COEPD – Center of Excellence for Professional Development Happy Learning
BA acts as a liaison between Client and IT team. Business Analyst is a person who has domain specific knowledge along with IT knowledge. Because of this he acts as a person who represents client and communicates his language in a way which IT team can understand .BA identifies business problems and the opportunities of business and recommends solution accordingly.
There are certain requirements which a BA must have:
Listening :
BA must possess listening skill. Because whatever client communicates BA has to listen carefully and document accordingly. If BA does not listen properly, he might not understand what client is trying to explain and it becomes reason for project failure. Listening is the first step in gathering requirements. From thereon entire SDLC will start.
Communication:
Communication is the key in any project. Client requirements are to be understood well and communicate in the same way in which client explained the requirements to be. If the BA does not communicate the document well, chances are that IT misunderstood the said requirements and might result in development of a different project altogether. To avoid this, effective communication channels has to be established.
Visualization:
BA must be aware of usage of Visualization tools like Visio, balsamic and reporting tools like Power BI and Tableau. Visualization tools helps to visualize product at the very early stage of SDLC. Client gets a fair idea of the product after seeing it rather than just imagining the about product. Client gets a feel of the product when he sees it. Any changes he wishes to make can be easily made if requested at the early stages. Visualization tools helps client to request for any changes during initial stages rather than waiting until the project completion which might not be cost effective
Reporting:
Though BA’s core job does not involve preparing reports, it is good to know some of the prominent BA tools like Power BI and Tableau. These tools helps to visualize data. It helps to organize data in a easily understandable way. This can help client in analysing the data and take decisions accordingly. Project progress can also have tracked easily with the help of reporting tools.
Presentation skills:
This is one of the most underrated rated which a BA must have. Presentation helps client to understand what BA is willing to articulate. So BA should have presentation skills
Interpersonal skills:
BA should never behave inappropriately with client. He should always be patient and should be open to listen to the client. He should never get angry with the client. BA should never criticize Client irrespective of BA’s view on the project. Client should never feel being ignored in the project. Client should be given utmost priority.
Conclusion: Though technical skills are important, it is difficult to acquire people skills .BA should be always focused on learning people skills and should be dealing the client with utmost priority .BA acts a pillar for project success because of this reason.
