Hi All, 

My name is Iveta. I have been working as a Business Analyst (BA) for the last six years.  

So, what do I do as a business analyst? In my response to people’s questions about my job,  I often see puzzled faces or just passive nodding. Business Analyst sounds fancy, but few people know what it really means. Most of my closest friends still don’t understand what I am really doing. Everyone knows what a developer, a teacher, a doctor, or a journalist does, but what about a business analyst? 

Honestly, when I went to my first job interview for a BA, I hadn’t even heard of this position before. I was attracted not by the job title, but by the job description. I intend to be reflective in nature and I have often imagined my dream job. I didn’t believe that it existed until I saw the respective job description and I applied immediately.  

So, what does a business analyst do? 

I struggle to explain it to my friends for a reason. The answer is  “it depends”. Different companies have different definitions and expectations and the responsibilities may vary. 

Of course, this article would be pointless if I don’t explain what it is, so I will try. 

In general Business Analysts: 

  • Aim at optimising a process or a product.
  • Bring clarity to the teams
  • Understand well the mission, vision and the strategy of the organisation
  • Understand the business need and business process
  • Understand how systems function
  • Identify risks and dependencies
  • Discover problems
  • Spot opportunities
  • Recommend solutions
  • Discover and write down requirements
  • Sometimes, they act as a QA – validating that the end-result matches the initial requirements.
  • Sometimes, they act as a product owner – managing product backlog.

In the following series which I call BA Chronicles, I will aim to:

Inform young and aspiring BA professionals what a BA job role entails  

Inspire and encourage BA thinking and help professionals perform better. Whether your job title is a “Business Analyst” or not, BA skills and mindset are helpful in various aspects of life and work. 

Educate: I want to give tips, food for thought and helpful directions to wanna-be or junior BAs to excel in their career. 

BA is fun. It is exciting. It is inspiring. It is a beautiful mixture of business, UX and technical domains. It is a lovely environment to learn and grow. BAs are the knowledge keepers and the consultants. They are crucial to evoke action. Come on board and let’s dive into the world of Business Analysis. We will then touch a bit on Product Ownership and Product Management as areas to widen the horizons of the Product team’s work. It won’t be just another arid article, I promise.