able to have kind of question while doing active observation and get knowledge.  You also get in and start to experience it yourseft. You ask them for some help, or they gonna show it and you're whipped through it. 

Ok, ok you just do this, this, this, you're ok. That seems very easy, no problem. Then you go off to your desk and go back home. And you go to do it, and you're like, "no, oh wait, what'd they do?| What does the step they took?| How did we do that?" You're recognizing that it is not as easy as an experienced user making it sound. Because they've been doing it for many times, but for a new user, maybe it's not easy. They system doesn't guide very well. Maybe that's one of the challenges that you wouldn't gather unless you participated within that observation. 

Pros: 

• You able to generate some additional questions when you're watching them. Such as "Why are we doing it?| Why are we doing it this way?| And those are things that kind of come out as you work through it as well?"

Cons:

• Reduce productivity: Active obervation + take over your task or process. 

Maybe when you participate task, you usually take over happy case task. So you see it's simple and clear. But you choose more difficult, maybe you would see some the challenges and problems. 

3. What are you looking for?

Before doing Observation, you have to think for "What are you looking for?" or "What objective do you want?

3.1. Automation opportunities 

Take manual steps -> Automation system = Gain efficiency

Obviously, you don't have to have a user or something come through and do it manual in process or task. A system generally process will automationally take care of that. So that's one big reason is the efficiency gain.

3.2. The ability to streamline process

As a business changes, they forget to update their process or as it changes, they just slap on a couple steps to the process and "Oh, I had a issue with that, so I gonna add a approval step in here." But they don't really stop and look at the full process picture.

=> These process are huge and bloated. They have steps which nobody know why they do it.

3.3. Make the user or system more efficient

• With System: I see that after a user does certain action in a system and it takes 25 seconds for that system to respond back, that's proplem. That's way to long for the user to be sitting there doing nothing.

• With User: Instead of making them click thes 6 buttons different, make 1 button that automatically does all six of those at the same time.

3.4. Upgrade quality of life

If makes the user less stressed, makes there job a little easier, maybe make them more efficient. Help user more pain point that the get, peeved off about every time they have to do it. Help has intangible benefit such as employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction.

4. Planning an Observation 

4.1. Fist step: Validate that you understand the objective 

What do you want to observe?| What type of activity or task?

• What are you trying to learn?

• Why have you chosen obeservation, and what are we looking to learn?

• What tasks or activities are you hoping to observe?

• Is there a specific process that you've heard about that could be cause problem?

• Is there a certain department or unit?

Once you know the activity or task, we need to decide who, what's the best person to observe?

When is the best time for us to observe? 

• When they're gonna be doing the tasks and activities?

• They're not gonna be overly busy with other things

• So just getting the kind of schedule figured out as to when is the best time to observe?

What's the best method?

And then finally you wanna to decide on what type of observation are you gonna be doing such as actice, passice or participate? If it is passvie, is it be noticed or unnoticed?  

4.2. Secondary Planning

Talk to that person's manager 

Whoever you are choose to observe, you wanna go to talk to their manager and validate they don't have an issue with you observing them at that particular time and particular task. He helps you not only gain approval, but also helps to correct your planning. He will say any issues and who is the best for you observing.

Study document about particular task or process

You don't wanana be asking really simple and silly question during observation. You wana have a general sense of what they're doing and how they're doing it. Then able to pick up on the nuances as you observer and rather than worried the full picture. So you study document, the best place to looking for maybe trainee manual or asking manager.

Finalize some details

Now that you've talked to the manager, now that you've review documentation to have a better idea of what's happing. Now, yoi wanna actually schedule that observation. Think about How long you wanna observe of? If it takes them 2 hours to complete, maybe set 2:30 or 3 hours. When you have your times and dates determined, you're gonna actually sent appointments to people that you're gonna be observing. And within that appointment, you tell them: 

• What's the purpose of the observation?

• Why are you observing them?

• A key thing here is to mention that you're not to judge their performence, it's not personal evaluation, you're just looking at it form process standpoint, activity standpoint. And you will try to make them lives easier.

• What date and time of observation? 

*Notes: If planning for an Unoticed Observation

1. Talk to the personal's manager that you want to observe unnotices - Validate there are no concerns and ask them make notes any mention of upcoming obervation.
2. Determine how you can observe them base on? Do you need to record the screen or their call or video recording?
3. Review document to understand - This will help you contect of what you are looking at
4. Schedule when the observation would occur - In this case, get everything aligned for the recording to be completed. 

5. Excuting an Observation

5.1. Be on time

You should be 5-10 minutes early and make sure you're ready. Once you get there, if you don't know the person who you're observing very well or you haven't worked with them before. Just introduce yourself and again explain the reason for why you're there. Make sure they understand What you're to be observing and why you're observing them? What are you looking to learn from it? Finally, What's your objective of that observation? What type of observation you're gonna be doing. What type of observaving means? There's 2 reassurances I like to let them know right away.

1. Their performance is not being judge, you not lookigng them from a personal perspective, to see quick they do, compare to other employee, nothing like that. We're just watching them work through that particular process or task.

2. They can stop the observation anytime. By giving somebody that control, they maybe feel better. If it;s an active/particupate observation, Let's say anything they concern, say whatever pain points or whatever they want to have in process or task.
=> That way you can take notes and understand the context of what user is feeling as they work.

5.2. This time will go observation 

The employee go ahead and start working. Just watching them, asking the question, they aswers and take note. 

With Passive Observation: You'll be writing down any type of process anomalies (bất thường) that you see. Any question or concerns that you observe. Anything that they say, anything that they do. You just writing notes down so you can reconstruct in your mind " What they went through (trải qua)?" and "What they were doing at?"

With Active/Participate Observation: Ask questions get clarification if you don't know why they did something. It's important to you leave with the information. You don't have to set up another appointment. 

5.3. Review your notes 

You fill out your note to completed. Full your thoughts or finish your sentence. Right away at the end of the observation, look through and make sure your notes are complete. If you're not complete, you can ask them. 'Hey, I start writting note on this, What are you doing? Can you show me that really quick?" And that way, you can finish your thoughts. Because those notes are what help you formulate the problem and the project proposal. You have to try to do. 

Remember, give thank you to them! Give them your's contact information to response whatever they concern, anything would come up. They'll feel like they're part of this process. Build good relationship for next appointment, if so. 

If this was a passive observation, or is question came up, send those to them by email. Try to gather that feedback to end up completing note out. Or meet and ask them while break time, you don't have to work. 

5.4. Glance back and kind of reflect on the observation (nhìn lại và suy ngẫm)

• What went well?

• What didn't go well?

So that ways, You can plan future observation better. You learn from mistakes or kind of blunders (sai lầm) silly to evolue (phát triển) yourself as a business analyst. 

6. Document Template 

Link: 0580_RESOURCE_BobsTowing_ObservationElicitationNotes_TedBarlow_02022018.pdf