EVENTS

OVERVIEW :

Business Analysts sit between the business and the technical team. This webinar equips them with a foundational, non-technical skill — data modelling — so they can translate business requirements into a clear, structured, visual form that both business stakeholders and developers can understand.

The session is designed to:

• Demystify data modelling using plain English and everyday analogies, with no assumed technical background.
• Give Business Analysts a repeatable, step-by-step method for turning written requirements into an Entity Relationship (ER) diagram.
• Show, rather than just describe, how a diagram is built — using a live, on-screen demonstration in Mermaid Live Editor — so participants see the concepts in action.
• Build participants` confidence to communicate and collaborate more effectively with technical teams and database designers.

AGENDA

This is a 1-hour, instructor-led session delivered in simple, jargon-free language. Alongside the explanation of each concept, the trainer builds a live ER diagram on screen using the free browser-based tool Mermaid Live Editor (mermaid.live), so participants watch the model grow piece by piece as each idea is introduced.

The session covers five main parts:

• What is Data Modelling, and why it matters: an introduction to data models (using a blueprint analogy), the three types of models (conceptual, logical, physical), and why this is a core communication skill for Business Analysts.
• The Five-Step Method: a step-by-step walkthrough of gathering requirements, and identifying Entities, Attributes, Relationships, and Keys — with each step demonstrated live in Mermaid as the diagram is progressively built.
• Cardinality: a simple explanation of how records connect — One-to-One, One-to-Many, and Many-to-Many — using everyday examples and a practical "two-question trick" to get it right every time.
• ER Diagram Notation (Crow`s Foot): how to read and draw the standard symbols for entities, primary keys, and cardinality, and how each symbol maps directly onto the Mermaid syntax shown on screen.
• Worked Example, Common Mistakes, and Recap: a complete, live-built ER diagram for a small Library System (Member, Book, Loan), followed by four common modelling mistakes to avoid, and a closing recap of everything covered.

Throughout the session, one running example — a Customer placing Orders containing Products — is used consistently, so participants can follow a single thread from a plain business sentence all the way to a finished, professional ER diagram.

TAKE AWAYS

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Explain, in plain English, what a data model is and why it matters to a Business Analyst`s role.
• Read a business requirement and identify the Entities, Attributes, and Relationships hidden inside it, using a simple nouns-and-verbs technique.
• Explain the difference between a Primary Key and a Foreign Key, and why every entity needs a unique identifier.
• Determine the correct cardinality (One-to-One, One-to-Many, or Many-to-Many) between two entities, using a simple two-question test.
• Read and draw a basic ER diagram using Crow`s Foot notation — rectangles, underlines, tick marks, and crow`s feet.
• Recognise and resolve a many-to-many relationship by introducing a linking (junction) entity.
• Avoid the four most common data modelling mistakes made by new Business Analysts.
• Apply this same five-step method independently — with or without a diagramming tool — the next time they receive a set of business requirements.