The Essential Skills that Make A Great Business Analyst

To be a successful BA it takes more than gathering requirements and document processing. As a BA we must be able to communicate effectively, manage risks, lead people to right outcomes, and manage conflicts efficiently. 1. Business Communication: 3W rule - this rule can be applied to all our interactions as a BA, whether it is senior stakeholder, customer, or a developer. 3W rule - What, Who, and When can prevent misunderstandings, delays, and rework. This rule clearly tells us What needs to be communicated, Who needs to receive this information, and When it should be communicated meaning the right time and frequency of communication. Business communication is classified into verbal and non-verbal. Verbal communication includes oral and written like emails, meetings, presentations, reports, and documentation, while non-verbal communication includes facial expressions, appearance, gestures, and posture. 2. Supplier Management - Managing Risks and Expectations. A risk is an uncertain event or condition which can have an impact on either cost, time, quality, or scope of the project. Risk response planning includes planning that reduces the probability of occurrence of risk and the response planning helps in determining the conditions against which actions can be taken. It helps the organization to deal with risks. This planning includes following actions: Acceptance - we decide not to take any action to address the risk because the impact is considered manageable. Avoidance - it is the process of not performing risk causing activities, it is defined as being idle during the occurrence of risk to take advantage of the new opportunity, Transfer - is shifting the responsibility for managing the risk to a third party often through contract, insurance etc. Mitigation - taking proactive steps to reduce the impact of the risk occurring, or chances of occurring, or both. 3. Leadership - is about doing the right things. A BA must lead by example and demonstrate behaviors they expect from others, they are visionary who help the team understand the bigger picture and purpose behind any work, as team players they must collaborate with other team members and stakeholders, as a Teacher they must share knowledge and help others understand complex business concepts, they must also inspire and coach team members and create an environment for people to perform their best. 4. Conflict Management - it is the process of resolving conflicts between individuals or groups in a constructive way. Thomas Kilmann technique is commonly used to resolve conflicts. this model has 2 dimensions - assertiveness and cooperativeness. It identifies 5 conflict management styles: Competing - it involves satisfying our concerns by using power or defending our position, Collaborating - it involves working in collaboration with other party to find a solution that fully satisfies both parties, Compromising - the objective of this style is to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfies the concerns of both parties, Avoiding - it involves ignoring the conflict or postponing the issue to be dealt with by others or at a later time, Accommodating - it involves neglecting our concern to satisfy the concerns of other party. This style is suitable when maintaining goodwill is important.