How to become a top-tier IT business analyst in 2024?
11 advice to improve your IT Business Analyst career!
First thing first…
Happy New Year to all of You!
This is the beginning of the year and you are fully energized and ready to kickstart your career and your projects, right?
Whether it is or not, the good news I wanted to start this year with an article easy to understand and still, valuable for all IT business analysts.
Go ahead.
As an IT Business Analyst, you have to listen, monitor, observe, understand, analyze, present and learn.
If you want to be a top-tier IT business analyst (but it is the same for EVERY career path around the world), you have to learn constantly, and still, sometimes that is not enough to succeed.
You are working hard, having successful projects, and doing IT courses, but some people get ahead three times as fast with a quarter as much work in their career as others. Why is that?
The difference between good and better
Have you ever thought about the difference between someone good in her/his profession and someone who is…somehow…makes things different but in a better way?
I know you have a colleague like that! Maybe YOU ARE that person!
I’ve been thinking about it. A lot. I’m interested in being better able to reach my long-term professional goals. So I did some research, finished some self-improvement and career courses, talked with experts, read professional materials, and used my experiences to collect the most important, but hard-to-spot small details that could make you a top-tier IT business analyst and collected it into a list of 11 advice.
Here you can see the results as follows:
What could make you a top-tier IT Business Analyst?
- Stay hungry.
- Be productive, not busy
- The 80–20 rule
- Keep it simple
- Always learn from the best
- Avoid career dead ends.
- Understand the big picture
- If you say “No”, say “Yes” as well
- Take responsibility for your actions and their consequences.
- Risk it
- Listen, monitor, analyze
1. Stay hungry.
There is no such thing as staying put on a career path. In the field of information technology, staying hungry is important for career growth.
Top IT business analysts are always open to learning and adapting new methodologies and technologies. Being technically skilled is not enough. They learn new technologies and understand rising trends. See the changes as opportunities to grow. Being persistent and committed.
Successful IT business analysts are committed and persistent. They actively seek out new projects, connect with industry experts, and go beyond their comfort zones. Staying hungry is a strategy for navigating the constantly changing digital landscape and making a lasting impact in the field.
2. Be productive, not busy
I learned this lesson from my first professional mentor.
Are you busy or are you productive?
Average professionals always look busy. Good professionals are always busy. The top-tier professionals are not busy, but productive.
Lots of hard-working and really good professionals are usually overloaded with time-consuming tasks and feel the urge to do everything ASAP, but then, the results will be barely visible and they burn out quickly.
You can have a lot of tasks if you want, you can still create tasks for yourself and explain the necessity of it, but it does not mean you are productive.
Good IT business analysts are productive, but not necessarily busy. How to do that?
3. Use the 80–20 rule
Everybody knows the Pareto Principle, which suggests that 80% of outcomes result from 20% of efforts. Rather than spreading yourself too thin, strategically prioritize your efforts to maximize efficiency.
By identifying and concentrating on the most impactful tasks and technologies to enhance your productivity, streamline workflows, and achieve substantial results.
For example, if you have to gather information, think about all the techniques you learned, and let’s ask yourself first:
Is it the most valuable thing you can do for the project at this time? If not, skip it.
4. Keep it simple
I didn’t want to describe this advice, because description for a “Keep it simple” sentence is the opposite of keeping it simple. :)
But…
I see a lot of good IT Business Analysts try to use every technique, diagram, and chart in a project for administrative reasons or the leader requires it from you, but if you want to be one of the best, you have to keep it simple and do the important things only. Create value, make the customer happy, and make sure the project reaches its goals, the rest is irrelevant.
Well, as you can see, the “Be productive, not busy”, the “Use the 80–20 rule” and this “Keep it simple” advice is somehow connected.
5. Always learn from the best professionals
Expertise is a valuable resource. Try to find a mentor who is on your desired level. Seek guidance from industry experts, who have excelled in their fields.
Learning from the best involves studying their approaches, understanding successful strategies, and leveraging their experiences to enhance your skills. By actively engaging with top professionals, you can gain valuable insights, and stay updated on industry trends. This approach accelerates your career development.
The commitment to always learning from the best is a strategic investment in staying informed, inspired, and well-equipped for the challenges and opportunities that the dynamic IT landscape presents for an IT business analyst.
6. Avoid career dead ends
There’s no career dead end you can’t get out of, but why would you like to waste your time correcting the path instead of avoiding dead ends with such little attention?
Top-tier IT business analysts actively seeking out challenging projects and embracing new responsibilities to promote professional growth. They are building a strong professional network, seeking mentorship, and staying adaptable are essential strategies to navigate the dynamic IT landscape and sustain a thriving career.
7. Understand the big picture
In my experience, a lot of IT business analysts (and other professionals as well) make the mistake of forming opinions without seeing the big picture which leads to stress and conflict on various levels in an organization.
Beginners know some. Mediors know much. Seniors know how little they know. The top IT business analysts know how little they know, but they can estimate the size of the black boxes.
Understanding the big picture is crucial as it provides context and clarity, allowing how your specific roles contribute to broader organizational/project and team goals.
It enables strategic decision-making by helping professionals identify potential challenges and opportunities within the larger context.
Professionals with a holistic perspective are better equipped to innovate, solve complex problems, and make informed decisions that align with the overall mission of their organization. It is a key driver of success.
8. If you say “No”, say “Yes” as well
Saying “no” is perfectly fine if you feel it’s the right thing to do.
But a top-tier IT business analyst will always be careful to give as well as take. So, instead of saying “I can't do that”, say “I can do that in another way or at another time”. This communication approach builds a culture of shared understanding and you anticipate a willingness to solve a problem and a need for alternative solutions or different perspectives.
9. Take responsibility for your decisions and their consequences.
Well, this is a bit of general advice, but you can use it in your professional career as well. Every action has a consequence.
A top-tier IT Business Analyst has good analytical and monitoring skills, so it is expected to understand the possible outcomes of your decisions. You have to think about it before you take action or make a decision. Top IT business analysts are sure they can deal with it even if it will be good or bad for their career.
Be aware that your decisions affect the internal and external stakeholders, the project scope, the timeline, the development team’s motivation and workload, the system, the processes, the strategy of the company, and your professional image.
10. Risk it
Before you make a decision that affects the project, you or others, make sure you gather every available information, double-check every alternative, involve the project team in the decision-making process, and try to find a less risky solution.
Sometimes you do not have enough information but have to decide. Successful IT professionals know they have to make risky decisions even if they are not leaders. Be brave, but do not be reckless.
11. Listen, monitor, analyze
Last, but not least, you have to improve the following soft skills:
- Listen
- Monitor
- Analyze
Business analysis is not about diagrams, charts, methodologies, projects, workshops, or discussions.
Top-tier IT business analysts are masters in listening, monitoring, and analyzing everything; trying to collect, understand, find or make patterns, plan, and organize systems, processes, and flows.
Improve yourself in these soft skills and your productivity and you will thrive in your career!
Summary
In conclusion, the roadmap to becoming a top-tier IT business analyst in 2024 involves a strategic blend of professional and personal improvement.
As professionals implement these pieces of advice, they are well-positioned to not just succeed but to excel in their roles, contributing to both personal growth and the broader success of their organizations and projects.
Hope you find it useful and helps you to improve yourself in your IT Business Analyst career path.
