Business Analysis, an Insiders Story

Value of Business Analysis: Thando highlighted key advantages that business analysts bring to projects:

1. Clarity: Helping organisations clearly define problems and assess whether proposed solutions actually address those problems.

2. Process Understanding: Identifying how new solutions fit into existing business processes.

3. Change Management: Ensuring new systems or processes are effectively adopted by teams.

Translating: Thando emphasised that business analysts serve as crucial intermediaries between business and technical teams. They help translate vague requests like "make it easier" into specific, actionable technical specifications.

Stakeholder Engagement: Business analysts interact with a wide range of stakeholders, including marketing, sales, compliance, finance on the operational side, and developers, QA specialists, system administrators, depending on the changes to be implemented.

Clarity: A major value of business analysts is their ability to bring clarity to the actual problem, ensure proposed solutions truly fit the organisation's needs and processes help embed new systems or processes into existing operations.

Testing and Validation: Business analysts play a crucial role in ensuring that implemented solutions can be properly tested and validated against the original requirements.

Cutting through the “Noise”: They excel at identifying core user needs amidst a sea of information and helping with prioritisation.

Adaptability in Various Methodologies:

• Business analysts work across different delivery approaches and methodologies, including Agile approaches, Scrum, Kanban, and traditional waterfall approaches.

• In Agile environments, BAs collaborate with Scrum Masters and Product Owners, adapting their role to fit the iterative nature of these methods.

Scaling:

• BAs may work on small, agile projects or as part of larger, complex programs.

• The role can vary from focused work stream-level to high-level work interfacing across multiple teams and streams.

Regulatory and Compliance Challenges:

• BAs often need to interpret complex regulatory changes, translating legal language into actionable operational and technical requirements.

• This also involves working closely with compliance, finance, and development teams to ensure all perspectives are aligned.

Creating Clarity Through Artefacts:

• BAs develop various documents / artefacts, such as process models, to clearly communicate complex ideas across different teams.

• These tools help in visualising and agreeing on solutions that meet both business and technical needs.

Negotiation and Problem-Solving:

• A significant part of the BA role involves finding compromises between what the business wants and what is technically feasible.

• This often requires multiple iterations and discussions to reach a consensus.

Pain Points

Misunderstanding the value of taking time to do thorough business analysis

• People often want to rush to building or buying a solution without proper analysis.

Difficulty in scheduling regular meetings with business teams

• Business teams have day jobs and other priorities, causing restrictions in availability.

• Challenging to find a consistent cadence for project discussions.

Clashing priorities between project work and business teams' regular responsibilities.

Limited recognition or visibility of the up-front work and "heavy lifting" done by business analysts early in the project.

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What skills help anyone excel in a BA or related role?

Stakeholder engagement and management

• Ability to influence decision makers.

• Managing diverse opinions when implementing change.

• Handling multiple stakeholders effectively.

Empathy

• Understanding the true nature of problems beyond surface-level symptoms.

• Being able to relate to users' challenges and frustrations.

• Acting as the "voice of the customer" in meetings.

Analytical skills (of course!)

• Willingness to dive deep into issues.

• Questioning assumptions and not taking things at face value.

• Connecting the dots and figuring out how to make things work across technical, business process, and strategic perspectives.

Problem identification and articulation

• Expertise in identifying the real problem, not just symptoms.

• Ability to clearly articulate problems as a key step to solving them.

• Ability to identify what customers or users really need, not just what they want, or what they think they need.

Prioritisation

• Helping stakeholders with prioritisation thought processes.

Getting into Business Analysis:

• Learn the foundational basics. Watch YouTube videos about "a day in the life" of a business analyst. Reach out to professionals on LinkedIn for informational interviews.

• Formal training: Enrol in a training program or certification course.

• Build your network: Connect with professionals in the field on LinkedIn. Ask for advice and tips from experienced business analysts.

The Future of Business Analysis (5-10 years outlook):

• Business analysis skills will remain crucial, but not limited to those with the "Business Analyst" title.

• Project managers and business stakeholders may increasingly perform business analysis tasks.

• Business analysts will need to be flexible and less territorial about their role.

Evolving Skill Set:

• Traditional "bread and butter" business analysis skills may not be enough to stand out.

• BAs may need to bring additional skills or specialisations to the table.

• Potential areas for specialisation include:

  • Adopting new technologies (e.g., AI and prompt engineering).

  • Becoming experts in specific software packages (e.g., Salesforce).

  • Developing deep subject matter expertise in areas like finance.

Personalised Career Paths:

• The BA field may offer more opportunities for professionals to create their own career paths.

• BAs can align their careers with their passions and interests.

• This evolution is seen as a positive change, allowing for constant growth and adaptation.

Continued Relevance:

• Despite changes, organisations will still recognise the need for dedicated business analysts.

• The core skills of problem-solving and bridging business and technical needs will remain valuable.

Emerging areas for business analysts:

• Experimentation: Running short experiments or "spikes" to identify real problems and potential solutions.

• Unbiased approach: Leveraging their outsider perspective to ask probing questions and provide accurate feedback.

• Utilising business analysis tools and techniques for experiments and problem-solving.