What are the Responsibilities of a Business Analyst?
Business Analysts have many responsibilities because their role in a company is to ensure that IT and business teams work together to achieve their goals. It is important that they discuss, understand, and implement new ideas which will meet a company’s future goals. From collecting and sorting data to consulting with top-level managers, the variety of tasks that Business Analyst takes on is impressive.
The primary responsibility of a business analyst
- Understanding business processes and identify problems within a system.
- After identifying problems, a Business Analyst has to discuss these problems with the appropriate department and propose a solution.
- Identifying a problem usually involves data analysis of the efficiency or cost of a business process.
- By isolating variances with data analysis tools, a BA can find explanations and solutions for these variances.
Pesent and discuss the problem and proposed solution
Once a problem has been isolated, the solution must be communicated effectively across all impacted teams. By using graphs and other visuals, a BA can present and discuss the problem and proposed solution. This responsibility may seem simpler than isolating trends in data, but sometimes it can be difficult to convince managers and coworkers that the problem is worth fixing and the solution which you have found is the best one. Predicting the effects of a problem or solution on a business process is just as difficult as isolating a problem or creating a solution. Once these predictions have been formulated they must be presented in a convincing manner.
Monitoring the circumstances of the changes
After presenting and implementing a solution, BAs have to monitor the circumstances of the changes. If the solution has the intended impact, they can begin working on a new project. If not, they have to go “back to the drawing board” and consider a new solution or improvements to the existing one. Sometimes the first solution is not the best one, so keeping track of newly enacted solutions is paramount.
The Importance of Soft Skills for a Business Analyst
Isolating problems, creating solutions, and monitoring the progress of a project are all important responsibilities of a business analyst, but most importantly business analysts are team members and leaders. Depending on the organization, a business analyst can act with a team or lead one. Their knowledge of business processes is useful and BAs naturally make great team leaders because of their excellent communication skills.
Some Business Analysts specialize in the technical aspects of their jobs. But others specialize in developing business models and communicating solutions. Because of the variety of approaches to this job, BA does not necessarily need to have a background in software or IT. These skills can be cultivated during a certification program. Also, a background in business or management is not necessary to become a Business Analyst.
The position of a business analyst is a fairly responsible role in a team. BA identifies defects in a business system or creates a graph to describe the efficacy of a newly implemented solution. Without them, many companies would lack the structure and organization needed to create software, provide services, or develop software.
