What we love about Anna’s story is how she found herself performing various aspects of a business analyst career before joining the Bridging the Gap program. Despite facing career uncertainty and layoffs, her decision to join the program only increased her passion for business analysis, while empowering her to champion other BAs who were learning alongside of her.

In this interview, you’ll discover how:

• The program built on Anna’s experience, while also providing a new layer of depth and knowledge to some of her favorite aspects of business analysis.
• Anna realized a new sense of confidence as a more polished BA which opened the door for her to mentor junior BAs and even start pursuing a career in Business Architecture.
• The feedback she received during her time in the program gave her the guardrails needed to truly execute excellent work for her organization.

Laura Brandenburg: Hello, I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap and I am so excited to be here today with Anna, who was a participant in the recent session of the Business Analyst Blueprint. And iis here to talk a little bit about her business analysis career journey and her experience with the program. Anna, thank you so, so much for being here.

Anna: Thank you for having me, Laura. It’s always a pleasure.

Laura Brandenburg: We got to connect quite a bit through your session and through a lot of the office hours calls. I’m just really excited to hear even more of your story and your positive vibe. You always bring so much positive energy. So why don’t you just get us started and share a little bit about where you were at before you found Bridging the Gap or before you started The Blueprint. Where were you at in your career? What were you looking for professionally?

Anna: I’m glad that you ordered it that way, because in my career, prior to business analysis, I had my undergrad in HR. I didn’t get an HR job. I jumped into billing and ended up working for an IT MSP (managed service provider). They weren’t too established. I have a natural hustle or a go-getter attitude, and I wanted to help them develop some sort of foundation on how things work because no processes were documented. What everyone did was in their brains, so nothing was in a repository. Myself and another young lady that I worked with, we worked together to develop a knowledge base for all the processes. And then when mergers happened, she and I were the primary ones putting over all of the data from one system to another.

In  2017, I came across Bridging the Gap on YouTube because I was brought with the project on implementing Salesforce. Now, I know that Bridging the Gap doesn’t have much to do with Salesforce, but I was looking for ways to get more organized, and I saw where Salesforce had a business analyst, not a career path at the time, but it was an element that business analysts should learn, so to speak.

And so I googled “learn business analysis” and came across Bridging the Gap. I’ve been hooked ever since. I followed you on LinkedIn and subscribed to Bridging the Gap’s YouTube channel because your knowledge has been helpful.

At the IT managed service provider employer where I was working, I helped with project coordination. And there was an element to one of your videos – I cannot recall the exact one – that I was able to apply to my own career in that time.

And after being laid off from that company, business analysis was the way that I really wanted to go. Because at that company there wasn’t a role for BA and so I was doing a project coordination work because there just wasn’t a BA role available at the time.

After I was laid off, I went to different clients and added more tools in my toolbelt. Eight years later, up until now, I’ve finished The Blueprint program. I was able to become a more polished business analyst. I’m also aiding junior business analyst as well.

That background with Bridging the Gap and Laura’s information has really helped solidify my career as a BA for sure.

Laura Brandenburg: It’s so interesting that you talk back to 2017, where it sounds like you were really doing business analysis under an HR title. Right. But then you joined the program in 2023. Obviously you learned a lot of things along the way. But then there was something that shifted when you chose to join The Blueprint program now.

Anna: For clarity, my degree was in HR and my specialization was HR, but the position itself, was IT project coordination or project management. And so the reason why I joined in 2023: I’m making more money now, so I’m able to afford the program. Also I had an employer who believed in me. So having that support of someone saying, “Hey, Anna – do it, go for it; this is why we need you here.”

Laura Brandenburg: Sometimes I think just all the things have to fall into place, right. So did your employer end up paying for the program?

Anna: Yes.

Laura Brandenburg: You funded it at first and then your employer covered it. That happens a lot. What how did that unfold for you?

Anna: We are paying a pretty penny, but like I said, it is well worth it. I said to my employer, “Hey, I’m interested in this program and here’s the details.”  But I got an email that the deadline’s approaching to enroll. So I made a quick decision to join the program. And I went back to my employer, and we were able to smooth it out. So like I said, that employer support goes a long way for sure.

Laura Brandenburg: For sure. It sounds like you brought a lot of business analysis experience into the program, but like what changed as you went through it or what were some of the key experiences for you? Did you work on a specific project? Did you apply it to different projects?

Anna: Being exposed to the different elements that The Blueprint provides within business analysis really helped me. I was able to not necessarily have one module that we went over apply to every project that I’ve worked on. But during the program – yes, I was working on projects. Yes, I was applying what I’ve learned in each module to those projects.

Another thing for me that was big was getting that feedback because I’m a maverick. And so I like to do things my own way. That’s how clients in the past have been. But it was very, very educational when I would provide a deliverable in my own way, but then get the feedback like, “Hey, this isn’t what we talked about, this isn’t what was listed.”

So it’s a matter of adjusting yourself and having the flexibility to get out of your own way and do it the way the client wants it.

Laura Brandenburg: Is there a module that stands out to you?

Anna: Business Process Analysis. The first module. Mapping – that’s my forte. I love BPM and process mapping. That’s led me to work, essentially – that’s 60% of my job.

Whenever I get feedback that wasn’t aligned to the workbook standard, I was taking that like, “Hey, this is what I do”, but I realized this is coming from a good point. Let me do this the way that they needed done. Those new ways I’ve incorporated into my day to day career.

