Jamie Bell
Jamie Bell is Head of Experience at Redvespa Consultants, New Zealand’s largest boutique business analysis consultancy. Though he’s not a BA, Jamie has worked alongside them for more than seven years. His role is varied and involves managing a small BA team and supporting organisational culture, experience, marketing, and development. Across these areas, he leans heavily on a career which has covered storytelling, creativity, and innovation through a number of disparate roles – from TV researcher and Zoo-worker, to museums and community sporting orgs.
Presentation: Once Upon A Time In The Office: storytelling for BAs
New Zealand Business Analysts are highly skilled at the “what” and the “how” – from mapping complex process flows to writing precise functional requirements. However, the success of these deliverables depends entirely on how well stakeholders understand them. Without a clear narrative to connect the technical details, critical insights can easily get lost in corporate noise. We believe storytelling is not a superficial addition to the BA toolkit; it’s a practical mechanism for translating complexity into a clear, shared vision that prevents stakeholders becoming passive observers.
This session outlines the Redvespa approach to business narrative. We examine a fundamental shift in perspective: why BAs should avoid positioning themselves as the “hero”. Instead, we look at how acting as a guide allows you to move diverse stakeholder groups out of their day-to-day BAU routines and through the steps of a project lifecycle. By focusing on how audiences naturally process information, this session provides strategies to cut through institutional jargon and establish clear communication lines.