Improving your ba skills
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This document discusses how business analysts can improve their skills through self-assessment. It recommends that BAs identify skills that need improvement using tools like their organization's competency model, the IIBA's self-assessment, peer and 360-degree assessments, and post-project stakeholder surveys. It then provides suggestions for how to improve skills, such as formal training, reference materials, on-the-job training, volunteering, and developing mentoring relationships. Finally, it advises creating a personal plan for skill improvement by setting short-term goals and continually assessing progress.
Improving your ba skills
- 1. Improving Your BA Skills: Self-Assessment To Self-Improvement Aaron Whittenberger STAR BASE Consulting, Inc. IT Strategic Consultant concentrating in Business Analysis Practice AWhittenberger@starbaseinc.com 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 2. Identify the BA skills that need improvement 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 3. Identify BA Skills Organizations BA Competency Model (BA Career Ladder) IIBA Self-Assessment Tool Peer Assessment 360尊 Assessment Project Closure Stakeholder Assessment 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 4. Organizations BA Competency Model Business Analyst I Novice Competent Expert Creative Thinking Listening Oral Communication Problem Solving Decision Making Ethics Business Analyst II Creative Thinking Decision Making Listening Organizational Knowledge Problem Solving Oral Communication Business Analyst III Properly Identifies Stakeholders Creative Thinking Listening Elicitation Techniques Problem Solving Decision Making 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 5. 速 IIBA Self-Assessment Tool 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 6. Peer Assessment 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 7. 360尊 Assessment 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 8. Project Closure Assessment At project closure (following delivery) Survey given to one or more business stakeholders to assess your BA skills and performance during the project Best done when stakeholders are disengaging from project 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 9. Considerations for feedback 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 10. Things to Consider when obtaining feedback Company policies and procedures Formal, informal Who gets repliesYou, Manager, HR, IT? Understand the risks Consider the assessor Time constraints Manager will not fill out 20-page survey 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 11. Improving Skill 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 12. How to Improve a Skill Formal training Internal External In-class Internet Reference Material IIBA Online Library Articles, Blogs, Newsletters 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 13. How to Improve a Skill (continued) On-the-job Training Put yourself in situation where you must use the skill Requests tasks/projects Job Shadow a Sr. BA Participate in Facilitation (observe then do) Develop Mentor/Mentee relationship 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 14. How to Improve a Skill (continued) Volunteer Local IIBA Chapter Toast Masters Church Habitat for Humanity 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 15. 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 16. Put a Plan in Place Personal Plan of Self-improvement Understand the risks Set short-term goals Work on one, or set, of skill(s) at a time When that skill(s) is improved to your satisfaction Mark the milestone in your plan Assess to identify next skill(s) to work on 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 17. Continual Improvement Continual Feedback/Assessment Continual Use of Skill Year by Year Self Assessment Comparison Move on to next skill to improve Become a personal BACoE (Center of Excellence) 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
- 18. Questions? 息 2010 STAR BASE Consulting, Inc Building the Bridge
Editor's Notes
- #3: How do you identify the skills that you need to improve?
- #4: Tools to help assess the skills you possess
- #5: May be called BA Career Ladder Career Ladder usually contains job tasks Competency Model contains competencies necessary to complete job tasks Identifies Competencies that the Organization considers important If you wish to advance in the Organization, this is what you must be good at Organization may define 3, 4, 5 or 6 levels of BA job titles Higher job titles may be EA, EBA or IT Consultant Do not confuse with external Consultant Internal IT Consultant does: Consults business units on technology subjects Consults IT on business practices and needs
- #6: Grade yourself on job tasks/techniques/competencies 20 page document: 2 page intro, 18 pages of assessment Set aside time to complete Reflect instead of just fill it out
- #7: You create questionnaire for peers to fill out One of two styles Free-form Rating Combination, some rating and some free-form
- #8: 360 degrees is a circle Get feedback from your circle Create one or multiple questionnaires Send to all people with whom you come in contact Get feedback from all people around you (360 degrees) Different survey for different relationship Manager will not fill out 20-page survey Peers usually will be more detailed for you than manager Peers Team members Other teams members with whom you come into contact Daily contact Rare contact Others that you come in contact with Customers, internal, external Vendors
- #9: Company may institute this as normal project procedure (SOP) Quality technique or HR function If company does not do it, you can for your own personal gain
- #11: Do company policy allow or disallow such activity Does company procedure already obtain feedback on your performance Can you get summary of feedback Formal or passing-in-the-hall couple of questions Some respondents may be more forth-coming if replies were not going to assessee What is company position on getting/giving feedback, recommendations, referrals? LinkedIn-Lady said company would not allow her to get reference from her Manager for CBAP What is Manager position on feedback? How will negative feedback affect your position/career? The higher up the corporate ladder, the less time for surveys Multiple surveys for multiple people in the organization Friends, team members may go into more detail to help you
- #12: Now that assessment is done, how do you improve the skills?
- #13: Formal training May have to pay for yourself Reference Material A lot of free BA material is available Some reference material (CBAP Study Guide) may have to purchase
- #14: Work on improving the skill through your job Observe a Sr. BA facilitate a discussion Next time you facilitate the discussion with the Sr. BA monitoring Ask for feedback Find a Sr. BA you respect and ask them career improvement questions Formal Informal
- #15: Work on improving your skills outside of your job Learn from life experiences I may never have worked for a bank I have been a consumer to a bank and know how some things work from that relationship Toast Masters Public Speaking Thinking on your feet Active Listening Habitat for Humanity Only few organizers have implicit authority Everyone else on same level and wielding hammers and saws Influence from peer stance
- #17: The old adage If you dont have a Plan then you Plan to Fail Skill improvement should not be an ad hoc exercise Understand the risks of the techniques you intend to use Will it hurt your career movement Short-tem, less than 1 year, should be less than 6 months Can not improve everything at once If that was possible, we would all be born with all the skills we need Live is a learning experience Skill improvement is a learning experience Set your path, grab your compass Goal improved to satisfaction Peer/Manager assessment feedback used to determine if skill is improved Mark when skills were assessed as improved Keep track of the competencies and skills you gain over time If last point of Personal Self-Improvement Plan is ask for promotion/pay raise, you have documentation to state your case
- #18: Annual self assessment Compare to previous year(s) Keep using skill Dont drop skill to improve next skill Skills unused become rusty