Laura Brandenburg: Obviously what you did was working because you were successful, but sometimes there’s just a little tweaks that make it easier or clearer, long term.

Because you brought this up, one of the things I love is that you were in our program and then you were also part of our membership for a while where we had the community together. And you were one of the few who have been active in not just posting things and sharing things to get feedback, but also to provide feedback to other people, which I just love witnessing.

How did that help you? Was that something that you just enjoy to do, or is that something that you also learn from a little bit later? What was your motivation around that?

Anna: The Blueprint program gave me the confidence to give my $0.02. I felt comfortable contributing to certain feedback requests and posts, or even during the office hours calls, because that that’s how I feel that business analysts should grow. And I feel like that’s how it’s grown by building off of one another. My parents say iron sharpens iron, so you only get better whenever you surround yourself with those who can make you better, essentially.

Laura Brandenburg: I want to also say, I appreciate you being the one who helped to build up other people, because it’s one thing to hear feedback from me, but also you often provided a slightly different take than I would, or you saw something that I would have missed. And so I think that’s true within the community too. Just having multiple eyes on your work is just so.

Anna: Appreciate that for sure.

Laura Brandenburg: So tell us: where are you at now?

Anna: Business analysis will always be something that I’m always going to carry with me. I’m always going to go back to. Currently, one, I am helping build other junior BAs. And, who knows, I may lead a team of BAs. Let’s put that into the atmosphere.

But I’m also going into a direction for business architecture, and that’s not really too much of a learning curve, but I feel like it’s a great route for me in terms of bringing business analysis on, in dealing with, decisions and applications, pieces of it as well.

Laura Brandenburg: So exciting. So you’re providing feedback to junior BAs already, building that leadership experience.

Anna: And being their cheerleader, yes.

Laura Brandenburg: How’s that going?

Anna: Fairly well. Just yesterday I was on a call with the PM and two other junior BAs and the PM was like, “Anna, do you want to do this?” And I said, “No, let’s let this other person do it. You got this. We’re all here together.” So just being that cheerleader for those who don’t have that inner cheerleader themselves.

Laura Brandenburg: That’s awesome. And I will say that often comes from being part of a community or part of a program that give you that confidence to know the structure that they need.  So now you know the tools that they need to be successful. It’s really fulfilling for me to see people grow from the doer into the leader.

Anna: You may see them in your Bridging the Gap program.

Laura Brandenburg: I would obviously love to help them. Is there anything else that you would like to share with people who might want to follow in your footsteps in their career or are interested in joining the program?

Anna: So if you want to follow my career – have an open mind, ask plenty of questions, and be ready for whatever. Roll with the punches. Be susceptible to feedback, both positive and critical. But in terms of The Blueprint… do the program, do the program. It can be time consuming. And I should have done an earlier cohort that didn’t occur during the holidays.

I highly recommend it because it helped me become a more polished business analyst. It exposed me to areas that I wouldn’t necessarily touch as a functional business analyst, such as the ERDs and the system and the data items.

Getting more polished up in each of those areas is just giving me the confidence to want to do more.

Laura Brandenburg: You are on to now learning about business architecture and expanding on those skills. Those skills never go away. But yes, it is a bit of an intensive investment in time and energy, that’s for sure.

Anna: My last point that I’ll make is that within The Blueprint program, being around fellow business analysts or transitioning business analysts or just those who have an interest in business analysis, having a new network, new friendships, that can be valuable as well. Being in the membership community and getting those different contacts as well has been very beneficial to my career as a BA.

Laura Brandenburg: Well, thank you so, so much, Anna. I appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. I’m looking forward to continuing to watch your journey. I know you are definitely a go-getter and you’ll be somewhere completely new and exciting. I appreciate that about you so much.

Anna: Thank you, Laura.

What we love about Chad’s story is how, through The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, he was able to identify skillsets developed in his previous career that were business analyst skills, but lacked the framework to make the skills transferable. The training program provided Chad with a repeatable process framework with quality deliverable outputs that have allowed him to streamline his work and focus on the most valuable deliverables.

In this interview, you’ll discover how:

• The skills Chad learned through his 20 years of experience as a Director of eCommerce were easily transferable to a skillset in business analysis.
• The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program provided Chad with a repeatable framework for projects, as well as, how he has seen that same framework work for colleagues across a variety of industries through the training program’s Office Hours.
• Chad juggled a busy work schedule and home life with the training program course material. He provides tangible examples for how to integrate the course work into career work and how blocking his time proved to be the most effective strategy for prioritizing the course deliverables.

Laura Brandenburg: Hello and welcome. I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap here today with Chad Crider, and I’m so excited. Chad was one of the first participants in the updated version of The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, where I’ve been back in a teaching and instructor capacity and got to work with him directly on his business analysis skills and doing all kinds of great things in his career.

So Chad, welcome. I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you for joining us.

Chad Crider: Thank you for having me. I’m excited.

Laura Brandenburg: So first, if you could just take us back to a little over six months ago when you started the program. Where were you at in your career? What were your goals? What were some of the things that you were worried about professionally? What was going through your head at that time?

Chad Crider: So to go back six months, we should probably quickly go back three years. Up until three years ago this month, I was a director of e-commerce for a local company, and I was miserable. I mean, part of that was the pandemic. And, everything that came along with that and working just insane 80, 90 hour weeks.

And it got to a point where I needed to make a change for my own mental health. And so this opportunity as an application administrator came open, and I thought, you know what? I know a couple of people there. Let’s see what this is. And, started and I really enjoy what I do.

