This is another follow-up to my blog post, The Six Key Characteristics of a Senior Business Analyst. Please take a minute to read that post so you understand the context of my comments on how to become a senior BA. Some of the readers, @SimonTheBA and @AWhittenberger, commented that it was great to know the characteristics of a senior BA, but were curious about my thoughts on how one becomes a senior BA. This post is good for those who want to become a senior BA or who are helping others become senior BAs. Please note my definition of what makes someone a senior business analyst may not align with the title "Senior Business Analyst" at the company you work at, or where you want to work. So, if your goal is to climb the company ladder make sure you look at what the company expects from you to grow. Even if my list of senior BA characteristics does not completely align with your company's views, focusing on the steps I outline below will help you become a better BA and, therefore, become more promotable. It just so happens that my friends Laura Brandenburg and Adriana Beal recently published an eBook collection titled The Promotable Business Analyst. I recommend you"pick that up as it is a valuable resource.
Find a Coach
One of things I see falling off company's radars is providing coaching and support for employees. Many employees, especially junior BAs, are left to fend for themselves. In the past managers were coaches. Today I see more and more companies increase the ratio of employees to managers. This makes it difficult for the manager to focus enough coaching time with each employee. In the BA space there is another twist. Is the manager qualified to coach the BAs? The numbers are not there yet where BAs are becoming managers. Many BAs are managed by individuals in the IT arena, but may not have the BA skill set. In major league baseball, this would be like having an all-star third baseman become a pitching coach. They know the game, but don't know all the mechanics of being a great pitcher.
In my last post, Four Ways to Best Utilize a Senior Business Analyst, I suggested senior BAs should be used as coaches for the junior analysts. If you have a coach great, if you don't...get one. Just because one is not picked for you, does not mean you can't find one or more. Don't limit your search to your company either. Get involved in the many online communities like this one or your local IIBA chapter. Although many can't be there with you day in and day out, you do have a support system of BAs at all levels willing to give feedback.
Be honest with your coach about the areas you feel you need to improve on. Come up with a plan to work on those areas. Be patient, you won't become a senior BA overnight.
Don't be Afraid to Fail
Now that you have a plan in place with your coach, start executing. This is easier said than done. To become a senior BA you need to have breadth and depth of knowledge and experience. You need to have experience with multiple project types and involvement in multiple business areas. The only way to get there is to take some chances. If you have a coach this is a little easier. You have someone to rely on and be your safety net. The best way to learn is by doing. And when you take action, failure is going to happen. Learn from that failure and move forward.
Be Persistent
You have to be willing to take chances. You also need your management to be willing to allow you to stretch beyond what you do well. Many of you will find risk adverse managers. Keep pushing to be given opportunities in new business areas, to try new techniques or to be part of a project that will meet your growth goals. Get creative! You may even have to offer to take on tasks on your own time. A client of mine just hired a person who had little to no BA experience. This person wanted to be a BA and worked every Saturday for months with my client, for free, to learn. Once a position opened up she was hired.
I had a senior BA moment because I was persistent. I wanted in on a project I heard about using some cool technology and in a new business area for me. I was denied access for six months. Every month I would ask about the status of the project and almost beg to be part of the team. I think my manager finally gave in because he wanted me to stop asking or just felt sorry for me. Whatever it takes. Right? I'll admit I was nervous and a little unsure how I would perform since the business area was new and I did not know any of the stakeholders. I came out with flying colors and it helped my confidence level with future endeavors.
Instill a Feedback System
You need to be open to feedback to really grow. We do this for projects, why don't do it for yourself. For projects we instill retrospectives to determine what went well, what didn't and how the team can improve. You should set-up a feedback system for your improvement with those you work with. At intervals that make sense, ask for feedback on your elicitation techniques, your deliverables, etc.
Are the people you work with satisfied with your work? You may not know unless you ask. Here is a quick system you can put in place to continually get the feedback you need to improve.
- Ask for feedback. You may never get it if you don't ask.
- Thank the person for their feedback. Don't get defensive and try to explain why they are wrong.
- Implement the feedback into your work. Think through how you can take that feedback and make changes.
- Provide updates to the ones giving you feedback on how you have changed based on their feedback. This one is important. By updating people they know you are listening to them and they will continue to give feedback. One of my pet peeves is when people ask my opinion and never do anything with it or always do the opposite (maybe that's a sign!). I tend to not freely give feedback to those people.
