The new ECBA exam scheme has simplified number of techniques for new business analysts. The exam now focuses ONLY on 20 techniques from BABOK. In the previous scheme, all 50 techniques from BABOK were covered as part of the exam. That is a welcome change from the learner’s perspective.
Here is the brief summary of the 20 techniques, their purposes, strengths and weaknesses.
Purpose
Describes roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures within an organization and aligns these structures with organizational goals.
Strengths
Visual representation of organizational units is common and enables future projects to know participants and their roles.
Limitations
Can become outdated and does not always reflect real influencers within the organization.
Purpose
Identifies stakeholders affected by an initiative, assesses their authority, and maps interest and attitude towards business analysis work.
Strengths
Useful for requirements elicitation and stakeholder engagement across groups.
Limitations
Complex and risky to assess influence and interest of stakeholders; can be less used by teams with stable stakeholders.
Purpose
Defines and limits the scope of analysis or solution, serving as a basis for project effort estimation and contractual obligations.
Strengths
Provides justification for in-scope/out-of-scope decisions and helps assess completeness and solution impact.
Limitations
Political and contractual constraints can make scope change challenging; wrong assumptions may affect scope as needs change.
Purpose
Generates new ideas through group deliberation in a non-judgmental environment, fostering creative thinking.
Strengths
Fun, productive, and can generate many ideas quickly while reducing tension between participants.
Limitations
Dependent on participants' creativity and willingness, and requires agreement to avoid criticism during sessions.
Purpose
Intensive event involving key stakeholders to quickly gather requirements or resolve issues.
Strengths
Efficient for collecting detailed requirements and validating inputs, direct stakeholder collaboration, and cost efficiency compared to multiple interviews.
Limitations
Process can slow down with too many participants; facilitation and complete input collection are required to prevent overlooked requirements.
Purpose
Uses gamification and tactile activities to create common understanding of problems or solutions.
Strengths
Encourages creative thinking and helps surface hidden assumptions; promotes active participation.
Limitations
Some may find it unproductive or uncomfortable, especially reserved participants.
Purpose
Structured stakeholder discussions to elicit needs, probe deeper, and ensure completeness of understanding.
Strengths
Builds rapport, allows probing and clarification, and supports in-depth examination of stakeholder perspectives.
Limitations
Time-consuming, requires skilled facilitators, and can be influenced by interviewer’s bias.
Purpose
Examines existing documentation to elicit business analysis information, validate processes, and understand current state.
Strengths
Useful when subject matter experts are unavailable; provides AS-IS perspective without creating new content.
Limitations
Dependent on accuracy and currency of documents; results may be time-consuming to analyze and validate.
Purpose
Records, tracks, and prioritizes project work items based on business value and changing requirements.
Strengths
Keeps team focused on high-priority items, supports iterative detail elaboration, and enables flexible response to changing needs.
Limitations
Large backlogs can be unwieldy and difficult to manage; risk of losing details if items are not updated timely.
Purpose
Defines and manages business rules and policies for consistent decision-making and behavioral guidance within organizations.
Strengths
Centralized repository enables rule reuse; supports quick implementation of changes without altering processes.
Limitations
Poor vocabulary or contradictory rules can produce errors; combined rules may result in inconsistent outcomes.
Purpose
Reviews project successes, failures, and recommendations for improvement in subsequent phases or projects.
Strengths
Promotes team morale, reinforces positive experiences, and reduces risks for future projects.
Limitations
Can devolve into blame discussions if not well facilitated; reluctance among team members to discuss problems openly.
Purpose
Maps and analyzes organizational capabilities to support strategy, performance, and goal achievement.
Strengths
Minimizes waste and creates aligned initiatives by providing shared strategic outcomes.
Limitations
Requires cross-functional collaboration; deciding the approach and level of rigor can be challenging.
Purpose
Identifies, analyzes, and manages uncertainties that could impact value at strategic, tactical, or operational levels.
Strengths
Allows management of risks at multiple levels and sharing of successful responses across initiatives.
Limitations
Full list of risks may be unmanageably large; often possible to manage only a subset at a time.
Purpose
Analyzes business processes for efficiency, effectiveness, and improvement opportunities.
Strengths
Ensures solutions address the right issues and aligns initiatives organization-wide.
Limitations
Can be time-consuming with no standardized notation for capability maps.
Purpose
Investigates and evaluates underlying causes of problems for corrective or preventive action.
Strengths
Structured methods aid in identifying root issues and enable effective solutions.
Limitations
Requires extensive experience to facilitate and may be difficult with complex problems.
👉 [Download the Root Cause Analysis Template]
Purpose
Defines quantifiable metrics to measure and track solution performance and stakeholder objectives.
Strengths
Facilitates alignment of goals and objectives; provides clear measures for performance management.
Limitations
Can be resource-intensive and may distract from core responsibilities, especially in agile environments.
Purpose
Graphically describes the sequence of activities, flows, and controls in a process or system.
Strengths
Enhances understanding for most stakeholders and supports training and coordination.
Limitations
Formal models can become documentation-heavy and may be perceived as cumbersome.
Purpose
Defines domain-relevant data entities, their attributes, and relationships to support business needs.
Strengths
Ensures consistent vocabulary and logical design for persistent data; facilitates transparency.
Limitations
Requires technical knowledge often beyond typical stakeholder expertise.
Purpose
Assesses strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for strategic planning and solution analysis.
Strengths
Quickly analyzes multiple aspects of state and environment; helps focus on value-adding factors.
Limitations
High-level only; requires further analysis and clear context to avoid drifting from focus.
Purpose
Simple, brief textual descriptions of functionality users require to meet business objectives.
Strengths
Easily understood and supports prioritizing, estimating, and planning solutions.
Limitations
May lack detailed specifications and requires proper context for complete understanding.