I love working, kind of part support, part BA, part app development. It’s a really unique kind of position that I get to occupy in the business. And, as we started talking through, I have 20 years of experience before I came here in a different career path.

And I told Nik, who was also in your class, I feel like I have a lot of skills, but I don’t have a lot of framework for them. And he said, well, this Bridging the Gap course is going to be changing how we do things. And we’re looking at running a couple of people through it, would you be interested?

And so we talked through it and he showed me the stuff that he worked on when he went through the class. And I talked with my wife about it and I said, you know what? I think this is like the next step to kind of figure out if I want to do more BA work?

Do I want to continue with the idea of getting into data? So that’s how I ended up, in Bridging the Gap, trying to take all the skills that you learn over a lifetime in a career and provide a framework for how you do things. I’d never thought about anything I had done as an e-commerce director through the lens of BA work, but it’s a lot of BA work. So that that was the motivation.

Laura Brandenburg: I love that how you talked about that because so many people feel like they don’t really have a career, like they’ve been doing these different roles and filling different gaps, and often they have a ton of business analysis experience that they don’t appreciate or realize is even valid.

It sounds like that was part of the awareness that you had going as part of joining, but also going through the program. What did that look like to realize like, oh, I’ve actually been doing this for 20 years.

Chad Crider: Yeah, there were a couple of moments, [when I realized] that this course is helping me in multiple ways. It’s helping me because, when Nik or one of our other BAs that I work with a lot starts talking now, I know some of the reasons why they ask the questions they do, the way they do the framing.

Personally, I felt a little lost when I first started this career because it felt like such a divorce of everything that I had done before. And now going through The Bridging the Gap [training course], I’m able to look at it and I’m able to say, you know what? I’m not doing it the same way anymore, but it’s the same processes that I was following – being mindful of scope and all these little things that you just learned to pay attention to. But you just didn’t have that that framework that ties it all together to make it repeatable every time.

Quick aside – here’s the business analysis process framework Chad is talking about – you learn it in module 4 – The BA Essentials Master Class.

Laura Brandenburg: So you kind of feel like you’re making it up as you go along, even though you really are applying principles that make sense.

Chad Crider: Right.

Laura Brandenburg: One of the things that you said when you registered for this was that you used the same project all the way through. Can you share a little bit more about that project and what your takeaways were?

Chad Crider: I work for a manufacturing company. One of the parts of our manufacturing process, we create film plastic that food is stored, wrapped, and frozen in. We’re adding to that business and we’re looking for a new certification in that.

We had these traceability exercises that we had to be able to successfully prove that we can do this. We have that for a lot of our other processes, but for this new process, now that we’re going for the certification for these specific things, it can’t just be, well, we kind of do that. Now we need it to be documented. Now we need to be able to see if there were a recall or something, we have we have a finite amount of time that we have to start that. So they said, we would like you to spearhead getting this traceability going for us.

That that started right after Halloween, so early November. And then I started Bridging the Gap, right after Thanksgiving. So, there was there was a little bit of run up to it here on campus for me. But then it was basically, as I’m going through these lessons, I tried to purposely steer myself this way. I was able to look at the modules, see what we have, see what I can learn quickly to start digesting.

And then there’s the deliverables as part of doing the coursework. My deliverables are what I’m providing and building to give to my colleagues here on campus. It was it was fantastic. And yesterday was our final meeting on that [project].

We’ve got everything going. Traceability is working the way we expected. And now we’re just doing some reporting stuff, nothing major, but just stuff that now we’re in that wrap up hyper care phase.

Laura Brandenburg: Well congratulations. That sounds like a great project. One of the things I loved about having you and your colleague in the program is that manufacturing is not an industry that I’m exposed to. And just hearing about the kinds of projects in manufacturing and how that really applies. We always have so many different industries as part of the program, but the types of projects and how they show up.

So congratulations. And I thought it was a really cool project and also a really value-add for your company too.

Chad Crider: There was a satisfaction within me to want to know I’m the one who’s doing this, but I’m also able to do it in such a way that I’m also learning and kind of nurturing my own inner curiosity as we go along.

Laura Brandenburg: What do you think is the biggest difference between how you approach this project and maybe how you would have if you hadn’t been going through the program side by side?

Chad Crider: I am very much, kind of like a ping pong ball. I know this about myself – ADHD, whatever you want to call it. I latch onto something and I go with it, and then something else catches my attention. So I would have kind of bounced from requirement to requirement from this piece to that piece.

And I would have been trying to apply processes to it, but in very, very small bite size increments, probably right up until someone like Nik was like, “Hey man, we need some deliverables!” And then I would have freaked out and I would have spent a weekend getting deliverables ready.

As opposed to, with a course like this, talking through the steps. When we were all done, and because I did module four (The BA Essentials Master Class) last, I went back and I said, “Okay, I’m going to do this  module. And then I’m going to make sure because we’re getting ready to wrap this all up. Is everything here? Is everything good?” And just being able to do that and make sure that I’m keeping myself on task and build a document that I can use as my template. This is how I’m going to start now.

It feels like a completely different way to try and do my job.

Laura Brandenburg: Is it something you’re continuing to apply in other projects?

Chad Crider: Absolutely, yeah. One project that went really smooth is great. But being able to say okay, now I proved that not only does the process work, but it’s a process that I can follow and I can do this. So now it’s like, okay, we’re just going to keep doing this. The same kind of format, the same kind of thing.

