I recently read an article on CIO.com and thought you may be interested in seeing the Four Secrets to Becoming an IT Star. According to this article, being an excellent BA will help you on the path to stardom.
The fours secrets are
- Be good to your end user
- Go beyond the walls of IT and learn the business
- Understand the organization’s structure and goals
- Build trust with your boss
Don’t you agree those are all qualities excellent BAs possess? This quote from the article sums it up for me. ‘“People outside of IT won’t necessarily understand tech speak, so you need to present information in a manner so they understand technology and what it provides to the company,” says John Murphy, CIO of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, Miss. Murphy’s ability to do so has helped him in the executive suite with other C-level colleagues. “I’ve been able to translate technical information to them in the manner they can understand and assimilate and in a way that shows the benefits to the big picture,” he says. ‘
I have been saying for awhile that the next generation of CIOs will be coming from the BA ranks. So keep it up and be a star in your organization. Soar all the way up to the C-level!!!
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Although a very basic concept … these four secrets are so very appropo in any career field. These tips were actually taught to me in IT-101 (back then it was actually ”MIS”, aka Management Information Systems). O.k., so I am telling my age here.
But, my professor at the time was very persistant in telling us that “…the end users aren’t very impressed by your use of techie jargon. They just want to know how your system best benefits them and their business objectives, how you can best faciliate them in reaching/maintaning their goals? … Save the techie talk for happy hour.” This guy was a riot! 😉
His advise hasn’t failed me in the almost twenty years that I’ve been in IT.
I couldn’t agree more with the author here.
‘Being nice to end users’:
– It really helps them to be more responsive, more open to ideas, helps to achieve a collaborative environment
– In one of my projects, the Client side had business process analysts and I played the role of the BA from technical side. the challenge was when Clients came up with solution rather than problem statement.
– This certainly created friction and a potential situation where discussions with Client involved ‘How” more than ‘What’.
– All it needed to alleviate the tension was to approach the client with right questions covering:” Why, what, where, when, what if”
– Leading the client thru defining problems is a challenging but fun part. This requires listening abilities, clear communication and setting expectation on the outcomes of each meeting.
– I have noticed that Clients do like to prepare themselves with questions from BAs so they need as much ‘food for thought’ in advance as possible.
– The end result is Client builds trust not only with BA but entire IT dept and technology as well.
– Define, Set and Manage expectation can be a mantra to Manage Clients