You're starting out as a Business Analyst. What technical skills should you prioritize to succeed?

Familiarizing yourself with tools like Excel, SQL, and data visualization software (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) is very important because understanding how to analyze and interpret data is crucial for making informed business decisions.

To mastering SQL and data visualization tools, it's also crucial to develop strong Excel skills for more granular data analysis and reporting. Consider learning about automation techniques, like using macros or Power Query, to streamline repetitive tasks. Also, having a foundational understanding of data modeling can help you better structure and interpret complex datasets. Continuous learning, especially with emerging BI tools like Power BI or Tableau, will keep your skills sharp and relevant as you progress in your Business Analyst career.

The ability to extrapolate meaning business information from data bases & other sources is an essential job skill for Business Analysts. When BAs are equipped with facts that are reliable, it greatly improves confidence & decision-making on the business side. SQL is top a TECH need that BAs should learn. Other key tools to gain a strong knowledge of in processing, summarizing or graphically illustrating data can include: * EXCEL (advanced) * VISIO * ACCESS * PowerPoint * SharePoint * TOAD * XML * ASCII v EBCDIC * SQL-Server * Oracle * DB2, IMS/DB & other IBM Mainframe data formats * SQL Developer * SAS * Visual Studio (Visual C#, Visual Basic, Visual Source Safe, etc.) * Other popular programming languages (Python, JAVA, etc)

As a Business Analyst, being good with data is key. You need to know how to collect, process, and analyze it, often using tools like SQL. Data visualization tools like Power BI or Tableau are also important to present your insights clearly. Your ability to handle data well will directly impact your decision-making and recommendations.

As a new Business Analyst, prioritize technical skills that will enable you to analyze data and streamline processes effectively. Start by mastering Excel for data analysis, pivot tables, and financial modeling. Learn SQL to extract and manipulate data from databases. Familiarize yourself with data visualization tools like Power BI or Tableau to present insights clearly. Understanding basic concepts of software development and methodologies like Agile will help you collaborate with technical teams. Building proficiency in these areas will set a strong foundation for success in your role.

As a Business Analyst, you'll need to be skilled with tools like Excel for financial modeling and R or Python for more advanced analysis. These tools help you uncover trends and insights that drive smart business decisions, so getting comfortable with them is a must.

Business analysts work with large datasets to derive actionable insights. Proficiency in analyzing and interpreting data is crucial for making informed business decisions. Tools to Learn: Excel: Learn advanced features like pivot tables, VLOOKUP, and data analysis toolpak for financial modeling, forecasting, and reporting. SQL: Essential for querying databases and retrieving data efficiently. SQL enables you to interact directly with relational databases and understand data patterns. Power BI / Tableau: These tools are excellent for creating visual representations of data, helping to make complex information easily understandable to stakeholders.

I coach on this but the best way to get experience in business process mapping is by doing. Look up process use case scenarios and work them through on Visio and the like. Ideally you’ll have someone more senior to check your work. Practice practice practice. Also look up BPMN on YouTube or other places and it’s got bags of content on there.

Process mapping in my opinion is not a complicated exercise. How you approach and communicate with a stakeholder is more important here. Sometimes just looking at a process from a high level and listing out the key activities is a great way to start. From this list, then talk about what is actually happening, is there data flow in/out, what actions are being done, is there a decision that spawns different optional actions etc. As mentioned in another answer below, practice helps a lot. Making mistakes is actually not a bad thing, because stakeholder/users can chime in and correct what does not look right etc. With time, continue building on the skill and go from there.

As a Business Analyst, process mapping is key. You'll use it to visualize how activities flow within a company, helping spot inefficiencies and areas for improvement. Mastering this skill makes it easier to explain complex processes to stakeholders in a clear and actionable way.

Business process modeling helps you map out how a business operates, enabling you to identify inefficiencies and propose improvements. Tools to Learn: BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation): A standardized method to create graphical representations of workflows in business processes. Microsoft Visio / Lucidchart: For creating process maps, flow diagrams, and other visual aids that help in understanding and improving business operations.

As a business analyst your ability to gather the requirements which align with business goals plays a key role. Work towards this iterative process of gathering requirements right. This is like on the job skill , which you will acquire and master with experience. When you gather requirements always keep in mind the vision of your product to ensure you are navigating in the right track. Use various techniques and methodologies like interviews, document analysis , data analysis, surveys , observations and focus groups to culminate into a good requirements breakdown.

As a Business Analyst, gathering clear business requirements is crucial. You'll need strong interviewing skills to get concise details from stakeholders. Learning to create use cases and user stories helps you communicate these needs to technical teams, ensuring solutions align with business goals and deliver value.

Structured interviews are techniques used to ask a standard series of questions directly in 1-on-1 meetings. When not convenient to meet in person, business needs can be gathered indirectly with surveys. The goal is to gather as much diverse as well as common information as possible. The most needful features will emerge from the most popular items on the "wish list". However, the most creative competitive & innovative feature may be a "wild idea" -- that was shared by 1 person. This is why diversity is helpful in our team composition

Requirements gathering first and foremost if for you ,the BA, to understand what a stakeholder wants and why. Requirements gathered, essentially come from conversations had with stakeholders, artefacts, getting demo/walkthroughs etc. Once requirements make sense to the BA, everything else in the requirements process follows more smoothly. Whether its creating user stories, flow charts, diagrams, etc.. these all support and help breakdown the problem so its better understood by teams looking to solve and build solutions.

TEAMS/Zoom, MSProject, SharePoint, JIRA, and ServiceNow are excellent resources for the MGT of project documentation & critical COMMUNICATION needs (based on automatic email notifications). These tools allow for version control and a historical archive for the project.

With project management, best way to learn is to be in projects. Completing cycles, learning about issues, risks, blockers, changes etc. Exposure to different project styles will typically only come if you are willing to jump from one company to another. I would highly recommend junior BAs to jump from org to org, try contracting and get exposure to working under different PMs, SMEs, architects etc. All of it adds to the overall experience and skill that a BA needs for future more senior work.

Microsoft Project: Ideal for managing timelines, resources, and tasks in more complex projects. Agile has become the dominant project management framework in many industries. As a BA, you will often work within an Agile team, facilitating communication between stakeholders and developers. Scrum Framework: Understanding Scrum roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, etc.), ceremonies (sprint planning, daily stand-ups), and artifacts (product backlog, sprint backlog) will enhance your ability to operate effectively in Agile environments. Kanban: Another Agile methodology that helps visualize workflows and manage projects in a more flexible way.