And sure, you’ll have to change things based on the project. Nothing is ever going to be perfect. But it is a wide enough range template. You know that you can make it fit almost anything, I think.

Laura Brandenburg: That’s awesome to hear. One of the things I really appreciated about having you in the program is you were on just about every office hours call. You asked questions in the forums, but you were definitely really engaged in the office hours calls. What was that like from your perspective? What did you take away, both from your questions, but also other people with questions – what was that like for you?

Chad Crider: So I the thing I love the most about the office hours was this was time not just with you one on one, having a conversation. This was also time with other people doing BA work who I would never run into these people in a normal day-to-day situation. There are different industries, different parts of the world. It was motivating to go to the office hours knowing that, for example, Anna was part of this program at the same time, and she’s doing something completely different from what I’m doing. But we’re using the same concepts to do our jobs.

It was fascinating to listen to how she approached it. And then, you asked questions the same way to both of us. It was very interesting to see how the question doesn’t have to change, even though the answer is going to change based on a perspective or career or industry or whatever.

I did a presentation on the Bridging the Gap course here at work. I found on LinkedIn, or maybe it was on Google, you have a slide out there somewhere that says, business analysis is a skillset, not a job title or something like that. Looking at your office hours and seeing how everything worked really drove that point home where we’re developing a skill set, not a job title.

And if you develop a skill set, that skill set is going to be transferable.

Laura Brandenburg: I love hearing that because the people we get in the program are so varied. Like you said, we have people from different countries, in different parts of the US, different industries. I’m always nervous, like, oh, is this industry going to be the one that my questions aren’t going to work? But you can always find some way of how to apply these foundational business analysis skills set to work within that organization to do something better.

Chad Crider: Absolutely. And it was really interesting the way myself and my colleague that took the course with me. We’re working on very different perspectives of the business right now and we had a weekly call amongst us with Nik, just to talk about everything. And it was very satisfying to see the office hours and the calls that we had here on campus and talking with Nik and it just seeing that as long as you’re approaching this as “these are skills, this is something that there is going to fundamentally change how we approach things.” Industry seems to be set dressing.

Laura Brandenburg: So last question for you and then you’re welcome to share anything else you’d like as well. But I know you have some exciting career goals, so where do you see yourself headed now that you’re obviously excelling in this role that you’re in?

Chad Crider:  My goal is to end up as a data engineer here. I think one of the most important parts, especially with how our business is set up – we are multi-site, multi-state, different time zones. We’re not multinational yet. But we need to have good, solid practices to make sure that myself, working in Ohio, when I’m working with someone in Chicago or South Carolina or Massachusetts or Wisconsin, we approach it the same way every time.

We can use this to drive culture within our IT department so that we know as we start to build out our data sets and we start to engage with people around the business that we’re being mindful of what they need in the same way that we would be mindful if we’re turning on new software or if we’re putting up some new part of the network for a new building or something like that. We need to make sure that we’re treating our data and the consumers of our data in the same manner.

That’s really kind of the part that I’m hoping to kind of get in and drive. We’re going to start a big push to make our decisions better informed with better data.

It’s slowly heading that way. I’ve been brought in on the data warehouse team to start working through some of these data sets. I’m working with logistics right now on bringing on a new outside warehouse. It’s third-party warehouse. It’s like 300,000 sqft. And working with a project manager, working with myself as kind of the BA role on it – working with everybody else to meet an aggressive deadline by the business. It’s very exciting.

Laura Brandenburg: It sounds like you’re already taking steps for that, which is also how I always advise people to get into business analysis. Just take some projects that kind of get you in that direction, so you’re taking a step forward.

Chad Crider: Take a step, grab a hold of it. Take the opportunity. It’s probably going to be scary. I’m not going to lie. You know, I’ve never done anything to turn on a 300,000 square foot warehouse, you know? But now I’m going to and it’s kind of nerve wracking at times. But, I know that I’ve got BA resources here on campus. I’ve got a couple of connections made through the [BTG] community. I’m excited to reach out to people and say, “Hey, this is kind of what I’m doing. what do you think?”

Laura Brandenburg: Very exciting. Thank you so much for sharing the story about your experience in the program. Is there anything else that you would like to leave people who are listening that might be looking to follow in your footsteps?

Chad Crider: Yes. This is what I told people when I did the presentation to our IT team. I am in my 40s. I have a life. I have a wife, I have kids, I have a kid in college right now. I have a job. I have all these things. I am a very busy guy. I still found time every week to work on this process, to work on this program, to make an investment in me for my career.

If I can do it, anybody can do it. You just have to budget your time. Now, I will say, if you’re if your employer is super awesome and you’re able to work on this for your employer, there is there are easy ways to say this can benefit us as I’m taking the course. So don’t be afraid to try that angle if you need to.

Laura Brandenburg: I think, prioritizing the time investment is so important. And so key. And you mentioned the ping pong effect that you have. So can you just share a little bit like what was your actual strategy for making the time. Because that’s a big challenge for a lot of people.

Chad Crider: So I knew we had the office hours with you once a month. Amber and I, my colleague that also went through this [program], we had set up a call every Thursday morning. We were going to get together and talk about what we had worked on the week before, and we made sure we put that on our outlook calendar.

We blocked out that time. And we said, this is not just help for us. This is holding ourselves accountable. It was only a 30-minute call, just to talk through things. But then we would then know, Thursday I’m going to meet with Amber or she’s going to meet with Chad to talk about what we did.

