A business analyst with business background brings his unique blend of skills to the table. Questions arise…Are there any business analyst technical skills or soft skills required  to be well positioned in a dynamic job market? 

A business analyst requires using a perfect combination of tools/techniques in order to build business intelligence solutions and to finally to support the entire decision making process. 

If you are among those umpteen people who are still exploring a business analyst role and would like to know more all about the skills required to be a bright candidate, here are the details.

Problem Solving & Critical Thinking Skills

Being efficient problem solvers is a business analyst’s forte. They are trained to find possible solutions to challenging issues and especially when it comes to being the negotiator between stakeholders or various businesses.

Besides this, a successful business analyst must possess critical thinking skills to take care of multiple options before arriving with the right solution for their team. They need to be patient listeners to the varied requirements put forth by their stakeholders.

A thorough analysis and asking relevant questions is vital till the business analyst works out the real requirement of fulfilling the needs of any specific project.

Communication Skills

There is no denying that it is mandatory for business analysts to have exceptional communication skills. They must possess the skill to arrange team meetings, ask questions related to the requirements as well as the specifications of the project.

Also, being a good listener to the answers is vital for being a good business analyst. While communicating verbally, you should be able to make your point unambiguously and clearly.

Today’s world is a digital one and digital technologies have brought people together across the globe for achieving common objectives.

In this type of a scenario, business analysts also must develop required skills for communicating efficiently with clients and stakeholders in a virtual setting. This could be achieved by using emails, video calls, web meetings and conference calls.

Research Skills

An efficient business analyst needs to have excellent research skills. For doing that, they need to research the Internet thoroughly whenever you start a new project. Find in details about the assigned project. Research will entail you to collecting data and relevant info required to form a correct solution.

Use your technology skills and do a thorough analysis on a daily basis. Quality requirements need to be provided and you should be able to answer queries or questions put forth by the project team. This will permit you to do the financial planning and the risk analysis involved in coming up with various solutions.

Conducting Statistical Analysis

Having a strong statistical knowledge and having a natural flair for numbers is a big plus point for a business analyst. After detailed collection of your data comes along the requirement for analyzing the data.

In this situation, statistics play a very important part for understanding the risk assessment, statistical analysis as well as financial planning. Reviewing the data collected and interpreting the set of data available to you is quite crucial for this role. As a last step, determining the best solution for your company becomes inevitable.

Developing Excellent Presentation Skills

It is most likely that as a business analyst, you will have to hone your presentation skills. Do not undervalue the significance of creating quality presentations on various topics, such as business requirements and status of the ensuing project.

Presenting your findings or work in front of a stakeholder audience is a very common requirement. The content of the presentation should be clear and concise. It should match the objectives of the entire project.

This will also give your audience an opportunity to ask questions. They will be also able to raise any queries in case they would want to have further details about a specific area. During presentations, the business analyst also gets a chance to seek more clarity from stakeholders if they need to clarify any doubts regarding the project.

Business Analysis Tools

An IT Business Analyst is by far the most common type of business analyst. First and foremost, an IT business Analyst should have a thorough knowledge of Software Development Life Cycle. This enables the business analyst to go into details regarding requirements, design/development, testing and finally deployment.

Documenting use cases, being capable of asking the right questions and making all the requirements clear for the project work to start is something which IT business analysts do very often. Producing absolutely clear specifications is essential for clarity. 

To implement varied techniques, business analysts must have a thorough knowledge about varioous types of tools. In the Information Technology industry, business analysts are usually perceived as the connector between business and technology.

They should have a thorough knowledge of their project. This factor is quite significant so that they are able to understand the technical and business aspect as well. This helps them to be able to be on the same page as their peers. Here are some business analyst technical skills and tools all business analysts should be aware of. 

• MS Office Suite
• Access
• Google Docs
• Test Cases
• Test Plans
• PowerPoint
• Enterprise Architect
• Visio
• Rational Requisite Pro
• SmartDraw
• CASE Spec
• Balsamiq
• Pencil
• SWOT
• Programming languages, although not mandatory but advisable to know either Vusial Basic, C++ or PHP
• Knowledge of database programs such as Access and MySQL

Decision Making & Creative Skills

This is one of the most significant skills which play a huge role in the success or failure of a project. A Business Analyst makes important decisions in the interest of the project. He is also a part of various planning meetings, discussions and implementing management decisions. 

Final decision making is done by following first “critical thinking”, “impact analysis” and wrapping it up with the last step of weighing the pros and cons, called the “comparative analysis”.

Being creative in their approach to coming up with various alternatives is necessary for a business analyst. He must approach the solution in the right way by being innovative and bringing out of the box ideas to the table. Brainstorming creative suggestions and contributing positive opinions in the form of wireframes and prototypes are required through the life cycle of any project.

Conclusion

While discussing all the skills above, we have focused specially on all those which are significant for the career of today’s business analyst. As a professional, a business analyst must keep themselves updated with the latest developments in this industry.

My suggestion to all the new business analysts is to take up a couple of skill sets and develop your expertise in them. These could be related to being an IT business analyst or a data business analyst.

We all know that technology is evolving globally at a lightning speed. Two of the latest technical skills  in this field are: Machine Learning & Robotic Process Automation. 

Being a business analyst, having great leadership skills can prove to be a asset down the line. Watch this video for knowing all about it.