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ReStart Business Analyst Profiles

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Observer

As an Observer, you are most likely to start a task or project by observing other people already doing it. You like to see how other people approach doing something before you try it yourself. You probably like the examples of project artifacts, such as use cases and business requirements, that I post on my blog! You like to experience things and would do well job shadowing an experienced Business Analyst or participating in role play exercises. You like team meetings because you can absorb what other people have to say about the project.

When thinking of job aids, examples are your friend. These will show you how other people have done the work before.

To move forward, you have to be careful to avoid watching and never doing. You will never know everything you need to know before you start. Once you have a good idea of how a Business Analyst works, get together with an experienced Business Analyst and make a plan for what you will do on the project. Then pick the first thing on the list, see youself doing it, and begin. As you go through the project, use your experiences and the experiences of others to update the plan.

In your career, you will be comfortable with all profile types, because you can learn from all of them. You understand Observers best because you all approach tasks the same way. But a group of all Observers will not be happy because they need something to experience. To create the strongest team, you actually want one of each of the profile types. Each person has a different strength to bring to the team.

Plan for interviews by role playing with good Business Analysts and Managers. Especially, watch a good Business Analyst role play an interview, then copy their style in your interviews. You are good at picking up other people's approach to things, so use that strength to improve your interview skills.

In your Business Analyst career, play to your strength when planning activities. For example, when eliciting information, you will probably be more comfortable with Observations and Job Shadowing than in doing Research online or in documents. You are probably very good at mentoring new Business Analysts.

Evaluator

As an Evaluator, you are most likely to start a task or project by analyzing and planning. You like check lists of what to do first, then what is next and so on. You probably really like my YouTube videos or Ezine articles on how to start a project! You like to think things through before you start and make a plan of action.

When thinking of job aids, templates and task lists are your friends. These will help you get organized without having to create these things for yourself.

To move forward, you have to be careful to avoid analysis paralysis. A plan will never be perfect. Once you have made initial plans, pick the first thing, see youself doing it, and begin. As you go through the project, experiencing the results of your effort, you can update your plan, and pick the next thing on the top of the list to do.

In your career, you will be most comfortable with other Evaluators, because they will understand you. But you might get caught in the trap of making plans and not doing anything. So to create the strongest team, you actually want one of each of the profile types. Each person has a different strength to bring to the team.

Plan ahead for an interview by researching the company, project, or person you will interview with. When interviewing, you will very likely come across as "good Business Analyst material" because you will easily talk the language of management. Strategies, plans, task lists - these things are near and dear to your heart!

In your Business Analyst career, play to your strength when planning activities. For example, when eliciting information, you will probably be more comfortable with Interviews and Competitive Analysis than with creating Storyboards. You are probably very good at analyzing the material after you have collected it.

Predictor

As a Predictor, you are most likely to start a task or project by thinking about how you have done something like this before and how the new project is different. You like to keep samples from previous projects to reuse on new projects. You probably like my blog posts that describe lessons I have learned from past projects. You like to think about all the things that might go wrong and make plans to avoid those risks. You are also a good mediator, helping people come to agreement.

When thinking of job aids, risk lists and case studies of previous projects are your friends. These will help you determine what is the same, what is different, and what risks to consider in a new project.

To move forward, you have to be careful to avoid getting paralized by negativity, getting scared by the risks you discover or blocking solutions that did not work in the past but might be just right now. All projects have some degree of risk. Once you have identified the risks and put plans in place to mitigate them, see youself getting started, do the first thing, experience the results of your effort, and do some analysis to determine if what you did made things better or worse. As you go through the project, noticing how risk is increasing or decreasing, you can update your risk list and plan, and pick the next thing on the top of the list to do.

In your career, you will be most comfortable with other Predictors, because they will understand you. But you may scare each other out of doing the project! So to create the strongest team, you actually want one of each of the profile types. Each person has a different strength to bring to the team.

Plan ahead for an interview by reviewing lists of potential questions from your own and other's experience. When interviewing, you can highlight your strengths in risk mitigation and in mediation. In many companies, these are quite valued skills!

In your Business Analyst career, play to your strength when planning activities. For example, when eliciting information, you will probably be more comfortable with Historical Research and Risk Analysis than with Observations. You are probably very good at running mediation sessions and project retrospectives.

Dreamer

As a Dreamer, you are most likely to start a task or project by imagining the end result and how it will be used. You like to know what it is all about, what you are trying to achieve. You probably really like my Persona examples on the blog because they help you imagine the person who will use the end product. You like to have a clear picture of what to do before you do it.

When thinking of job aids, tools to create mockups and image libraries are your friends. These will help you quickly illustrate what you imagine.

To move forward, you have to be careful to avoid getting lost in your dreams. At some point what is imagined has to be created. Once you have imagined what the project is about, share your thoughts with others, get feedback from them, determine what you need to do, pick the first thing, and use your strong imagination to implement it. As you go through the project, you may notice things that are not implemented the way you thought they would be. Then you will have to decide if you need to refine your vision of the project, or guide the team back in the right direction.

In your career, you will be most comfortable with other Dreamers, because they will understand you. But you may all make lots of pretty pictures and never move forward! So to create the strongest team, you actually want one of each of the profile types. Each person has a different strength to bring to the project.

Plan ahead for an interview by imagining what it will be like to interview. Decide what you will wear and how you will sit in the interview. When interviewing, you might emphasize the importance of a strong project vision to keep the project on time and budget, and also the importance of usability for product acceptance. You might be more comfortable if you approach the interview as if it is a play and you have the role of Business Analyst.

In your Business Analyst career, play to your strength when planning activities. For example, when eliciting information, you will probably be more comfortable with Storyboards and Role Playing than with Research. You are probably very good at considering the human needs of the product being created and may enjoy user interface design. You are the keeper of the project vision on the team and can help keep everyone progressing toward that vision.

Performer

As a Performer, you are most likely to start a task or project by just doing it. You are very comfortable with adjusting and refining as you go along. You probably really like my descriptions of how to run an Agile project, because that is how you like to work - minimal planning and jump right in. You like to quickly have something to show for your effort.

When thinking of job aids, prototypes and patterns are your friends. You can use these to quickly get started without having to do the foundational work.

To move forward, you have to be careful to do more than act. A project has a specific purpose that you have to achieve - creating just anything will not do. Once you have made something, see how it works for its purpose, analyze if it gets you closer or farther from the project goals, pick the thing to do that gets you closer to the end result, see how that will improve your effort, and refine what you created. An initial prototype with a series of refinements suits you very well.

In your career, you will be most comfortable with other Performers because you will all be happy to just do it. But without some vision of where you are going and some planning, you might not create anything useful. So to create the strongest team, you actually want one of each of the profile types. Each person has a different strength to bring to the project.

Plan ahead for an interview by picking some places to do practice interviews. When interviewing, emphasize the advantages of iterative and Agile approaches, rather than big requirements up front. Obviously, this will only work for companies who like that approach - a waterfall kind of organization will not be interested, but do you really want to work in that environment?

In your Business Analyst career, play to your strength when planning activities. For example, when eliciting information, you will probably be more comfortable with JAD sessions and Prototyping than with Observations. You are probably very good at working on Agile teams.

Wyyzzk, Inc.

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