Remember this does not happen overnight. Keep building those skills and your confidence will grow. As your confidence grows you will begin to get closer to your goal. Before you know it you'll be there.
Bu the way, I'm taking a little time off, so I might be slow responding to your comments. Please bear with me. Thanks.
Kupe
Don't forget to leave your comments below
written by Simon Papson, July 25, 2010
Your comments about finding a coach lead me inevitably to the (cheeky!) question: "Will you be my coach?" However, you're off the hook. I attended a BA conference (my first) here in Melbourne last week, at which I met a few experienced and helpful BAs who I'm going to keep in touch with (whether they like it or not!). Between them, and your blogs, and the other articles & blogs here on BA Times and elsewhere, I think I can get enough support to help me along. I've already learned a lot from my readings and research on the internet over the last 6 to 9 months (including you and BA Times), and I have no plans to stop.
I have no fear of failure (it's just another way of learning), and I'm definitely persistent (otherwise I wouldn't have made it this far!). So, I'm covered there.
However, I feel uncomfortable with the fourth point: asking for feedback. Can I really go to my customers, the users, etc, and ask "Am I doing a good job?" Half the time, they won't know whether I'm doing well or not; the other half, they'll simply say yes (because people generally won't say anything bad to your face). Also, it's an awkward conversation to start; I know I would feel intimidated to ask this of others. How do you do this? How do you have this conversation?
Thanks,
Simon
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written by Peter Rankin, July 27, 2010
With re to @Simon's comment about asking for feedback...I was in a similar situation when starting out...I was always told to ask for feedback, but a couple of things made me aprehensive; 1) What will they say? Will it be negative and critical and there is a realisation that i did not do a good job 2) Will they just say I was good to avoid commenting..
In reality, this did happen, but only in the minority if people. Most were more than happy to offer their opinion on your performance, and what works well and not well for them. I found that by asking particluar/specific questions would get specific responses; such as "did this method/approach deliver what you expected?" "Has this captured your needs accurately and in a manner that is easily understood?" or simple questions like "does this make sense?" "Is there anything that requires more explanation?" and on a personal one (especially in presentations), and since i am not a native speaker and have an accent "I hope you all understood me? Did i speak too fast, too slow, was I clear etc etc?"
Dont worry people will help you, and appreciate that you value their opinion, and as Kupe mentions, show them that you have taken it on board, as they have given you their time to offer advice.
Also it makes people feel like they can approach you more, and they become more interactive to you...so a good stakeholder relationship building technique.
Pete
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written by Simon Papson, July 28, 2010
Thanks again.
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written by Kupe Kupersmith, August 02, 2010
@Colin101. I agree 100%. Feedback should be coming in from all angles.
@Simon - Of course you can add me to your list of coaches. I hope my bi-weekly commentary helps!
Pete - great suggestions. Thanks for commenting and I am glad you are finding success.
One thing I try to do is ask team members or other stakeholders what success looks like in terms of your relationship or your work during at the beginning of an initiative. At different points along the way you can check in to make sure you are on track.
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written by Hans Eckman, August 06, 2010
Right on target again. A few comments I'd like to add about mentors.
When you find a mentor, think of it as a long term guide to professional growth. I've been surprised that the people I've mentored typically had a very short outlook. They wanted to know the three things they could to to get promoted, or how to get through a difficult project/boss/team. A mentor is someone who helps you develop and mature. Promotion and recognition are simply byproducts.
Furthermore, mentors do not have to be fellow BA's. A mentor is someone who has expertise in an area that you could value from. I've had a reciprocal mentoring arrangement with a branding and executive consultant for the last decade.
Seek out people you respect. Mentoring does not have to be formal. It can be as simple as getting together for lunch every month and swapping ideas, or bouncing situations off the other.
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written by Melissa King, August 10, 2010
http://requirements.seilevel.com/blog/2010/06/career-progression-for-business-analysts.html
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written by Robert Cunha, August 14, 2010
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written by JenTheButler, December 20, 2011
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written by Kupe, December 20, 2011
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Also, I would add, try to get a range of feedback from different people with different roles, especially those that have to use your documentation, from stakeholders and business users to developers and testers.