So it was one of those things like, I have a deadline that I’ve given myself. Now I’m going to start to look, where can I fit this in? And I’ll be honest, the lesson part was the easiest part, because, you know, all the lessons are 30 to 45 [minutes], maybe an hour long.

So that was that was great – turn them on, go through the PDF while you’re talking on the video, taking notes. Then the deliverables, I thought that was going to be the easiest part, because I’ll just take my laptop home and do it. Because I did it for a lot of stuff at work I needed to have access to the work resources. So convinced my boss that this two hour block a week, we’re just going to block that out. And that’s what I’m going to work on my requirements deliverables. And they were very excited for the opportunity to get that time because that’s two hours that I am blocked out. I am just working on this project. They didn’t look at it as well. That’s two hours. Chad’s going to school. No, no, that’s two hours. Chad’s working on this project. And it helped immensely.

Laura Brandenburg: I think that’s such a great takeaway – a big project needs focused attention. That’s a strategy whether you’re taking a course or not, to have focused time to work on your deliverables or the analytical thinking or just whatever you need to move that project forward, it’s just so essential. That’s a great practice. Thank you for sharing that.

Chad Crider: Paper – most of the time is just doodle stuff. But I started keeping a stack of paper here just so I could, like, jot down notes or something. So doodles lead into notes, which lead into deep questions to think about later. It’s great. I will never not have paper right here when I’m going through some sort of project planning.

Laura Brandenburg: I’m a big fan of handwritten paper. I’ve got my weekly to-do lists right here.

Thank you so much Chad. I am looking forward to reconnecting in a while to see how does this all this unfold. Because you’re on a really great career path and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this today.

Chad Crider: It’s been a blast. Thank you very much.

Laura Brandenburg: You’re welcome. Thanks so much.

Establishing clear and measurable business analyst performance metrics and KPIs is no easy task. The business analyst role is interdependent on contributions for other team members, and many of the best business analysts excel based on soft skills and contributions that are inherently more difficult to measure.

Why Measuring Business Analyst Performance is Important

High-performing business analysts are essential to the success of software and business improvement projects. Business analysts help everyone get clear on what the problem is and how to solve it. Their contribution to clear requirements helps everyone else be more efficient and successful, which ultimately impacts the performance of the entire project.

Meaningful performance metrics help ensure that business analysts keep their attention on what matters. Success as a business analyst is not about writing more requirements, holding more meetings, or, really, doing more of anything!

At the end of the day, business analysts add value by bringing clarity to project outcomes and getting the business to own the solution. Just because this seems difficult to measure, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t measure it to the best of our abilities.

KPIs for Business Analysts

When I think about high-level business analyst performance, the following questions come to mind:

1. Does the project deliver the anticipated value? Does the project meet the objectives of the business case?
2. Are the stakeholders aligned around the project concept? If you asked each of them individually about what is to be achieved, would you get the same or at least consistent answers?
3. Are the stakeholders satisfied that the scope being delivered is the best possible solution to the problem they are trying to solve?
4. Does the implementation team deliver on the requirements without a lot of wasted effort? Did they understand what needed to be accomplished?
5. Is the test team able to validate that the final application met all the requirements or do they come across areas of ambiguity that need to be addressed?
6. Are there big surprises at the end of the project? Do unexpected requirements come up? Every project will experience a bit of churn toward the end as you flesh out the final details, but missing a big piece of functionality or a critical business process is a sign that the business analysis effort was lacking.
7. Did the business analyst have a business analysis process and create a business analysis plan? How close was the actual work to their intended plan? What was the root cause of any variations?
8. Did the business analyst choose the most appropriate requirements documentation for the type of project and methodology in place?
9. Is the business happy? Do they find value in what was delivered? (A no answer can have many root causes, but a yes answer is typically the sign of good business analysis work.)

If having a business analysis process is a new concept, check out this video on our 8-step business analysis process framework.

>>Plan Your Next Step with a Free Workshop

While this is a lot of information, you might be wondering exactly what steps you can take. We offer a free Quick Start to Success workshop  that will help you figure out your next step.

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Taking Project Considerations Into Account for Business Analyst Metrics

Another way to evaluate the performance of business analysts is to consider aspects of the project:

• How many stakeholders were involved? From how many different areas of the business? And at what level of the organization?
• How much communication was necessary? (Meetings, messages, emails, etc)
• How many deliverables (business processes, use cases, user stories, data models, etc) did the business analyst need to create?
• How many systems were impacted?
• How many technical stakeholders were involved?
• How up-to-date is the current state documentation? Does it even exist or did the BA need to create it to kickstart the project?
• How long did the business analysis effort take?
• How many defects were due to missed requirements?
• What was the end result or ROI of the project? What benefits were delivered or costs saved?

Again, you are looking to show that your business analysts lead teams to alignment and clarity as effectively as possible, given the complexity of the problem, solution, and stakeholders involved.

How to Measure the Performance of Business Analysts

One thing that makes measuring business analysis performance so challenging is the interrelationship between the business analysis effort and that of the team. If the business analyst does a great job preparing for meetings, invites the right stakeholders, and then they don’t attend or they come unprepared, should the business analyst performance be downgraded?

Most likely, your answer would be no! But many business analysts today are seen as bottlenecks who miss deadlines or deliver incomplete requirements, when the reality behind the measurement is that they are lacking stakeholder engagement on their projects.

