How Business Analysts Can Leave A Lasting Legacy
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The job of a Business Analyst is not always easy. Analysts are responsible for supporting the design and implementation of solutions that improve company performance. Business Analysts’ responsibilities often include changing current processes in order to boost the efficiency of businesses.
Some Business Analysts also spend time reviewing facts and figures, and interacting with people who work at all levels of the organisation. A good Business Analyst should possess curiousity and strong communication skills, to determine where problems lie when interacting with stakeholders. The secret often lies in being able to elicit information from experts, executives and operational staff in order to come up with practical recommendations to solving business problems.
Many multi-million dollar corporations owe the fact that they still exist to the timely hiring of effective Business Analysts. Their quiet work behind the scenes has transformed influential corporations, bringing them into the 21st century with advanced technology. Evidently, savvy analysts work with project teams to implement state-of-the-art systems and processes to streamline operations and make them more efficient.
When an analyst leaves their fingerprints on the performance of a business, the legacy they create can be powerful and memorable. So, what does it take for a Business Analyst to leave a legacy behind in the companies they work?
1. Passion
An effective Business Analyst is passionate about what they do. Business Analysts must have the desire to conduct deep research into facts and figures. It's also essential to find out the best possible recommendation to move the business forward, which often involves hours of reading, researching and conducting interviews.
Business Analysts must be keen to support the implementation of solutions that can help businesses flourish. By interacting with and understanding stakeholders, a BA can achieve the type of success stakeholders would label a legacy.
2. Commitment
An essential component of successful business analysis is commitment.
Most of us have been told as children that no job is worth doing unless you’re prepared to do it well. When you are committed to the task at hand, it makes a difference.
3. Accountability
Being accountable means taking responsibility. Everyone loves taking responsibility for excellent outcomes. Often, accountability means taking responsibility for failures also.
A person who takes accountability seriously would not try to deflect blame when things do not work as planned. Such people don’t look around for those to point fingers at or external factors to justify their failures. Business Analysts should take responsibility for any corrective actions which fall on their plates, that need to be taken to set projects on course.
Every Business Analyst gets a choice of how they respond to negative situations and this could be by either going away to lick their wounds or finding a way out of the problem. BAs who apply the latter approach leave behind a memorable legacy.
4. Succession Planning
Business Analysts should strive to accomplish a smooth transition from their current organization if possible, before proceeding to another one for a fresh challenge.
It’s important that Business Analysts share their experiences, skills and knowledge with the rest of the BA team. If a Business Analyst decides to leave an organization for some reason, there should be someone who can jump on existing projects to keep the momentum going. If the Business Analyst trains a successor, the legacy continues.
The bottom line
Business Analysts are expected to collate elicited information, analyze it, and come up with a recommended approach to solving identified business problems. Changes to the way a business is run may not always be popular. However, these changes are often necessary for the survival of the business. To gain stakeholder support for proposed changes, soft skills like negotiation are extremely important. A course like the NYC business negotiation course for Business Analysts (an example only - there are many others) can help pick up negotiation skills, and can help aspiring BAs develop the much-needed negotiation skills to persuade/convince their stakeholders to get on board with proposed changes, and support the change management process. Business Analysts play an integral part in implementing the vision and mission of an organisation and can contribute to making the success of proposed changes a reality.
A Business Analyst is typically situated amongst stakeholders who insist on having one foot in the past along with those who want to move forward. They must often work with a diverse team of stakeholders, characterized by contrasting personalities and motivations. The BA’s job is to get all team members focused on a singular goal, with each contributor playing their role.
AUTHOR’S BIO
Specialists in the corporate business negotiation market, The Negotiation Experts offer instructive advice on their site via articles, Q&A’s, book reviews, case studies, and negotiating definitions.
The financial health of a business is its lifeblood. Every decision, from small operational costs to large-scale investments, hinges on the company's ability to maintain financial stability. In today’s competitive business environment, the ability to make informed financial decisions is more crucial than ever.