I’m surprised by how many professionals are hesitant to ask their manager to pay for their IIBA® membership. Using a technique from IIBA’s BABOK Guide®, the Business Case, present your case to the manager and you may be surprised at how quickly it will be approved. A business case for a small expenditure should not be long. It should be concise, straightforward and clear. It should easily fit in an email message on one screen. You are asking your company to make an investment. Tell them how the investment will pay off. If you don’t get a response within a week, send a reminder to your manager. You want an answer, yes or no.
When your request is approved, your next question should be “What payment method should I use?” and you should immediately follow through with your investment. During the year, be sure to let your manager know times when your membership provided value so this request will be even easier next year.
See (and use) my example below. Post your results in the comments below.
Business Case for IIBA® Membership Reimbursement
<Instructions: Remove these instructions! Fill in italicized items. Delete bullets that don’t apply to your situation, add new bullets for specific values but don’t make the message any longer than one page. >
Request: I am asking for <employer name> to pay for my membership in the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis). IIBA is a professional association for people who perform analysis, helping to produce better business outcomes. Membership fee: $135. <replace with your currency and regional membership rate from IIBA.org along with your local chapter fee if you live near a chapter. Example: $110 US and $25 Palmetto Chapter – $135>
The expected value of this membership: My effectiveness in performing business analysis work will increase as a direct result of engaging with a community of business analysis professionals.
Specific benefits:
- I will receive a copy of the Business Analysis Guide to the Body of Knowledge (BABOK® Guide), the worldwide standard for business analysis. The 50 techniques included in the BABOK Guide will provide me with new ways to better analyze and present solution requirements to our business and IT partners.
- I will have access to a library of resources for enhancing business analysis skills (e.g. books online, recorded and live webinars, articles). I will quickly be able to find proven approaches to challenges I face on my projects and other work.
- I will have access to a worldwide network of expert business analysis professionals who share ideas and support each other with practical advice for overcoming project challenges.
- I will have access to participate in the local IIBA Chapter meetings, learning from other analysts in our area about new approaches to facilitating changes to business processes and outcomes.
Payback:
When I save three hours of my time in solving a problem or more clearly communicating with a stakeholder, we will have already received the payback for the annual membership fee. I am confident that I will save more than three hours of time during this year and will improve the quality of service to our business partners as a result of this investment.