A good business analyst will be proactive and strategic, they will gain buy-in from stakeholders, and smooth the path to engagement throughout the project. But in some situations, their hands are tied and they are unable to break-through certain areas of resistance.

To compensate this, any measurements need to be considered in context. Did the business analyst manage what they could? Did they go above and beyond to gain buy-in and engagement? Did they elevate risks? Did they ask probing questions? Was their communication clear and actionable?

This is what you are looking for in a great business analyst. So be sure your measurements aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet without context – you are likely to get exactly what you measure, which might not be the outcomes you actually want!

>>How to Learn the Foundational Business Analyst Skills

When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, you’ll gain real world experience in the industry-standard techniques and business analysis processes so you can upgrade your skills, bring a fresh perspective to your business analysis approach, and know exactly what to do on your software projects.

They may not have the business analyst job title, and they may not even be aware they are doing business analysis work, but someone is ensuring the right problem is being solved, that everyone understands the problem and solution in detail and is on the same page about what the software is going to do, and how that achieves the business objectives.

So what is a business analyst? And what does a business analyst do?

There are many variations of the business analyst role, and the business analyst job title is used inconsistently. Here at Bridging the Gap, we focus on how the practice of business analysis unfolds specifically on software projects, where the business analyst is responsible for ensuring the team is solving the right business problem and guiding the team in analysis and communication activities that get all business and technical stakeholders on the same page about the project scope, including the business and technical aspects of the solution.

Whether your team is leveraging agile software development practices or more traditional ones, effective business analysis is essential to success. If you are interested in starting, succeeding, or excelling in a business analyst role, this article is your guide to the role, responsibilities, job description, and mindset of a business analyst.

Defining The Business Analyst Role and Mindset

Out of chaos, we create order.

Out of disagreement, we create alignment.

Out of ambiguity, we create clarity.

But most of all, we create positive change for the organizations we serve.

Business analysts lead teams from the inside out. We create positive change for our organizations. We inspire others to follow us on our path toward positive change. We help everyone understand exactly what that change is and how they can contribute to it. We help teams discover what the change should be.

Source: Bridging the Gap’s Business Analyst Manifesto.

In essence, if you’ve helped teams focus on alignment, clarity, and positive change, you are filling the essentials of a business analyst role and have the mindset of a business analyst. It’s not uncommon for an aspiring business analyst to discover they’ve been doing BA work intuitively for years. They are able to uncover many transferable business analyst skills and position themselves for mid-level and, depending on their experience, even senior business analyst roles.

A Dedicated Business Analyst Role Sets Projects Up for Success

Having a dedicated business analyst role on your project has a tremendous ROI (Return on Investment). As high-performing business analysts, we need to be aware of the value we create, and how we contribute to the ROI of a project. The role is still misunderstood by many, and we’ll often find ourselves needing to educate our leadership and stakeholders about how we can make a contribution.

Business analysts add value by:

• Reducing rework that’s caused by overlooking requirements until late in the development process.
• Reducing requirements churn, or the time investment from stakeholders in getting clear on what they want out of a software solution.
• Finding more cost-effective solutions, whether that’s simplifying the requirements or finding non-technical solutions to business problems.
• Discovering new business benefits that increase the ROI on the planned project investment.
• Prioritizing requirements, so the development team has a clear idea of what to implement first.
• Facilitating communication with the business community, so the delivered solution is used as intended.
• Providing a framework for IT to scale, particularly as an organization grows beyond the boundaries of informal communication where everyone knows everything about the business.

Here’s a video walking you through the value proposition of business analysis:

>>Plan Your Next Step with a Free Workshop

While this is a lot of information, you might be wondering exactly what steps you can take. We offer a free Quick Start to Success workshop  that will help you figure out your next step.

Click here to learn more about how to start your BA career

The Key Responsibilities of a Business Analyst

To contribute this level of value, you need to bring a structured framework or approach to the business analyst role. This role includes taking the requirements aspect of the project from initial problem or idea to a fully implemented solution. The following business analysis process supports the business analyst in navigating a project effectively and successfully.

This is the 8-step business analysis process framework we teach at Bridging the Gap, and it’s helped thousands of business analysts be more effective in their role. Let’s take a quick look at the business analyst responsibilities involved in each step.

1. Get Oriented – Start actively contributing as quickly as possible by managing expectations and conducting preliminary stakeholder analysis.
2. Discover the Primary Business Objectives– Ensure the right business need or problem is solved, and that all stakeholders are aligned on the expected outcome.
3. Define Solution Scope– After exploring multiple possible solutions, gain agreement from stakeholders on the scope of the solution to be developed, and ensure it fits within the constraints of the project.
4. Formulate Your Business Analysis Plan– Identify what types of documentation or deliverables to create, and what needs to be done when. Ensure stakeholders understand what contributions they need to make as part of the project, as business analysis never happens in a vaccum.
5. Define the Detailed Requirements– Gain alignment and clarity at a detailed level, so that both business and technical stakeholders can successfully implement the solution. This involves developing a consistent method of communication so that all stakeholders know and understand the requirements.
6. Support the Technical Implementation– Be a partner with the tech team and ensure they have everything they need to be successful, and explore opportunities to generate even more business value from the software aspect of the solution.
7. Help the Business Implement the Solution– Support business stakeholders during implementation, user acceptance testing, and roll out so that they ultimately get what they need and are able to incorporate the delivered solution into their day-to-day work.
8. Assess the Value Created by the Solution– Assess the Return on Investment (ROI) of the solution, celebrate the project successes, and identify new opportunities to improve the business.

