Competencies of Business Analysis|Article

Competencies are described as the ability to do a particularactivity to prescribed standard.
The competencies can be classified into three categories

1. Behaviour Skill and Personal Qualities
  1.1Balanced behaviour
  1.2 Leadership
  1.3 Problem Solving
  1.4 Attention to Details
  1.5 Critical Thinking and Analytical Skill
  1.6 Flexibility to Manage Situation
  1.7Team working
  1.8Influencing
  1.9 Communication

1.10 Relationship-Building

2 .Business Knowledge
2.1 Finance and Economy
2.2 Business Case Development
2.3 Domain Knowledge
2.4 Subject Matter Expert
2.5 Principle of IT
2.6 Organization Structure and Design
2.7 Procurement

3.1 Requirements Engineering
3.2 Stakeholders analysis andmanagement
3.3 Facilitation Techniques
3.4 Business System Modeling
3.5 Business Process Modeling
3.6 Managing Business change
3.7 Data Modeling
3.8 Investigation Technique
3.9 Project management
3.10 Strategy Analysis

This is an ability to work out what is andwhat is not commercially acceptable in an organization. Having commercial andpolitical awareness by the way emphatically does not mean accepting statue qua.It does mean using resourcefulness and being astute to get results, even in theface of opposition. Balanced behaviour means forcing a issue but moderately, firmbut not arrogant.

1.2 Leadership
There is a never one solution for all problems .Leader shouldhave the capability to understand the context of the problem and provide aneffective solution.
1.3 Problem solving
A business analyst has to approach an issue with the outlook that problem canbe solved. A variation on this is that even if the optimal solution cannot beimplemented for financial, technical or political reasons, then the businessanalyst must be pragmatic and be prepared to find other solutions that will yieldat least some benefit.

1.4 Attention toDetails
Many business cases fail because there is nosufficient detailed evidence for the proposed change. When a project is handedover to IT specialists, they often find many important issues if the detailhave not been addressed. Having an eye for the details is also an importantattribute of a good business analyst.

1.5Critical Thinkingand Analytical Skill
Business analyst havea common sense to ascertain what dataare relevant and what are irrelevant andseparate vital factors from less important many critical thinking is achieve by experience and differentiate what factor to concentrate and what to leave.

1.6 Flexibility tomanage situation
This is an extremely importantquality. Business analyst must have sufficient self confidence in himself, inthe quality of his analysis and thecorrectness in his solution, be able to withstand the pressure and sustain his pointof view

1.7 Team working with data’s
Business analyst often work in teams, A nature ofunderstanding of the role within theteam and what needs to be done and appreciation of the working style ofothers are, therefore important to ensure that the project objectives areachieved.

1.8 Influencing
Influencing needs careful consideration and prior planning.Business analysts have to develop anunderstanding of where theother party stands on their proposal,the likely resistance and influencing style needed to approach the person or thegroup. For example, some managers might defer all the decisions to anothergroup require information at a very detailed level or ask only for high level summary.Some may be interested in technicalities, others just vision or big picture.Tailoring the approach is vital for a successful outcome. The business analystsare often influenced to take or suggest another course of action. This mayinvolve another round of influencing, facilitating a roundtable discussion andseeking the support of senior colleagues in the best course of action.

1.9 Communication
Communication is the most important skill that human possess.It encompasses building rapport, listening, influencing and creating empathy. Mostanalysis work involves collecting and analyzing data and presenting backinformation that brings new perspective on the project so as to propose acourse of action. If the communication is not good between the staffs, it leadsto frustration when there is a failure to do obvious thing. Communicationbetween business colleagues must be in a language and style that they arecomfortable with and avoid what they perceive as techno-babble. Businessanalyst must adjust their communication to align with the people they are talkingto.

1.10 Relationship Building
This is an extension of communication skill and concerns theability to get on well with people at a working if not social level. Somepeople possess this ability naturally and others have to work on it. Business analyst must get to the people to impartinformation and share opinions and listen to ideas for change.

2. Business Knowledge
2.1 Finance and Economy
The universal language of businessis finance. A business analyst needs to have a good working knowledge of the economyand of the basics of business finance. It includes a general understanding offinancial reports such as balance sheet, profit-and -loss account, financialanalysis tools such as ratio analysis and principles of costing.

2.2 Business CaseDevelopment
Much of analyst’s work will be to assess the costs andbenefits of delivering a project tothe organization .When communicating analysis findings; you need to ensure thatyou have a view of the financial impact on the project. IT is an enabling tool forthe business benefits to be achieved. Business analysis projects involve otherspecialist like management accountants to understand and model the businessactivities and determine how IT can deliver financial benefit. To developbusiness case, a basic understanding of finance is required along withfinancial workings business area. Business analysts involved in business casepreparation has to understand basic investment appraisal techniques and workclosely with finance department.

2.3 Domain Knowledge
It gives general understanding of a business domain. Apartfrom general domain, specific domain knowledge is required for the followingreasons;

It takes domainknowledge to a lower level of detail. The level of expertise depends on thetype of work being done. Business analysts may be specialist in particulardomain ,with a strong and detailed understanding of the subject area, canpinpoint areas for improvement ,development and identify what needs to change, to analyze using existing knowledge and contact. The key pointis to assess how well competencies meet the needs of the current situation andto recognize where competencies needs some improvements.

