Think about where you’re at in your career, and where you’d like to be six months or two years from now.
One way to really jump-start things is to get a business analyst certification. The good news is that there are plenty of options available for someone who’s considering a business analysis direction.
Are You A Good Fit as A Business Analyst?
Some people come to business analysis with an analytical mindset but need to improve their communication skills. Others are great communicators but need to know more of the nuts and bolts of business analysis.
Regardless of your strengths and weaknesses going into it, you can avail yourself of plenty of learning options. There’s everything from a self-directed online environment to degree programs at the university level, at all kinds of price points. Organizations like Centriq lie somewhere in the middle and offer a variety of training classes on the skills Business Analysts need.
Regardless of which direction you take, these are skills that will be vital to your future in business analysis:
Skills You Need as A Business Analyst
- Communication: This entails being able to communicate clearly with everyone from entry-level employees and interns all the way to the executives in the C-suite. That includes not just presentations, reports and papers, but a good bit of face-to-face communication and active listening.
- Analytical Thinking: You have to be able to take in complex information with many moving parts, then break it down into information and solutions that are useful for the task or project you’re working on. Things like cost/benefit analysis, SWOT analysis, and other step-by-step methods are used to analyze an issue, not unlike scientific method.
- Critical Thinking: This can be thought
of as a subset of your analytical thinking skills. You’ll need to be able to dig deep into business issues, either solo or with teams, and get to the “why” behind an action or a policy. From there, it’s your responsibility to consider the implications and long-term effects of that issue and ask, “Why are we doing it this way?” or “How can we improve on this?”- Group Facilitation: Let’s face it: nobody really likes meetings. That’s why it’s vitally important for every meeting to count and to produce results, with everyone’s voices being heard and counted. It’s the facilitator’s job to ensure the meeting flows and is productive, and it’s not as easy as you might think.
- Relationship Building: This is another “soft” skill that sounds easier than it is. Every interaction and every transaction only work because of good relationships, and it’s essential that you be perceived as trustworthy, genuine, and friendly. These types of relationships don’t just happen overnight.
Choose Centriq for Your Training
You’ve had some time to think on this and you’ve learned a little about the “soft” skills involved in becoming a business analyst.
Centriq Training can assist with both the technical and soft skill aspects needed to reach your goals of business training certification or business analyst training.
Whether you’re a professional who’s thinking about a career change or a manager who’s interested in developing your workforce, we invite you to explore our training class offerings.
A training advisor is available if you’d like free guidance identifying the class(es) you should take. Just complete the form below and someone will be in touch or, you can reach someone immediately by calling 913.322.7062 or 314.644.6400.