From the course: What Is Business Analysis?

Business analysis as a set of competencies

From the course: What Is Business Analysis?

Business analysis as a set of competencies

- Competencies pertain to a set of knowledge, skills and abilities used to enhance your effectiveness at performing a task. For example, I could train you on the semantics of writing good requirements, the task, but if you don't have strong communication skills, the competency, your ability to specify and communicate the requirements that you write will be negatively affected. Let's take a look at some of the core competencies that enable better performance of business analysis tasks. As I discuss each competency, think about the other professions that also benefit from these same competencies. At the top of my list is facilitation, which is your ability to lead a group of people through a discussion to achieve a set of objectives. Crystal is a business analyst who excels at facilitation. She often uses this competency when running requirement workshops, conducting a requirements walkthrough or moderating a discussion between stakeholders when they're unable to agree on a set of requirements. Crystal might simply move through the motions of completing her elicitation tasks but it's her ability to remain neutral, ensure audience participation and use strong meeting management skills, all of which come from the art of facilitation, the competency. That helps her complete her work more effectively. Problem-solving is the ability to research a problem to uncover the root cause of a situation. Business analysis professionals are tasked with defining and implementing solutions that address business problems. Take, for example, David, a senior systems analyst. He might choose to immediately run off and implement a quick solution to fix a problem, the task, or he can step back from the immediate situation, use his problem-solving skills, the competency, to ensure to perform sufficient research to uncover the true root cause of the problem. If David overlooks uncovering the root cause of the situation, he could be implementing a solution to address the wrong problem, which could result in making the situation worse and would definitely end up wasting a lot of time and money. If you have strong negotiation skills, you have the ability to lead a group of individuals who are having a difficult time reaching a mutually agreeable position and guide them to a decision. Lexi has been performing business analysis for several years. She has developed skills to lead challenging discussions calmly without taking sides. And she's quite good at removing the emotion from the decision-making process. When her stakeholders can't agree on a set of requirements, she could host a meeting, the task, and let the opposing sides passionately disagree until someone gives in but this will break down good working relationships. A better approach is for her to leverage her negotiation skills, the competency. Lexi can lead a discussion where she focuses the decision-makers on understanding the interests of each side, and together they can reach a mutually agreeable decision that meets shared interests. Lastly, industry and organizational knowledge are also important business analysis competencies. Industry knowledge pertains to knowledge about the industry your organization operates in. An organizational knowledge pertains to knowledge about how your enterprise functions, including its business model and customers. In business analysis, you can have little knowledge about the industry or organization and still develop requirements, the task. However, perform the same task by layering in strong knowledge about the industry and organization, the competency, and the analyst is more apt to ask more challenging questions, probe deeper, and overall being able to better maneuver the organizational culture when working with stakeholders. Which of these competencies do you notice in the business analyst you work with? Which of these competencies would you find most valuable at your organization right now?

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