A business analyst ensures that the final product meets the project’s stakeholders’ expectations and specifications. The business analyst’s job is to gather specifications through streamlined contact with stakeholders and to make sense of the information gathered in order to assist the project team in successfully completing the tasks. 

During requirements gathering, the most difficult and broad-reaching role of BA is to give users what they want rather than what they need which a person with good business analyst skills for sure can do great! 

Mistakes tend to take well build reputation downward spiral, however here are some major mistakes that a business analyst should avoid: 

Leaving Out Key Stakeholders

Must have heard about requirement gatherings? It is recommended that it shouldn’t be completed by a business analyst alone. The requirement review should be done with the full involvement of the stakeholders. It shall help in terms of validation of important requirements and considering various perspectives that come along or against the same. 

This shouldn’t be ignored at all because it can help to minimize the possible defects before the development stage starts. 

No Proper Roadmap

One of the major challenges could be the lack of basic project documents such as the vision and roadmap, which are focused on customer sales plans. Although this topic may be more relevant for large projects and falls under the purview of product managers, a business analyst can and should initiate and encourage the process of producing such documents in any case.

Lack Of Communication

If you look into the specifics of a business analyst’s job, one of the most common mistakes made by newbies is the absence of a communication strategy and a stakeholder matrix. You should get the customer used to having daily meetings, and you should plan a list of topics to discuss ahead of time. 

Owing to frequent call cancellations due to a lack of topics or meaningful discussion, stakeholders can fail to show up for a seemingly scheduled meeting at the most critical time. It is very important to understand not only the nature of the problem but also how it is phrased when planning contact.

The client’s answer is often influenced by the issue. This is critical when a business analyst, as a representative of the executing team, is called upon to defend the engineering team’s decisions, especially during user acceptance testing and customer delivery.

Not Having The “Big Picture” Vision

This is especially applicable for long term projects. It is very important to have a big picture vision in order to avoid mistakes that can affect the big projects in overall aspect. Having an understanding and vision to connect with other people can help you to develop or make your product much better for the people. Undoubtedly, people are bound to consider things more which connect with them. That’s how it works!

Timely considerations can help you to implement and change things for the better or good, as the famous character Harvey Specter from the Suits quoted “ win a no-win situation by rewriting the rules.”

The business analyst skills get better with experience and shifting trends like the Business analysis trends 2021 will require skills of a Business Analyst 2021 rather than the one from 2018 or 2019. Dedication and an open mind will for sure pave a great way for the inner business analyst of you!