Hey everybody, I’m Dr. White, The founder of the Business Analysis Doctor.
If you don’t know me
I provide business analysis coaching, training, and mentoring to BAs all over the world Fast-track
business analyst career by getting their business analysis certification to increase their BA
capabilities.
I’ve been performing business analysis for over a decade, I also have my CBAP certification
and a doctorate in business administration.
Today, I’ll be giving you 7 Tips to better comprehend the BABOK Guide
Anyone who is pursuing their IIBA certification such as a CBAP, CCBA, or ECBA will need to
master the BABOK Guide in order to pass the exam.
Most people find BABOK to be intimidating because of the volume, in addition to the
fact that it’s a pretty dry read.
So let’s get started so that you can get on the path to successfully clearing your
certification exam.
Tip number 1 - Increase your BABOK terminology Learning any new material requires understanding
keywords in the proper context before you are able to understand the text as a whole.
BABOK provides a shortlist of key terms as well as a Glossary with 200 words defined.
Review the Key Terms and the Glossary prior to reading the material to familiarize yourself
with BABOK terminology I have a resource to help you with this.
The Business Analysis Doctor BABOK Glossary defines more than double the amount of terms
that are defined in the BABOK guide itself.
This resource includes definitions of terms that are found in the BABOK Guide as well
as terms that may appear in the text of exam questions.
I’ll include a link to this resource in the video description
Tip number 2 - Utilize the Introductions The Introduction of the BABOK Guide outlines
the Structure of the book’s content and will help you navigate through the knowledge
areas and tasks more intentionally.
Be sure to have a clear understanding of the information that is provided in repeating
structure components such as the purpose, description, and elements of each task.
This will help you mentally categorize how you should use the information you are reading
Also, be sure to review chapter introductions.
These give you a general idea of what you are about to learn.
This helps give prepare your brain to be receptive to the information you are about to consume.
Tip number 3 - Have a learning objective Every learning or training activity starts
with some type of goal, which is further broken down into several learning objectives.
Various studies have proven that having clear learning objectives is essential for effective
comprehension and retention.
This can be tricky because reading a passage in a text doesn’t always reveal a clear
learning objective.
A tactic you can use to facilitate this is to turn the section header into questions.
And at the end of each section, ask the question to yourself to confirm whether or not you
are able to answer the question.
I have a resource to assist you with this technique as well.
The Business Analysis Doctor BABOK v3 Workbook includes key learning objectives for each
section of The BABOK Guide as well as a place to take notes.
By going through the workbook as you read through BABOK, you will be verifying whether
or not you are comprehending and retaining the information that is presented in the text.
The link to this resource will also be posted below
Tip number 4 - Compare the BABOK to your own knowledge
Generally, as you read informational text, you either agree or disagree with the material.
In addition, you can generally categorize the information as information you already
know or new information.
For information you already know in BABOK, think about how you have applied that concept
in a practical setting in the past and what the outcomes were.
For new information, think of ways the information could have or should be applied in a practical
setting.
Think of what the possible outcome may have been if you had applied those new concepts,
and how the outcomes may have been different as a result.
Tip number 5 - Create case studies Tip five is a more specific form of tip number
4.
For many learners, true learning doesn’t occur until it is applied.
Case studies are a great way for learners to apply the concepts and theories presented
in BABOK to real-life scenarios.
I’d recommend using a project that you are currently assigned to as your case study and
then imagine how you could apply the BABOK concepts to that project and envision what
the outcome would be.
Better yet, if possible, try applying BABOK concepts to live projects and initiatives
you are involved in and note the outcomes.
Being able to relate theories and concepts to something you are familiar with greatly
increases retention rates.
Tip number 6 - Take handwritten notes While taking notes may seem like a given,
it’s important to note that taking handwritten notes have been found for me more effective
than typing notes.
The physical act of writing requires your brain to organize and synthesize information
at a deeper level than typing there for helps you retain the information more effectively.
Also, various studies have shown that students who take hand-written significantly outperform
students who take notes by typing.
Be sure that your handwritten notes are structured and organized, so that you can easily refer
back to them later.
Tip number - Read BABOK content at least three times
If the thought of reading 500+ pages of content intimidates you, introduce yourself to The
BABOK Guide material by reading a BABOK study guide first.
A good study guide should be much more concise and less daunting than the actual BABOK Guide.
The Business Analysis Doctor, BABOK v3 Study Guide is less than have the pages of the full
BABOK guide and provides all the key content.
A link to this resource is below as well.
Alternatively, if you are brave enough to start off by reading the entire BABOK Guide,
try to read it in its entirety within one month.
You will need to allocate reading time each day to accomplish this.
After taking 3 or 4 simulation exams and studying the answer explanations, read the entire BABOK
for the second time.
You will notice that when you are reading, the answer explanations from the simulation
tests are more prominent throughout the BABOK than they were before.
The concepts will start to have more meaning to you.
The second pass-through is where you will want to take your notes.
I recommend taking notes during the second pass-through because you will have more context
at this point and absorbing the material will take less effort, therefore you have more
capacity to focus on active note-taking.
After completing a prep course or study group, briefly read the BABOK Guide for the third
time.
This time, the information will be more comprehensive and you should be able to absorb the information
much more easily due to the context you've gained from the previous steps.
So, there you have it.
These are your seven tips, to better comprehending the BABOK Guide.
If you found this information useful, be sure to like this video and subscribe for more
content.
Also, be sure to visit my website at thebadoc.com that’s T-H-E-B-A-D-O-C.com
Well, thanks for watching the video until next time