Business Analysts are often at the heart of business change and help businesses make great decisions about how to solve business problems. It is therefore important for a good Business Analyst to have the right competencies that will enable them effectively discharge this duty.
The core competencies of a BA are broadly divided into 3 categories:
- Interpersonal Skills
- Business Domain Knowledge
- Professional Techniques
Interpersonal Competencies:
We start this episode by looking at 3 interpersonal qualities a BA must have:
Communication Skills
This is by far the most important competency a Business Analyst must have. Poor communication is often at the center of issues encountered in solving business challenges. Your ability to communicate effectively determines how successful you will be in delivering your role as a Business Analyst. Much of what you will do as a Business Analyst involves interacting with people individually, as a team or in groups, therefore your communication skills (Written, Verbal or Non-Verbal) must be sound. You will need to employ a range of tools to sharpen your ability to communicate and engage effectively with a variety of people from various backgrounds, for example, business or technical people. You will need to be comfortable with a variety of styles and be able to engage various personalities. You can read our blog on personality types for more information on how to achieve this. Also see the blog on communication for more tips.
Leadership Skills
While a Business Analyst may not be directly managing people, they are responsible for delivering on the vision or objectives of a piece of work, so from that perspective they have to apply leadership. Even without a title, a business Analyst needs to be an agent of change and with that comes the burden of owning and taking responsibility for the outcomes associated with the change activity. The business Analyst is expected to shepherd the team towards a goal or outcome. A great Business Analyst will be aware that while they are not titled, they can deploy a variety of skills like empathy, facilitation and influencing to lead successfully. A sound understanding and awareness of organisational culture will also help the Business Analyst navigate the challenges of leadership.
Influencing Skills
As a Business Analyst one of the key aspects of your role will be securing decisions on recommendations or getting agreement from stakeholders or business leaders. There will be those who will be for the notion and there will also be those who will be against. Some will have preconceived ideas, while others will be resistant. A great Business Analyst must be capable of influencing all quarters to facilitate the decision making process. You must be able to tailor your approach to engage effectively with everyone involved and be clear about what outcomes need to be achieved. Be clear on where the buck stops as this will enable you to resolve deadlock situations. Read our blog on crucial conversations and Influence for more tips.
Next week we will continue by looking at the next set of competencies:
- Relationship building
- Team Work
- Problem Solving
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