What Should be the Career Goals of a Business Analyst

Before applying for any job, it is necessary to be sure of the professional goals so that a balance can be maintained in the job catering and position advancement. There are several goals both technical and non-technical that must be kept in mind while working as a business analyst or before stepping into the shoes of a business analyst.

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Given below are some of the important goals that should be adhered to by every individual in the field of business analysis.

  • Analytical and technical skills: While working on an analytics project it is necessary to have an individual in the team who knows the technical stuff such as databases(SQL, Oracle, etc.) or a person who is well equipped with business software such as visualization tools, programming languages like R, Python, etc. Apart from these technical skills, an individual knowing the core analytical concepts serve as a boost to the team.
  • Good communication skills: There is no point in working on something that cannot be explained to the general public or other officials working in the same organisation. A particular project involves several aspects of business analysis which may not be understood by the other members of the team as everyone is working on different components of the team. So, to deliver the idea effectively, communication skills are a must. Also, the product that is designed needs to be delivered to the client which requires communication skills again.
  • Problem handling skills: Any idea that is proposed to a business analyst either as a project or assignment, must be solved before proceeding with the solution. This requires problem-solving ability as a quality of the business analyst.
  • Flexibility: As business analysis involves several aspects such as the technical domain, product delivery, model construction, etc. an individual should have the ability to switch from one task to another. This is not a mandatory goal but it is always better if an individual possesses it. This goal showcases the ability of a person to work without getting stressed in any given atmosphere.
  • Improving business analysis skills: When an individual is working in a field, there should be a zeal in the individual to progress each day and improve the skills that they learn or apply in their day to day job life. Several business analysis courses teach the skills in all levels- basic, intermediate and advanced. Continuous up-gradation of the skills serve as a boost in the business analysis career and gives new heights to an individual in the job field.
  • Sharing of knowledge: We have often heard of the proverb “Sharing is caring”. An individual should always possess the tendency to share knowledge with other colleagues of the institution. While sharing whatever we know, we get to learn new things. Not only this, but it also helps us find out if we learned anything wrong and shows proof of the leadership skills of an individual.
  • Ability to adapt to other domains: In drastic situations, an individual might be expected to perform a duty other than the business analyst work. In such a situation, instead of panicking an individual should calmly work with their assigned portion of the job. After their job is done, they can proceed with the other duties different from the assigned duties. This not only shows the flexibility of an individual but also portrays the leadership skills and ability to adjust to any environment.
  • Continuous learning: Even after working for many years in the field, an individual should not stop with what they have learnt. They should keep learning every day to upgrade their knowledge in the field. Moreover, there might be a day when a new requirement involving a completely new requirement pops up. In that kind of situation, the attribute of continuous learning will be highly helpful to an individual.

The career goals of a business analyst are not limited to the above-mentioned points. It goes far beyond the points that are mentioned above as the scope of business analysis is vast. However, the above-mentioned points do give a brief idea of what should be the goals of a business analyst.

What is Business Analysis

What is Business Analysis

To ensure that a business runs glitch-free, its requirements and problems need to be identified, and solutions need to be determined from time to time. While techniques or processes may vary from industry to industry, the setting of tasks, gathering relevant knowledge related to the market, and techniques implemented to solve business needs is known as business analysis.

Business analysis is also conducted to understand the present state of a business, and to identify what its needs are. In other instances, business analysis means analysing requirements and coming up with valid solutions that meet business objectives and fulfill goals.

From a more technical point of view, identifying business needs and implementing solutions involve bringing about more improvement in daily processes or opting for a structural change in the organization.

How does Business Analysis Impacts an Organization?

Business analysis helps stakeholders or investors of an organization, understand more about its operations, overall structure and operating policies, who can then suggest recommendations or provide solutions to help the business achieve its objectives.

For external stakeholders, the performance of an organization is extremely important for them to anticipate their returns or have a forecasting model for possible risks. Internal communication between stakeholders and other functional departments are also better understood once a business analysis is conducted.

What is the Role of a Business Analyst?

Someone who analyses the state of affairs in an organization or business enterprise, and researches, as well as, documents its process, needs and shortcomings is called a business analyst. It is also his job go understand if a business model need a to be integrated with technology, and to what extent. To become a business analyst, a business analysis course is highly recommended.

