SUBMITTED TO:

Dr. JAVED IQBAL

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT ENGINEERING

CSC 305

ASSIGNMENT #1

SUBMITTED BY:
ARSAL IMRAN
FA17-BSE-024

DATE: 4/10/2019
 Topic of Disclose:
Essential Skills for a Business Analyst

I. Critical Thinking Skills

Business analysts are responsible for evaluating multiple options

before helping a team settle on a solution. While discovering the
problem to be solved, business analysts must listen to stakeholder
needs but also critically consider those needs and ask probing
questions until the real need is surfaced and understood. This is what
makes critical thinking and evaluation skills important for new
business analysts.While communication, problem-solving, and critical
thinking skills are core to being a good BA, they are not all that’s
required. Let’s look at the skills specific to the business analysis
profession next.

II. Objective Driven.

Being able to interpret direction is important. If you don’t fully understand what
and, more importantly, why you are being asked to do something, there is a risk
that you won’t deliver what’s required. Don’t be worried about asking for
further information if your brief isn’t clear.

III. Best Communicator.

It is essential that you are a good communicator, regardless of the method of

communication. You must be able to make your point clearly and
unambiguously. It is also important that you know how to ask insightful
questions to retrieve the information you need from stakeholders. For example,
if your stakeholder isn’t a technical specialist you may need to ask your
questions in plain English – avoiding jargon and acronyms. Being able to
communicate information at the appropriate level is vital – some stakeholders
will need more detailed information than others.

IV. Formal and Informal Meetings.

Although using email provides a useful audit trail, sometimes it is not enough to
communicate with stakeholders via email. Don’t underestimate the value of face
to face meetings to discuss problems in more detail and clear up any queries.
Often you will discover more about your project from a face to face meeting
where people tend to be more open about discussing situations. You can always
follow up a meeting with written confirmation if an audit trail is required.

V. Listening Skills.

Listening skills are key to being a successful BA. You must be able to listen and
absorb information. This will allow you to analyse thoroughly the information
gathered to specify requirements. It’s important that you don’t just listen to
what’s being said, but are able to understand the context of what’s being said –
the motivation behind it, the circumstances behind what’s being said, and even
what’s not being said. Voice tone and body language can help you understand
the message behind the words.

VI. Presentation Skills.

It is likely that at some point in your career as a BA you will need to facilitate a
workshop, or present a piece of work to a stakeholder or project team. Consider
the content of your presentation and make sure it matches the objectives of the
meeting – there is no point in presenting information about implementation
methods if the meeting is being held to discuss requirements gathering. These
 presentations are not only for you to present information. They can also work as
an excellent way to extract more information or clarity from stakeholders if you
are unclear on something or are looking for more detail on a particular area of
the project.

VII. Management Skills.

A BA must have excellent time management skills to ensure that work is

completed on time and the project does not fall behind schedule. Multi-tasking
is an important skill, but you must also be able to prioritise activities –
understanding which are more critical than others – and concentrate on them.
Remember that you need to manage your own time and activities, but you may
also need to manage other people’s time if you are dependent on them for
information. Make sure that they know when you need them to deliver.

VIII. Creativity in Writings.

Requirements documents, reports, specifications, plans and analysis. As a BA

you will be required to deliver a range of different types of documents. You will
need to ensure that your documents are written in a clear and concise manner,
and at a level that is appropriate for your stakeholders. Avoid nuances specific
to a particular workstream as they may not be understood by all stakeholders.
As an inexperienced/beginner BA, it is unlikely that you will have experience
writing requirements documentation, however, strong writing skills are an
excellent starting point. Experience will lead to clear and concise requirements
documentation.

IX. Managerial Skills.

It is essential that you know how to manage all of you stakeholders and know
how much power and influence they have on your project. Stakeholders can be
your strongest supporters or your biggest critics. An experienced BA will be
able to analyse how much management each stakeholder needs and how they
should be individually managed. Do they need face to face meetings and
detailed information or are they content with high-level reports? Are they
supportive of your project? Knowing the answers to these key questions will
help you to manage your stakeholders and the wider project. Can you influence
them directly or do you need to influence someone who can influence them?

X. Modelling Skills.

As the saying goes a picture paints a thousand words. Techniques such as

process modelling are effective tools to convey large amounts of information
without relying on text. A visual representation allows you to get an overview
of the problem or project so that you can see what works well and where the
gaps lie. A typical process model will have several different levels of detail to
allow a BA to engage with stakeholders in a language that they understand.

XI. Analytical and Logical Skills.

BA should be able to do basic number crunching to identify the

appropriateness of a solution and should be able think logically to put
pieces of puzzle into a holistic design.