You can learn more about the 8-step business analysis process framework in this video:

And, yes, this process framework applies in agile too! Here’s a guide to how to leverage this framework to be a successful agile business analyst.

Key Skills for Success in a Business Analyst Role

The business analyst role requires both hard and soft skills. Business analysts need to be able to gain alignment from diverse sets of stakeholders on both the big picture and the granular details of the project.

First, there are core, underlying skills that set you up to be a great business analyst, such as:

• Communication skills – Verbal and written communication skills are extremely important, as is the ability to facilitate meetings with diverse sets of stakeholders.
• Problem-solving skills – The ability to understand what problem is being solved and why, as well as navigate new challenges and problems throughout the project, is essential.
• Critical thinking skills – Business analysts evaluate multiple solution options and provide critical thinking to back-up or probe into stakeholder assumptions.

Then there are specific business analysis skills in analysis and communication.  To be successful as a business analyst, you need a toolbox and a framework.

• A TOOLBOX of techniques that you can pick and choose from, based on the needs of your project and team.
• A FRAMEWORK that guides you step-by-step what to when.

At Bridging the Gap, we provide an organized, streamlined, and practical toolbox and framework in the form of The Business Analyst Blueprint® – it’s both a framework for approaching business analysis skill development and the name of our flagship, online, practical training program.

And it looks like this:

While we already talked about the end-to-end framework. :et’s take a deeper look at the toolbox of techniques a business analyst needs to succeed in their role.

• The Business-Level, or how the business work flows operationally, often completed by analyzing the business process (a textual model) and creating business process flow diagrams (a visual model).
• The Software-Level, or how the software system supports the business workflows, often completed through functional requirements models like use cases and wireframes.
• The Information-Level, or how data and information are stored and maintained by an organization, completed by data modeling techniques including an entity relationship diagram (ERD), data dictionary, data map, and system context diagram.

When you use multiple techniques, particularly powerful analytical and visual models, you will find that you naturally see gaps that others gloss over and identify the downstream impact of a change or new solution.

Here’s a video that walks you through the key business analyst skills.

The Typical Day of a Business Analyst – Or, What Does a Business Analyst Actually Do?

The role is so varied that there really is no typical day for a business analyst. And that’s one of the things many business analysts love about the role, as there is a lot of variety in the work.

I have an entire video on this topic, but here are a few things I’ll share here about the role:

• There tends to be a split between independent and stakeholder-facing work. It can vary from 50/50 to 70/30 in either direction. You want to be sure that you’ll enjoy interacting with people as well as doing independent analysis and critical thinking work.
• Business analysis is a self-managing role. You need to be proactively thinking ahead and planning out your process to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
• The days tend to be different depending on what type of project(s) you are on and what phase they are in. Early on, you’ll be doing a lot more discovery. Then you’ll be in the details and analysis process. Then you may be supporting the business and technology teams during development and implementation.
• It’s quite possible you’ll be working on more than one project at once! So be ready to be in all the phases at any given time.

And here’s the video with a lot more detail on what to expect day-to-day:

Business Analyst Roles Can Vary Widely

While these are the essential skills and responsibilities of a business analyst role on a software project, roles and titles vary widely. Depending on the role, the BA professional may also take on more senior-level business analysis responsibilities, such as such as strategic analysis, learning new domains, and project portfolio management.

The definition of business analysis allows for many different approaches to the role.

• It brings in professionals who work on software projects, business process changes, logistics, or ensuring compliance with regulations.
• It brings in professionals who work on projects focused on integrating multiple software systems, building new software systems, and modifying existing software systems, or migrating from one software system to another.
• Sometimes specific industry expertise or expertise in a specific business application is required to be successful. Pick any attribute of a project, organization, or stakeholder group — oftentimes the business analyst role in that context is shaped around multiple attributes.

When reviewing business analyst job descriptions, pay attention to both the generalized aspects of the role that are common across many roles and the specialized skill sets that pop up in a specific roles.

Hybrid Business Analyst Roles Are Incredibly Common

What’s more, it’s common for a specific business analyst role to be a hybrid business analyst role, meaning that you will have responsibilities beyond the core of business analysis.

Common hybrid roles include:

• Business Analyst / Software Tester
• Business Analyst / Project Manager
• Business Analyst / Product Manager
• Business Analyst / Software Developer

Because business analyst job titles are used inconsistently, it’s not uncommon for these hybrid roles to be under the title of “Business Analyst”. It’s also not uncommon for a role like Project Manager or Software Developer to simply include business analyst responsibilities.

In fact, there are dozens of different business analyst job titles. You can learn more about the difference between the BA job title and the BA role here:

The Difference Between Business Analysis and Related Roles

What’s more, there are many roles that are closely related to business analysis, or leverage business analysis skills to be successful. Here are articles in which we dive into the difference business analysis and other, similar, roles:

• The Difference Between a Systems Analyst and a Business Analyst
• The Difference Between a Product Manager and a Business Analyst
• The Difference Between a Subject Matter Expert and a Business Analyst
• The Interplay of Project Management and Business Analysis
• The Difference Between Business Intelligence and Business Analysis Roles

How to Become a Business Analyst

Business analyst roles generally favor on-the-job work experience. And it is definitely possible for a mid-career professional with work experience to start a business analyst career.

