Finding a Business Analyst

There are times when a business starts losing money and no one is sure where the problem is located. Going over facts and figures only points to the bottom line, which continues to shrink. People start to get desperate, and strategies are planned and implemented to no avail. Tried and true measures are no longer working. It is time to call on the experts - the business analyst needs to be brought in. The problem is finding one who knows the company.

Finding a good business analyst is not as hard as everyone thinks.

They are not the enemy, nor some eerie creature sneaking around, lurking behind every corner. A good business analyst is a creative thinker. He or she is a motivational, aggressive team player who can gather data and other pertinent information from management and other sources to determine what the key problem is.

A qualified business analyst may already exist in your organization. A member of the IT department could be the one who develops a project program designed to save the company money. This is someone capable of setting up a development team to think outside the box. You are looking for someone creative, someone who is not afraid of a vision. Someone with good communication skills is a must, as most projects fall short due to the lack of communication.

Choosing someone in-house is actually a benefit. He or she already knows the company, including its strong attributes as well as weaknesses. Choosing someone from inside the organization means he or she will know the people involved, and camaraderie may already exist. This can make the gathering of information easier, and the more easily needed data and information can be collected, the more quickly a project scope can be developed.

The best business analyst will be able to speak the language of whichever department he or she needs to interact with. He or she will not get caught sidetracked by mundane tasks and moot points. The business analyst will know what information is needed and get it, keeping the big picture in mind. They will motivate others to stay on task and allow someone the freedom of creativity. Obviously, what was being done did not work, so a new approach is needed, and the qualified business analyst will see this.

Someone who can develop a rapport with the departments to meet expectations is the perfect candidate for a business analyst. This person will act as a liaison between management and development teams, able to speak with authority while still maintaining a level of respect. The perfect business analyst will be able to foresee problems that may arise between teams and squelch them before they start.

A liaison between involved departments, a leader during meetings, a project developer, and a numbers cruncher are all beneficial attributes of a good business analyst. Find someone capable of doing all these things, and you have found a great asset.