The aim of a business analyst involves the following:

  • Understanding the structure of an organization and how operations function
  • Identifying current or potential problems in an organization, recommend and implement solutions
  • To understand the stakeholders’ aims and objectives align with the general health of the business and it’s goals as wellWhat are the various steps analysts follow during business analysis of an organization? 
  • Research- The most important step of business analysis is research. Business analysts spend enough time collecting basic information about the requirements, scope of work and business goals. It is also part of their role to understand who the stakeholders are, along with an in depth knowledge of the business history, understanding how processes work in the organization, and the existing system.
  • Identifying goals of the business and setting a scope- A business analyst has to make sure that business objectives align with the stakeholders’ expectations; in case there are conflicting expectations, he should be able to merge them.
  • An important step of business analysis is making sure that business goals are set and clear, only then the scope of business can be set, which is a go-to reference document that serves in helping people understand the current needs of a business and how they can be implemented. Before any plan mentioned in the scope is implemented, it needs to be run through investors.
  • Making a business analysis plan- to ensure the outcome meets the deliverables, a business plan needs to be put in place- from setting a customized list of deliverables to setting timelines for the same. A business analyst must ensure that the scope has been covered in the plan.
  • Understanding requirements- Once a plan has been set, the implementation team needs to understand the requirements, collect supporting information for the same, review the deliverables and decide up to what extent they are attainable.
  • Technical implementation- During the process of business analysis, often certain software is conceptualized, built and deployed on a project. Making sure that the software design is in place and fixing errors if any, is an important step.
  • Apply the solution- The most important and final step for business analysis is applying the solution to identified issues and understanding it’s results, which means identifying a way forward after the solution has been applied, determining next steps for the business, evaluating progress and communicating the results to important members in the business. This step is based on the business analyst’s own skills, and cannot be mastered at a business analysis course.

Once the process of business analysis is completed, it is expected that the business will achieve its set goals and objectives. Businesses often find better opportunities, improve their internal processes and manage effective communication with stakeholders more efficiently post a business analysis.

Also Read: Life of Business Analyst in India

What Is The Scope Of Business Analysis?

The scope of the business analysis is all-encompassing as it works across the broad aim of business improvement with technology or without it. The spectrum of activities that fall under this field is a bit of management, finance, strategy making,dealing with both external and internal customers, ensuring regulatory and compliance issues are dealt with, strategising for better efficiency, cost analysis and everything that falls in between.

What Is The Future Of Business Analysis?

Uninteresting example is the development of the iPod. It was known that Hitachi had developed a mini-storage of 1 GB data capacity and were unable to take it to the market. At the same time, Apple had developed a music app that could not be used independently of storage capacity.Steve Jobs put these two together to produce the hugely popular invention he called the iPod. He was a successful entrepreneur.

The above success story can not only be inspirational, but it can also clearly demonstrate how a smart business analyst can use ML, AI, data analytics and predictive technology to create innovative products and steer the enterprise to success and huge profits.

Across the board the last decade has seen technological advances and replacement of repetitive jobs by AI. The need for business analysis and profits for the enterprise will never end. Technological advancements will also continue happening. However, most importantly the need for smart analysts with domain-expertise has far exceeded the supply.

Why Do Business Analysis Courses?

With technology implementation, most roles across various departments are collaborative and involve other teams and specialists across the organisation. The scope for experienced and tech-savvy business analysts’ role is growing exponentially. The job role of the Business Analyst is lucrative and offers great payouts.

This role is one of the front line management roles responsible for a variety of management and strategy processes. The need of the hour is to have expertise in technology related to functioning. This would obviously mean acquiring a new skill set if you are employed or re-training those employees vital to the organisation.

Prerequisites:

A prerequisite to becoming a Business Analyst would be that you have a technological background (Ex: IT Graduates) or that you have relevant domain expertise (Ex: Commerce Graduates with knowledge of systems used). You will also need to have some relevant experience in the management of internal and external customers as well as in assessing and analysing requirements needs and issues for which you need to develop workable solutions.

