Modern business enterprises are transforming by adapting to innovation and automation that help them attain long-term growth. Maintaining a consistent growth model is difficult, especially in today’s competitive economy, where every business is striving for the top position and struggling to stay ahead of its competitors.
It is not easy to oversee the digital transformation and align them with the organizational objectives. An organization’s business analyst manages this monumental task to provide an objective perspective on the business problems. Organizations always look for specific skills in business analysts that help them find the best possible solutions to attain and sustain long-term business growth.
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What is Business Analysis?
Business analysis is the process of analyzing the business’s products, services, processes, tools, and techniques using data. It is a data-driven process that provides insights into the various business processes of an organization. The main objective of business analysis is to help organizations make profitable decisions based on facts rather than speculations.
Who is a Business Analyst?
A business analyst (BA) uses business analysis to help solve the problems faced by the organization. BAs communicate with the organization’s stakeholders to identify the problems in the business process and find feasible technical solutions to solve them. They are the bridge that guides the automation initiative and the business objective.
Business analysts are known as the change agents of their organizations, irrespective of the size or domain. They are invaluable for any successful organization, whether they are a profit-focused business enterprise, government, or non-profit organization. Besides identifying and solving business problems, BAs are skilled in discovering new opportunities for businesses to expand and grow.
Key Skills of a Business Analyst
BAs understand their organization’s objectives and propose ideas to help attain these goals. They are knowledgeable and skilled in using data analysis to identify growth opportunities. These professionals have the technical and soft skills to improve every aspect of their organization, from the bottom to the top management. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the skills needed for a business analyst.
Successful business analysts use technical and soft skills to excel at their job. The technical skills of a business analyst include research skills, data analysis, financial planning, and knowledge of the business structure and technology. At the same time, the soft skills of a business analyst include problem-solving, decision-making, interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills.
Business Analysts’ Technical Skills
- Research and Detail-oriented – BAs are skilled at researching and delivering accurate results. They conduct surveys and gain feedback from their organization’s customers to understand their requirements. Their detailed report provides insights into the market demand and identifies what their organization needs to do to fulfill their customers’ expectations.
- Data Analysis – Business analysts use different types of data analysis to identify, evaluate, and solve business problems. They are knowledgeable in the gap, statistical, risk, stakeholder, and cost-benefit analysis. Data analysis helps business analysts find the root cause of their organization’s problem and the appropriate solutions.
- Financial Planning – Financial expertise is one of the key technical skills of business analysts because it helps organizations and their stakeholders understand the financial needs of their businesses. With financial planning, BAs can guide organizations to attain their objectives by accurately estimating and adjusting operational costs.
- Business Structure Knowledge – No business analyst can succeed without thoroughly understanding their organization’s business structure. BAs understand how their business operates, which helps them implement and introduce adjustments to improve them.
- Knowledge of Technology – While it is not necessary for business analysts to have a strong knowledge of information technology, some BAs benefit from a solid IT background. A successful business analyst would benefit from a basic understanding of the technology their organization uses and the systems that would be advantageous to the business processes.
Business Analysts’ Soft Skills
- Interpersonal Skills – Apart from the technical skills mentioned above, business analysts must possess certain interpersonal skills that will help them effectively interact with the business leaders and stakeholders of the organization.
- Communication Skills – BAs have strong oral and written communication skills that help them successfully communicate their ideas and opinions with top management. They also interact with the clients and customers of their organization; thus, having good communication skills is a must for a successful business analyst.
- Negotiation Skills – A business analyst is a bridge between various departments in an organization. They use their negotiation and consultation skills to reason with all concerned parties, from clients to developers, management to the financial department, and so on.
- Problem Solving – The primary objective of a business analyst is to solve business problems. However, sometimes BAs are required to find the problem to be solved later by exploring new opportunities for businesses to expand and adapt to specific uncertainty that has the potential to disrupt the economy.
- Decision Making – Business analysts can view their organizational operations objectively and make decisions based on the long-term benefit of the solutions. These professionals have the power to transform the overall structure and culture of their organization with their technology and data-driven decisions.
Organizations always strive to hire trained and qualified professionals to fill their various positions. Thus, aspiring business analysts must acquire these technical and soft skills mentioned above to get the attention of potential employers. The job prospects of BAs are huge, with the growing demand for qualified business analysts in modern organizations.
According to ZipRecruiter, BAs earn an average salary of $79,486 annually in the US alone. While the average salary can change depending on the location or position of the organization and on the education and experience level of the business analysts, these professionals are usually paid handsomely, even in entry-level jobs.
Conclusion
Through training, aspiring business analysts can improve their technical and soft skills, including the analytical and leadership skills required to analyze and improve their organization’s operations successfully. The Project Management Institute (PMI) offers the Professional in Business Analysis (PBA) Certification to business analyst aspirants. Earning this prestigious credential will help future BAs gain recognition in the industry and earn better than the rest. Our PMI-PBA Certification Training Course helps aspiring BAs find innovative solutions to the various problems faced by their organizations by successfully validating their business analysis technical and soft skills.
