Finding a Business Analyst

Finding a Business AnalystThere are times when a business starts to losemoney and no-one is sure where the problem islocated. Going over facts and figures onlypoints to the bottom line. The bottom linecontinues to shrink. People start to getdesperate. Strategies are planned andimplemented to no avail. Tried and true measuresare no longer working. It is time to call on theexperts. The business analyst needs to bebrought in. The problem is finding one who knowsthe company.

Finding a good business analyst is not as hard aseveryone thinks. They are not the enemy. Theyare not some eerie creature sneaking around,lurking behind every corner. A good businessanalyst is a creative thinker. He or she is amotivational, aggressive team player. Thebusiness analyst can gather data and otherpertinent information from management and othersources to determine what is the key problem.A qualified business analyst may already exist inyour organization. A member of the IT departmentcould be the one who develops a project programdesigned to save the company money. This is someone capable of setting up a development team tothink outside the box. You are looking forsomeone creative. You want someone who is notafraid of a vision. Someone with goodcommunication skills is a must. Most projectsfall short due to the lack of communication.It is actually a benefit to choose someone

in-house. He or she already knows the company.The business analyst will know the strongattributes as well as weaknesses of the company.Choosing someone from inside the organizationmeans he or she will know the people involved.Camaraderie may already exist. This can make thegathering of information easier. The more easyit is to collect needed data and information, themore quickly a project scope can be developed.The best business analyst will be able to speakthe language of which ever department he or sheneeds to interact with. He or she will not getcaught sidetracked with mundane tasks and mutepoints. The business analyst will know whatinformation is needed and get it. They will keepthe big picture in mind. They will motivateothers to stay on task. A good business analystwill allow someone the freedom of creativity.Obviously what was being done did not work. A newapproach is needed and the qualified businessanalyst will see this.

Someone who can develop a repoire with thedepartments to meet expectations is the perfectcandidate for business analyst. This personwill act as a liaison between management anddevelopment teams. He or she should be able tospeak with authority while still maintaining alevel of respect. The perfect business analystwill be able to foresee problems which may arisebetween teams and squelch them before they start.A liaison between involved departments, a leaderduring meetings, a project developer, and anumbers cruncher are all beneficial attributes ofa good business analyst. Find someone capable ofdoing all these things and you have found a greatasset.