Business analysis courses:

Retrain and re-skill at Imarticus Learning. They offer an IIBA-endorsed and recognized Business Analysis Certification Program. The topics covered here help you gain the much-required expertise and immersive exposure to Business Analysis, and the technology powering techniques and frameworks on BABOK 3.0 which has recently been prescribed as the norm.

The best feature here is that you learn in real time on relevant projects by working on case-studies, workshops,seminars and project work. You will thus have a well-rounded education and anew set of skills to handle multi-tasking with the best tools, techniques, and practices from industry-drawn certified trainers.

If you qualify then don’t wait any longer. Retrain and upgrade your skills today.

Also Read: Why Business Analysis is Important Part of Business

7 Things About Change Management You’ll Kick Yourself for Not Knowing

Change management is one such art which an organization needs to implement properly in order to grow. Now, a business organization needs to evolve in each and every time. The changes in a business organization depend on various factors such as:

  • Market Conditions
  • Customer Demands
  • Technologies
  • Input Costs
  • Competition

A company needs to adapt itself in these changing scenarios otherwise, it cannot grow. They need to continuously re-evaluate their business models and enquire about the aptness of the tactics and strategies they are applying in order to reach their long-term goals.
What is Change Management?
Change management is all about carefully and thoughtfully making changes in the working of an organization. However, not every people in your organization will be ready to accept changes. When you tell them to do things which they have been doing in a certain way to do in a different way, they will find it hard to accept it and get confused about it. Many companies face uncertainty during this change. If your company is facing the same thing then here 7 change management guide you will kick yourself for not knowing.

  1. Communicate The Risks Of Not Changing

When you communicate about the risk of not changing to your employees then they will understand aptly as to why they need to change and keep evolving. To keep themselves at the top of their work, they need to keep evolving. If you can make them understand this then you will be able to apply change management guide successfully.

  1. Involve Your Team In Decision Making

When you involve your team while making an important decision, they seem to become more and more responsible for their work. They will feel that the company is also listening to what they want. This is very important in order to gain the trust of your employees. This will be the base on which you can apply change management guide successfully without any uncertainty and chaos among your employees.

  1. Minimize The Uncertainty

With the change in the working of your company, one thing is certain and that is there will be uncertainty in the minds of your employees. That is why you need to communicate with your employees in a way that the uncertainty in their mind will get eliminated. This is also an effective change management guide.

  1. Celebrate Success

This is an important step in implementing the change management guide successfully. Celebrating the successful application of each change and celebrating those changes will make your employees believe that the changes you have made are going in a positive direction.

  1. Explain The Reason For The Change

If you don’t explain why you are changing the working of your company, your employees will stay in the shadow of doubt and fail to understand why the change is necessary. Thus, you have to explain it properly to your employees. It is a change management guide that you should follow.

  1. Be Transparent

You need to make sure that your employees know every information regarding the change. When there is a communication gap, they might feel that you are plotting something terrible. So, be transparent to your employees as much as possible.

  1. You Need To Lead The Change

Remember that the change in your organization will be less scary for your employees when you will be driving that change. So, show your leadership skills by leading the change as it will help your employees to get clarity about the change.
So, next time when you are changing the working of your organization to cope up with the changing scenarios of the market, keep these 7 change management guide in mind in order to apply the changes successfully.

3 Important Tips for Business Analysts

A lot of effort and hard work is needed to perfect the skills required by a business analyst, but dedication and determination will help one can excel in this field. If you’re marching towards becoming a successful Business Analyst then you must read the following points:

  • Performance check:

It is important for all the aspiring traders to develop a habit of keeping an unbiased record of their performance. This would help them gauge their strong as well as weak points

  • Keep upgrading your knowledge:

Always be eager to learn new things related to the market. Up to date knowledge will help you to generate new ideas to improve yourself in order to perform to the best of your abilities

  • Be prepared for challenges:

The corporate world is very unpredictable; you might have to face a number of challenges and tricky situations. So it is advised to prepare yourself to face all sorts of difficulties that you might come across

A lot of professional courses are also available to help you enhance your business and trading skills. You can consider joining a business analytics certification course, which ensures better insight into this field