Author: Geri Schneider Winters
You may have just finished college, or have none of the skills needed for a more advanced BA role. You are interested in a Starter Project BA position either to learn more about the job to see if it is something of interest, or because you have decided on this as a career.
All Business Analysts use the skills of the Starter Project BA. Even if you end up starting as a Mid-Range Project Business Analyst, you will still need the skills of the Starter Project Business Analyst. There are a lot of projects where you will be the only BA, so you will have to have the skill set of all three levels of Business Analyst. The Starter Project BA skills are also very useful or required in a wide variety of jobs.
If you are a Starter Project Business Analyst you work on a project team. This could be a software project, a business process improvement project, or many other kinds of projects. You are responsible for collecting information and communicating it to the appropriate team members.
Like a Ham (Amateur) Radio Operator on an emergency response team, your specialty is Communications. You need to be good at finding all kinds of information by researching in documentation of all kinds and by eliciting it from people. You also need to be good at sharing the information in a wide variety of formats and technologies.
As a Starter Project BA, you need to be comfortable with a wide variety of people and situations. You should not hesitate to make a telephone call, send an email, or instant message any one from whom you need to elicit information. You need to be good at setting up meetings, taking notes, and following up on action items. You should be comfortable talking to people one-on-one, as well as comfortable facilitating a meeting.
You do not need to be an expert at every possible form of communication before progressing to a Mid-Range Project Business Analyst. But the more comfortable you are with a wide variety of people and technologies, the better you will be at any BA role.
As a Starter Project BA, you are not expected to work alone. A more senior BA, Project Manager, or BA Manager will direct your work. He or she will also mentor you to develop more BA skills.
The most important skills for a Starter Project BA are:
• Listening
• Scribing
• Facilitating
• Holding interviews
• Research, both online and in documentation
• Writing
Technologies you should master are:
• Email
• Instant Messenger
• Telephone and VOIP
• Standard office software
• Digital Recorder
• Projector and computer for meetings
• Teleconferencing System
The most important personal traits are:
• Warm and friendly personality
• Comfortable with all kinds of people
• Comfortable in all kinds of situations
• Self-motivated
• Organized
For more information about the Starter Project Business Analyst role, see my website at www.ResourcesForBusinessAnalysts.com.
———————————————————————————-
Do you want to know more? Visit my website at www.ResourcesForBusinessAnalysts.com. Membership is free. In the “Become a Business Analyst” area, you can find the paper “Finding a Business Analyst Position”, which contains the full set of articles.
———————————————————————————-
You are invited to re-publish articles from this blog, in your publication or website, as long as the article is intact and you include the following Byline paragraph (with live links) after each article you use…
START BYLINE
* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Resources for Business Analysts site at http://www.ResourcesForBusinessAnalysts.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as a Business Analyst in IT.
END BYLINE
