Roadmap to mastering business analysis

Career growth doesn’t just need to go up. It can involve such things as lateral moves. We can move at the same level from one position to another. These moves encourage you to grow and develop new skills with diverse experiences.

Career development can also include exploring your current position. Explore the boundaries, parameters, and related roles of your career. If you are a business analyst, you can work with and explore positions. You can master some of those positions’ strategies, skills, and activities by working in close collaboration with people in these job roles. It encourages you to grow your skills and strengthen them.

Business analysts have various levels of professional competence. Some handle each job by using their experience in business management, finance, or management. This approach’s advantage is to see the “big picture” – the scope of the industry’s challenge. Others face the issue of substantial IT process knowledge.

Note: Although roles are often mixed into small businesses, a Business Analyst (BA) may have a much more technical role than a conventional analyst (for example, coding, design of programs).

To become a master business analyst:

• If you are an order-maker, you must learn to make the changes that an organization needs despite the features that stakeholders may initially ask.
• If you are a methodologist, you must ‘listen’ to help focus on the company and its real problems, not distracting yourself from compliance with the policy process.
• If you are a business expert, you need to ‘learn’ how your business should change and not stay rooted in what your company now is.
• If you are an evangelist, you must “let go” to realize a more comprehensive view (which is certainly different from yours).

Below is a roadmap to mastering business analysis.

1. Gain a bachelor’s degree

Earning a prestigious bachelor’s degree is the first step towards becoming an entry-level business analyst. Standard education programs include business, finance, and economics and can help you develop skills in this area. Some employers, however, may prefer candidates with a Master’s degree.

2. Have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Analytics, Statistics, Finance, Information Management, Data Science, or Economics

An advanced degree may be required to continue to the ranks to be eligible for analytical roles in management or higher level. Consider participating in the master of business analytics program to distinguish yourself from the profession and advance your career.

Enhance both your technical and business skills

Technical skills to improve for Business Analysts are as follows:

• Programming skills (if possible)
• SQL databases and database querying languages
• Statistical analysis software (e.g., R, SAS, SPSS, or STATA)
• Business intelligence and reporting software
• Database design
• Data visualization
• Survey/query software
• Data mining

This technical list is subject to change as new data tools are being developed every day.

Specific business skills to improve for Business Analysts are mentioned below:

• Analytical problem solving: Should implement best practices in analyzing large quantities of data with intensive attention to detail.
• Good communication skills: Should use reports and presentations to illustrate complicated strategies and processes to the lay audience.
• Innovative thinking: Need to question existing business practices and implementing new data analysis methods.
• Industry awareness: Must know how the industry (link) is guided and how data will help to bring success to your company/organization plan.

4. Be ready to know some of the most commonly used business analysis techniques. You’ll have promising tactics to use every time while making a significant decision.

1. SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This analysis offers a good summary of an organization that can take advantage of opportunities, identify vulnerabilities, and leverages its strengths.

2. Business process modeling (BPM)

Business process modeling, also called business process visualization, is a visual representation of a company’s processes. The aim is to find space for greater productivity and general change by developing visualization of current operations.

3. MOST analysis

The MOST research methodology is a tool for goal-setting at any step. This strategy ensures an emphasis on the organization’s most important priorities to maintain.

4. PESTEL analysis

PESTEL analysis is used to track the macro-environmental factors that can affect the business either positively or negatively. It is beneficial for deciding the timing and strategies for launching a new product, plan, or system.

5. CATWOE

CATWOE is a strategic analysis and problem-solving method that can be applied to a range of situations. CATWOE is most successful when generated at the beginning of a project or brainstorming phase. It can help provide direction to a project and help the stakeholders and actors prevent potential headaches.

5. Earn additional industry-recognized certifications for BA professionals.

You can obtain certifications to demonstrate your core competencies, learn about the latest technology and software variants, or step up into a specialization. Certifications can help you if you want to advance into a new position after a while. Employers may not need a specific certificate, but your certification chosen can be a signal of competence in a field of specialization.

Final thoughts

All about the career path of business analysts is flexible. Although a business analyst’s skills are universal, their industry and organization, products, and the projects they work-in can vary widely in how and where they apply them.

Such choices turn business analysts into an attractive career for ambitious professionals who are willing to learn the skills required for their work. However, you can accelerate your growth and career trajectory if you apply the skills and techniques you’ve developed for your BA.

At last, career growth includes enhancement. It means staying in your role and developing the core capabilities that make you great. It could involve developing your techniques of excitement, communication, ease, and influence for a business analyst.

You might feel that somewhere your career passes through delegations, valleys, and even plateaus. These are opportunities for advancement. It is a way for you in fundamental practice to develop your skills. Think about it as a platform to jump upwards. To be a master BA is a journey, not a goal. A journey needs discipline and commitment. Enjoy happiness in your career paths.