‘Holism’ originates from the Greek word ‘holos’ (= ‘all’, ‘whole’, ‘entire’), and is the concept that systems (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, etc.) and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not just as a collection of its parts.

Business Analysts are very often absorbed by their work on solutions, customer journeys, business process improvements, and so on … whereas each of those initiatives are very likely to have an impact on the whole organisation. As such, the Holistic Business Analyst looks at an organisation as a whole and not only as a collection of employees, business domain(s), customers, processes, systems, change initiatives, etc.…

The speaker will introduce you to the world of the Holistic Business Analyst and what it takes to become one. He will show you the different levels on which the Holistic BA can contribute, the different levels of requirements, the different types of scope, the different types of stakeholders, ... and how all of these are connected.

The presentation will:
• invite you to see the BA profession beyond the tasks and techniques
• invite you to see your organisation as a whole as well as a collection of its parts
• introduce you to concepts & techniques essential to Holistic Business Analysis

Data, as well as its analysis and interpretation, forms an increasing part of our communications. This session will examine some underlying principles of dealing with data and consider some of the common ways that we can be misled by data, or inadvertently create a false impression in our own reporting.

An innovative future resides in the soul. It’s not as simple as waving a magic wand and reciting some words on a page. It takes imagination, leadership and cultural change to have a creative and innovative future. Evolve or die in this battle of change means thinking differently and knowing how your leadership makes a difference. Is your team synchronised and engaged, ready to collaborate? Use lessons from the wild, take on the wisdom from those that have gone before you. Give your innovation meaning!

Successful Digital Transformation initiatives are a lot less about technology than they are about enabling people, rethinking business processes, and improving everyday working practices. The Agile mindset that underpins these initiatives puts a lot of focus on improving collaboration between and inside teams. Project managers have (traditionally) often acted as the 'glue' in organizations to foster that collaboration and keep different teams and initiatives together, but now, many of those organizations have started questioning the need for project managers - because they "are not agile" - followed by complaints about "talent shortage". The session looks at the changes needed to traditional project and program management practices to ensure the organizations on their path to Digital Transformation get the most from the wonderful group of people they already have in their ranks - the project managers.

After the practice guides Business Analysis Guide for Practitioner and Requirements Management, last year PMI published the first standard in business analysis the PMI Guide to Business Analysis. The three references define the PMI business analysis approach. In this session the speaker will provide the audience with an overview of the approach and the role played by the business analyst and the program/project manager. Examples of real application will be provided. In addition, some comparisons with the IIBA approach will be presented to the audience.

Can we learn anything from engineering to solve contradictions in systems? You will watch packed with examples presentation to inspire you that there are unintuitive ways to solve "unsolvable" problems, but we need help to rewire our thinking process. TRIZ is a toolbox used by Samsung, Intel and Huawei to change our thinking. With TRIZ you can find solutions you did not see earlier.

Meeting with speakers: open discussions or mini-workshops will be offered by the conference speakers; participants will choose the topic/speaker at the conference registration desk.

Explore each of the Speakers discussions / mini - workshops

Giancarlo Durnati
The workshop will focus on quality criteria to be applied to write effective requirements. Techniques to specify and model requirements will be explored and discussed.

Mark Kozak-Holland
"What will the future (2023) look like for Project Managers and Business Analysts in the digital age"

Michael Coleman
Dealing with data - can you avoid misinterpretation?
In the barrel discussion we will continue the topic of dealing with data and try more examples on ourselves to see how good we are in getting to the true.

Michał Hałas
"Save people on Titanic with 9 windows" Workshop with 9 windows TRIZ tool. Small teams will analyse situation of Titanic using 9 windows. You will reherse simple TRIZ tool to expand thinking in scale and time.

Michał Kasprzyk
Project manager's guide to REALLY being heard by their teammates. Public speaking is one of the most powerful tools which real power is very often not used. So how to leverage it to make an impact? How to prepare? What to pay attention to? How to make your speech more interesting? Add your questions and join this session to get the answers.

Simone Jo Moore
Barrel session - Knowledge Cafe
“Live, Injured or Dead-Cat Syndrome - It’s all about timing!”
A Knowledge Cafe is one of many ways you can achieve improvement goals and a fabulous way to inspire teams and promote creativity, collaboration, and innovative thinking. In a one hour session we will do a ‘focus fast time-clock driven’ on that tricky line of ‘handover’ to operations. In table teams, we’ll pose a single question about Live, Injured or Dead-cat syndrome in a round-robin collaboration to share experience, lessons learned and actionable next steps to improve.

