May 2016 Chapter Meeting

Speaker Bio: Michelle Kahler is an expert practitioner in project  management, business analysis, process improvement and change leadership at North Highland, a global management consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta. She is also a career sports enthusiast with a background playing D1 college basketball, pro-women’s football and recently a brand new sport for her – Lacrosse! For the past 18 years, Michelle has helped solve complex business problems and expand a variety of capabilities for many public and private sector organizations. She is an active supporter of the PMI and IIBA Denver chapters and meets regularly with colleagues to brainstorm ideas and career development. Michelle very much enjoys developing new relationships and combining forces with friends to achieve business objectives.

Topic Description: Research consistently states that engaged executive sponsorship is one of the most important keys to success for an organization implementing a change effort.  Business Analysts are inherently positioned to influence sponsors and business owners to help lead them through critical change initiatives. Michelle will discuss how the most effective Business Analysts use their influence with key stakeholders to confirm business objectives align with organizational strategy, clearly define and articulate business needs/requirements and make sure the final solution is what is really needed for the business. Success in this activity elevates the level of the Business Analysts, strengthens their leadership and career development, and provides much needed value to the business. This interactive session will provide insights from across industries and key take-aways that a Business Analyst can immediately implement to improve his or her influence with sponsors to achieve success.