2.5 Principle of IT
Many business analysts do not have an IT background. However,many business analysis projects result in the use of IT in some or the other way.General understanding of the field is necessary for a business analyst so thathe can communicate meaningfully with IT professionals .The key requirement isthat business analyst must understand the technical terms used by IT specialist.Since IT solutions are often investigated by business analyst, the lattershould have an understanding of IT fundamentals, including areas such as

2.6 OrganizationStructure and Design
Business analysis projects involve restructuringorganization to a greater or a lesser degree, to improve the customer service.It is important for business analysts to have a good understanding of thevarious organization structures that may be encountered - function, project, andmatrix and so on – and of their relative strength and weakness.

2.7 Procurement
Most organization use external suppliers to deliver their ITsystems. Selecting an appropriate sourcing strategy involves assessing the workand deciding the most appropriate way to take the project forward on soundcommercial term. Once the analyst has worked out the type that is required , they need to assess themost appropriate supplier – internal andexternal- to take work forward and what commercial terms has to employed. Abusiness analyst needs a broad understanding of contractual arrangements thatis shown below:

3. Techniques
3.1 RequirementsEngineering
This is the set of practices and processes that lead to thedevelopment of the set of the well-informedbusiness and system requirements, from which IT and other solutions aredeveloped.

3.2 Stakeholdersanalysis and management
This includes understandingswho are the stake holders in a business analysis project and working out howtheir interests are best managed.

The interpersonal skills required for effective facilitationis usually exhibited within the context of a workshop. Effective facilitationusually results from a combination of the right qualities in the facilitator and the choice of the right techniques to match the task and the cultural context of theorganization in which it is being used.

3.4 Business System Modeling
Business System Modeling is an approach to understandbusiness systems through the creation of the conceptual models of those systems.

3.5 Business ProcessModeling
A business system model looks at the entire business systemin overview, more detailed process models are used to map and analyze how business process actually works and helps to identifyopportunities for process improvement.

3.6 Managing Business change
This covers the techniques needed to implement changeswithin the organization and to make them ‘stick’.

3.7 DataModeling
Analyzing the dataheld and used within a business system affordsvaluable insights into how a businessoperates .For e.g. what are the data items that are held about the customers? What is the relationship between customers,products and suppliers?

3.8 Investigation Technique
To get to the rootof a business issue the analyst will have to undertake detailed analysis of thearea.

3.9 Project management
The list of projectmanagement context and process: scope management, integration management, time management,cost management, quality management, resource management, human management,risk management and procurement management. Business analyst may notnecessarily exhibit his skills in all these areas, but if the project team issmall the business analyst may be required to undertake the role of project manager.Thereis some project skill that an analyst should have.
For e.g. understanding project initiation isvital as it allows the analyst to understand define the terms of reference for the project .It is important that theanalyst should understand project management planning approaches –he or she will have to workwithin a plan – and is aware ofparticularly relevant aspects , such as quality and risk management

This covers a rangeof techniques that can be used to understand the business direction and thestrengths and weakness of an organization, or part of an organization.

How can I develop mycompetency?
The first step in developing as a business analyst is tounderstand the competency required of a business analyst in your organization. Thisshould include an assessment both the current and the future competenciesrequired .The HR department provides an outline definition of the competenciesrequired of the business analyst in the organization. Future competencies aremore difficult to assess and depends on the factors such as projects that maydevelop in future, business issues and technological developments. Theorganizations may already have a framework in its place or could use theexisting framework such as Skill framework for Information Age (SFIA).

Training
Class room-based training allows skills to be learned andpracticed in a relatively safe environment, with a trainer on hand to support,guidance and encouragement. Computer –based training is also good if the skillsto be practiced are primarily technical in nature.

Self-study
Self-study is an excellent way for analysts to grow theirbusiness knowledge. Apart from reading textbooks, browsing publications such asthe Financial Times, The Economist, the Harvard Business Review and othertechnical publications and professional journals will broaden and deepen theanalyst’s understanding of the business world.
Self-study is an excellent way for analysts to grow theirbusiness knowledge. Apart from reading textbooks, browsing publications such asthe Financial Times, The Economist, the Harvard Business Review and othertechnical publications and professional journals will broaden and deepen theanalyst’s understanding of the business world.

Work experience
This provides an opportunity to use and improve techniques and to deepen the knowledge .It isbest way a business analyst can develop their behaviour skills and personalqualities The performance of most analysts improves overtime as theirexperience grows ,but this can beheightened and accelerated if our if the organization operates a propercoaching or mentoring programme.

The Skills Framework forthe Information Age
SFIA and SFIAplus are the two major standard frameworks fordefinition of skills and competencies in the information system field. Bothframe works include definition for the skill set of business analysis, definevarious levels of competency for each skill, and can be used as building blocksfor any job role that requires these skills

SFIA
The description of overall skill set provided in SFIAframework for business analysis is as follows:

The methodical investigation, analysis, review anddocumentation of all or part of a business in terms of business functionsand processes, and the information they use. The definition of requirementsfor improving any aspect of the processes and systems. The creation ofviable specifications in the preparation for construction of informationand communication systems.

The analysis, design, creation, testing and documentation of new andamended programs from supplied specifications in accordance with agreedstandards.

Creates requirements specification and business case for developmentof ICT solutions by investigating business process and business needs.

For eachapplicable level within this skill set (3-6 in the case of business analysis),detail are also provided under the following heading:

Although SFIAplusprovides more detail than SFIA, it is important to realize that the twoframeworks should be implemented in different ways.
SFIAplusshould be treated as a standard and is not designed to be customized, where asSFIA is intended to be used as a basis for tailoring to an organization.
SFIAplusenables organizations to classify and benchmark their IT skills and to trainand develop their teams to meet the defined skill requirements .As a businessanalyst, this provides a basis for you to gauge where you are against theskills and corresponding level of competence defined in the framework.
The finalstep is to identify a set if actions that will help your development.