Kaimar Karu
Navigating complexity (or what to do when there are too many options)
In software-related projects, the situations where we know all the answers are rare. We are facing a number of challenges at all times, and often the most difficult situations are not where there doesn't seem to be an answer, but where there are too many potential answers and choosing one seems impossible. Let's look at what project managers can do in these situations, which techniques to use, and how to delight your stakeholders who are usually not happy with "I don't know" or "It depends".

Stefan Bossuwé
The Introduction of the Holistic Business Analyst is rather new for most of you, for some maybe even slightly provocative, and might raise a number of remarks/questions. During the barrel discussion you will have the opportunity to give remarks and/or ask questions for which there was no time during the keynote or that only popped up afterwards. These will be addressed in a more interactive way in the format of a panel discussion, where everyone can provide his/her input. In the second part of the barrel discussion, Stefan will address 2 of the most important concepts/techniques from his keynote and elaborate on them by working out cases together with the participants.

A high degree of awareness is required when it comes to managing project stakeholders. The earlier a project manager discovers who all the stakeholders are and identifies their interests and expectations, the more likely their management will be successful. This presentation examines 3 short project case studies and provides important lessons based on the different strategies used by 3 very different leaders in managing stakeholders: Fillipo Brunelleschi (Florence Duomo), Bruce Ismay (Titanic), Charles Lindbergh (first-ever transatlantic solo flight).

When the world of business whizzes by so fast and project speed needs to match operation capability, we need the know-how to knit together the various frameworks and skills. Not only to address technology change but build in change resilience rather than manage change resistance. Breadth of capability provides flexibility in the hyperspace of change where the activities of PMs, BAs and BRMs are intersecting to maximise the value of business strategic outcomes.

This workshop mixes techniques from various frameworks to ensure we hit the mark with the H2H (human2human) component required for successful projects. Softs skills bring hard benefits - the ABC of ICT; the 9 Guiding Principles of Practitioner; Values in Action; EI or AI or IQ and more of what rules all project and change interactions and communication from C-Level through to the Front Line. Practical exercises to become a mixologist and be more adaptive and innovative.

When the world of business whizzes by so fast and project speed needs to match operation capability, we need the know-how to knit together the various frameworks and skills. Not only to address technology change but build in change resilience rather than manage change resistance. Breadth of capability provides flexibility in the hyperspace of change where the activities of PMs, BAs and BRMs are intersecting to maximise the value of business strategic outcomes.

This workshop mixes techniques from various frameworks to ensure we hit the mark with the H2H (human2human) component required for successful projects. Softs skills bring hard benefits - the ABC of ICT; the 9 Guiding Principles of Practitioner; Values in Action; EI or AI or IQ and more of what rules all project and change interactions and communication from C-Level through to the Front Line. Practical exercises to become a mixologist and be more adaptive and innovative.

When we say “nothing’s impossible,” we usually mean that given unlimited time, unlimited resources, and really flexible performance standards, we can do anything. “Give me a lever long enough and a platform to rest it on, and I will move the world,” said Archimedes, but he was obviously not a project manager. Our projects are constrained: the iron triangle of resources, time, and mandatory scope are only three of the dimensions that restrict our options.

In project management, the question is whether the project is operationally possible, able to be done within the envelope of our constraints. As project managers, we know the importance of realistic budgets, schedules, and performance criteria, but let’s face it — we don’t always get the final word. Sometimes we get what we get and have to make do…somehow. Worse, we don’t always know what we’re really going to need. You can’t always tell up front whether the project can actually be accomplished under the current circumstances. By the time we know, it may be too late.

Managing impossible projects is something every project manager faces sooner or later, and in this stimulating, inspiring, and practical workshop attendees will learn how to:
· Spot “impossible” projects early
· Find creative solutions to many “impossible” problems
· Make the business case for change
· Kill the truly impossible ones before they get out of hand

Based on Michael Dobson’s book Project: Impossible, part of the “Lessons from History” series, this workshop explores some of the most famous “impossible projects” in human history — things that nobody would have thought possible until they were actually accomplished. Following in the footsteps of great project managers such as Julius Caesar, Charles Lindbergh, Robert Moses, and others, you’ll get the inside scoop on how the most brilliant minds in history solved the most intractable problems in the history of project management.

