Sharing top three skills required for a business analyst which I have shortlisted based on my personal experience and with some research.
To become a successful Business Analyst (BA) you have to work on the following three major skillsets, These are very essential skills to become a Good Business Analyst.
- Communication
- Documentation
- Logical & Analytical Thinking
Communication
Communication is one of the essential skills required for a business analyst. As a BA you interact with many people which includes Client / stakeholders, Technical Team (Developers, Testers, Project Managers, Solution Architect), Management People and so on….. Hence It is must to have a good communication skill while communicate with all cross-functional team & stakeholders.
A definition of good communication skill doesn’t mean to have an extraordinary vocabulary or to have an extraordinary perfect grammar skillset, A good communication skill means your audience (Clients / stakeholders , Technical Team, Management People etc) should understand what you are explaining to them because until and unless your audience understand the solution you are offering to them, they will not satisfied.
Effective listening allows BA to understand the information communicated by the audience very accurately. When your audience is trying to explain you about an issue / problem, need , requirement at that time you as a BA should be a good listener as well as a good communicator. If you don’t understand the requirement from your clients it’s your skillset to communicate with them in such way to get the required information from them. It will help you to facilitate your stakeholder with the accurate solution.
Documentation
The second skill which plays very important role in Business Analyst profile is Documentation. Documentation is one of the major important aspect of the BA.
In Information technology (IT), documentation plays a significant role in the success of a project regardless of whether it is a small project or a big one. A good documentation ensures that project stakeholders and project team members all are aligned and headed in the same direction to achieve the goal. Documentation encourages and guide all team members to achieve the project’s objectives and enables them to develop a quality product in a timely, cost-effective, and efficient manner.
As per the project need, BA has to deal with the multiple documents like
- Scope Document
- Scope of Work (SOW)
- Project Requirement Document (PRD)
- Business Requirement Document (BRD)
- Software Requirement Specification (SRS)
- Functions Requirement Document (FRD)
- Presentation etc….
IT’s a BA skill to write very clear, meaningful and easily understandable document.
Documentation is collaborative work of the team. In documentation process BA work hand-in-hand with Client / stakeholders, Technical Team (Developers, Testers, Project Managers, Solution Architect), Management People to discuss the best course of action. Once the document is completed, it is shared with the team to ensure that what is documented is achievable before submitting it for final review of stakeholders. Reviewing the documentation is a task that helps to reduce the risk of missing certain requirements or including a process or functionality that is not needed. Once the documentation is approved or signed by the stakeholder, development may start.
Irrespective of which develop methodology is used or the size of the project, It is very important to have a good , clear and easy to understand documentation as it will help to create a quality product within the given timeline.
Logical & Analytical Thinking
Logical & Analytical Thinking is one of the most important skill for a BA. A BA is to be considered an expert who understands the client’s difficulties / problems / issues / needs, visualize them, analyse and document them. Logical & Analytical thinking requires proficient research skills, logical thinking and presentation skills.
Depending on the situation being a BA often requires a decision-making role. Being a bridge between the client/stakeholders and the technical team, it is BA’s responsibility to make sound research on the requirement which will help team for proper decision making to achieve the goal.
For a business analyst, each stakeholder / client comes with a different requirement to be fulfilled very quickly and for the long term. So, it is a business analyst’s responsibility to study the requirement, analyze the available options, and then suggest the best choice. BAs must be able to observe a requirement from all the possible aspects within the business.
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