1. First, learn about the business analysis career and confirm your career choice. Exploring the resources in this article is a great place to start!
2. Second, identify your transferable business analyst skills – these will enable you to skip right past entry-level BA positions.
3. Third, invest in your foundational business analysis skill set. Here at Bridging the Gap, we provide online business analysis training opportunities that help professionals start, succeed, and excel in their business analyst careers.
4. Fourth, build on-the-job business analysis work experience by approaching your current work with a BA mindset. For example, no matter your role, you can always improve a business process.
5. Fifth, focus your efforts to find your first BA opportunity. Leverage your areas of expertise and experience in related roles to focus on the opportunities that will be easiest to qualify for. Then you can expand your skill set and experience, opening up even more opportunities.

In short – if you truly want to become a business analyst, it’s certainly possible! And the career opportunities within business analysis make this an exciting time to pursue a business analyst role.

>>How to Learn the Foundational Business Analyst Skills

When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, you’ll gain real world experience in the industry-standard techniques and business analysis processes so you can upgrade your skills, bring a fresh perspective to your business analysis approach, and know exactly what to do on your software projects.

While I believe the answer is no – you can always create opportunities for yourself. I do realize that having an undergrad degree is required by many organizations, and if you have the degree your job prospects may be improved.

But let’s take a deeper look at this question and how to approach the options you have.

How My Undergraduate Degree Helped Me In Business Analysis

First, let me share a bit of personal background. I earned my bachelor’s degree from a liberal arts college, and I dual majored in Philosophy and English. While I learned a ton in college, and I never regret the 4 years I spent digesting and dissecting great works, I didn’t graduate with any real professional skills.

I managed to land a role as an associate editor at a publishing company, which was about as ideal of an opportunity on paper as you could expect with my degree. And yet, it was really a glorified administrative role and I was absolutely bored out of my mind.

I offered again and again and again to work on technical projects and finally got an opportunity about a year into my role – this brought me into quality assurance testing. You can find my story of transitioning from QA to BA here. I also leveraged the tuition reimbursement benefits in my company to start a master’s degree in Library and Information Science, which helped me build business domain knowledge and awareness.

Once I was in a business analysis position, I remember realizing how similar the work felt to my Introduction to Logic course. Dissecting requirements was very similar to dissecting philosophical texts. Looking for errors in thinking and logic was a lot like investing a problem domain and ensuring the requirements fit together cohesively to solve a business problem.

It’s not like I learned to be a business analyst studying philosophy, but the critical thinking and analytical skills certainly helped.

Hiring a Business Analyst Without a College Degree

Let’s fast forward several years – I’m building and managing a team of project managers, business analysts, and quality assurance professionals. I distinctly remember discovering one of the business analysts I hired did not have a college degree. It surprised me because I honestly never thought to ask the question, and I certainly had some pre-conceived assumptions that most professionals did have college degrees.

At the time, our VP of Technology also let me know he never went to college either.

For context, we were working at a small company, less than 500 people, and had a small tech team. I hired for experience and the ability to literally hit the ground running. We always had multiple active projects that were behind schedule and I didn’t have the capacity to train and mentor my team the way I would have loved to.

When I interviewed this business analyst, she presented herself as extremely capable, flexible, and proactive. And her work contributions lived up to, and even exceeded, my expectations.

So I not believe that a college degree is necessary to be a great business analyst.

Some Employers Require College Degrees for Professional Positions Like Business Analysis

However, the reality of our professional environment is that some employers do require a college degree to be hired for a professional position like business analysis. This means, that you may be unfairly screened out before you even get a chance to present your experience and qualifications.

If you don’t have a college degree, it’s even more important to:

• Identify your transferable business analysis skills.
• Focus on your contributions and accomplishments from your work history.
• Highlight the professional business analysis training, as well as training in related skill sets.
• Be prepared to speak to your specific work experience in a job interview, whether it’s from a role with the BA job title or in a related role doing business analysis work.
• Build business analysis experience by approaching your current role or volunteer work, no matter your title or role, with a business analysis mindset.
• Focus on positions that leverage any specialized skill sets you have, particularly in a specific business domain or business application.
• And don’t overlook opportunities to grow into business analysis. Here are 13 Jobs That Can Lead to a Business Analyst Job (with the path to get there).

If your goal is to start a business analyst career, I, personally, would find it difficult to advise you to stop applying to roles and go back to school for 4 years to pursue a bachelor’s degree, and then circle back to your BA career ambitions. But you will need to embrace that you will face more roadblocks and some employment opportunities will not be open to you. Instead, focus on the opportunities that are open to you, and the employers who hire based on experience and aptitude versus academic credentials.

We Can Help With Practical, Real-World Training

When it comes to starting a business analyst career, nothing is more important than real-world professional experience. Our online business analyst training programs are structured to support you as you learn business analysis skills and apply them in the real-world (even outside formal business analysis roles), so you can build the experience and work history employers are looking for when they hire business analysts.

>Click here to learn more about our business analysis training opportunities

Download the FREE Business Analyst Skills Assessment

Another great resource to help you get started is the BA Skills Assessment.

In this FREE assessment, you will:

• Discover the essential skills to succeed as a BA.
• Gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills.
• Define an action plan to expand your business analyst skill set.

>> Download the Assessment <<

Learn How to Start Building BA Experience Straight Away

This is a great video to watch and learn how to start expanding your business analysis experience, so you can qualify for a wider range of business analysis positions.