If it were easy, anybody could do it. If it’s impossible, they call in a project manager. Will you be ready?

When we say “nothing’s impossible,” we usually mean that given unlimited time, unlimited resources, and really flexible performance standards, we can do anything. “Give me a lever long enough and a platform to rest it on, and I will move the world,” said Archimedes, but he was obviously not a project manager. Our projects are constrained: the iron triangle of resources, time, and mandatory scope are only three of the dimensions that restrict our options.

In project management, the question is whether the project is operationally possible, able to be done within the envelope of our constraints. As project managers, we know the importance of realistic budgets, schedules, and performance criteria, but let’s face it — we don’t always get the final word. Sometimes we get what we get and have to make do…somehow. Worse, we don’t always know what we’re really going to need. You can’t always tell up front whether the project can actually be accomplished under the current circumstances. By the time we know, it may be too late.

Managing impossible projects is something every project manager faces sooner or later, and in this stimulating, inspiring, and practical workshop attendees will learn how to:
· Spot “impossible” projects early
· Find creative solutions to many “impossible” problems
· Make the business case for change
· Kill the truly impossible ones before they get out of hand

Based on Michael Dobson’s book Project: Impossible, part of the “Lessons from History” series, this workshop explores some of the most famous “impossible projects” in human history — things that nobody would have thought possible until they were actually accomplished. Following in the footsteps of great project managers such as Julius Caesar, Charles Lindbergh, Robert Moses, and others, you’ll get the inside scoop on how the most brilliant minds in history solved the most intractable problems in the history of project management.

If it were easy, anybody could do it. If it’s impossible, they call in a project manager. Will you be ready?

Course description:
Agile business analysis is the practice of business analysis in an agile context with an agile mindset (Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide page 2). In spite of those that believe that the role of the business analysts has been marginalized by the agile approaches to business problems, organizations that have adopted agile business analysis practices have been able to maximize their business value. This workshop illustrates the role of the Agile Business Analyst and the techniques to be applied to support not only one Agile project but also the development of the whole organization in the path to achieve a more agile stance.

Audience:
Project managers, system analysts, business analysts, business owners, product owners, agile team members and anyone wishing to help make their organization more flexible and responsive

Pre-requirements:
understandings of Business Analysis

Course level:
Intermediate

Learning Objectives:
Understand how the Business analysis is related to the Agile environments Learn how use to the agile business analysis techniques to create business value for your organization Learn about the Agile Business Analyst role and responsibilities emphasizing the interaction with all stakeholders in the organization. Understand how to approach to business problem solution in the agile manner

Course overview:
- Course Introductions
- Business Analysis and the Agile world
- Agility is a mindset
- What is an Agile Business Analyst?
- The seven principles of Agile Business Analysis
- The Agile Business Analysis in the solution life cycle
- Agile Business Analysis Techniques at work
- Recap and Closing

Course description:
Agile business analysis is the practice of business analysis in an agile context with an agile mindset (Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide page 2). In spite of those that believe that the role of the business analysts has been marginalized by the agile approaches to business problems, organizations that have adopted agile business analysis practices have been able to maximize their business value. This workshop illustrates the role of the Agile Business Analyst and the techniques to be applied to support not only one Agile project but also the development of the whole organization in the path to achieve a more agile stance.

Audience:
Project managers, system analysts, business analysts, business owners, product owners, agile team members and anyone wishing to help make their organization more flexible and responsive

Pre-requirements:
understandings of Business Analysis

Course level:
Intermediate

Learning Objectives:
Understand how the Business analysis is related to the Agile environments Learn how use to the agile business analysis techniques to create business value for your organization Learn about the Agile Business Analyst role and responsibilities emphasizing the interaction with all stakeholders in the organization. Understand how to approach to business problem solution in the agile manner

Course overview:
- Course Introductions
- Business Analysis and the Agile world
- Agility is a mindset
- What is an Agile Business Analyst?
- The seven principles of Agile Business Analysis
- The Agile Business Analysis in the solution life cycle
- Agile Business Analysis Techniques at work
- Recap and Closing

Course description:
Together with a small team you will experience analysing a system by building functional model and employing TRIZ Trimming for simplification. This one day workshop will inspire you with fresh ideas coming from TRIZ methodology.

What is it about?
TRIZ Functional Analysis comes from Value Engineering. It is all about translating system into model of functions provided by objects of the system. TRIZ Trimming is set of tools to simplify any system based on Functional Analysis. TRIZ Functional Analysis is different from other forms because it includes also the negative, ineffective and excessive interactions in the system, and this is key to a proper understanding of the problems and potential solution points in the system. All interactions are expressed as Subject-action-Object.

Audience:
Project managers, system analysts, business analysts, business owners, product owners, innovation experts and anyone willing to expand their capabilities in solving problems with functional analysis and trimming.

Course level:
basic (for problem solving/innovation)
If you have experience with any Functional Analysis or Value Engineering, this workshop might not be so beneficial, as it is designed for beginners.

Course overview:
- Rules for building Functional Analysis model
- Just do it: small team’s experience with analysing a system with Functional Analysis
- Functional Analysis for inspiring ideas
- Rules for TRIZ Trimming
- Small team work over trimming a system
- Recap and Closing

Course description:
Together with a small team you will experience analysing a system by building functional model and employing TRIZ Trimming for simplification. This one day workshop will inspire you with fresh ideas coming from TRIZ methodology.

What is it about?
TRIZ Functional Analysis comes from Value Engineering. It is all about translating system into model of functions provided by objects of the system. TRIZ Trimming is set of tools to simplify any system based on Functional Analysis. TRIZ Functional Analysis is different from other forms because it includes also the negative, ineffective and excessive interactions in the system, and this is key to a proper understanding of the problems and potential solution points in the system. All interactions are expressed as Subject-action-Object.

Audience:
Project managers, system analysts, business analysts, business owners, product owners, innovation experts and anyone willing to expand their capabilities in solving problems with functional analysis and trimming.

Course level:
basic (for problem solving/innovation)
If you have experience with any Functional Analysis or Value Engineering, this workshop might not be so beneficial, as it is designed for beginners.

Course overview:
- Rules for building Functional Analysis model
- Just do it: small team’s experience with analysing a system with Functional Analysis
- Functional Analysis for inspiring ideas
- Rules for TRIZ Trimming
- Small team work over trimming a system
- Recap and Closing

Without a doubt, you have heard about DevOps – but what is the significance of the DevOps movement and associated practices for your organization and specifically, for Project Management?

Roughly speaking, there are two types of organizations – those who were born in the cloud (sometimes called ”unicorns”, the green-field organizations that are building everything from scratch using the latest technical solutions), and those who have IT systems from 10 or more years ago (sometimes called ”horses”, the brown-field organizations that are transitioning their IT to the cloud).

Chances are, that you are working for one of these ”horses”, and chances are, that your organization has many practices, tools, processes and procedures in place which might seem like completely incompatible with DevOps (or Agile, for that matter). And this, as you’ve probably discovered, is a challenge.

This workshop will help you address that challenge. We will cover various DevOps practices in relation to ‘traditional’ organizational structures, practices, and processes. We will explore how DevOps and Agile relate to Project and Program Management, and how it all helps the organization on their Digital Transformation journey. We will also look into the impact of the Agile mindset on the whole organisation (not just software development), and explore specific new or improved practices as used in startups and cutting-edge enterprises.

Without a doubt, you have heard about DevOps – but what is the significance of the DevOps movement and associated practices for your organization and specifically, for Project Management?

Roughly speaking, there are two types of organizations – those who were born in the cloud (sometimes called ”unicorns”, the green-field organizations that are building everything from scratch using the latest technical solutions), and those who have IT systems from 10 or more years ago (sometimes called ”horses”, the brown-field organizations that are transitioning their IT to the cloud).

Chances are, that you are working for one of these ”horses”, and chances are, that your organization has many practices, tools, processes and procedures in place which might seem like completely incompatible with DevOps (or Agile, for that matter). And this, as you’ve probably discovered, is a challenge.

This workshop will help you address that challenge. We will cover various DevOps practices in relation to ‘traditional’ organizational structures, practices, and processes. We will explore how DevOps and Agile relate to Project and Program Management, and how it all helps the organization on their Digital Transformation journey. We will also look into the impact of the Agile mindset on the whole organisation (not just software development), and explore specific new or improved practices as used in startups and cutting-edge enterprises.