Today we have a super quick, but super high-impact tip for you – and it will help you achieve more success in your business analyst career almost instantly!
For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:
Are you looking for a way to achieve instantly more success in your business analyst career? You think that’s got to be complicated and simple and something you plan out for years or months or weeks? Or do you think you could actually take an action today that would have an immediate positive effect? I think you can, and I’m going to share it with you in this video.
Here’s the deal. We over-think things as analysts, and we make things way bigger than they need to be. I have a very simple tip that’s going to help you achieve more success right away.
I want you to take a mental inventory of everything you’re doing week to week, day to day, maybe over the next month. Take a minute.
Look at the trajectory of all those things that you have on your radar. Meetings you go to, the documents you create, the techniques you’re going to be using. Just circle through some of that in your head.
What pops up for you as the ones that create the most value? Where are you driving positive change and helping your organization create better business outcomes? What documentation are you creating just in case? Or you’re not clear why you’re doing it anymore.
What meetings are you showing up to because you’ve always been showing up to them? You’ve realized, “You know what? I’ve moved on from this.” Somebody that we just consulted with, she realized she’d moved from quality assurance to business analysis, but we’re still getting drawn back into that testing role, even though it wasn’t hers to do anymore.
Where are you not adding as much value as you could be? I want you to just take a minute right now to strike that off the list. It’s going away. You are taking something off your plate that’s no longer adding value. It’s not creating positive change, it’s not creating a better business outcome.
It could be extra documentation, it could be a meeting that you don’t need. It’s something. There is something in your work today, I know it, that doesn’t need to be there, so take it off.
Now, what do you replace it with? If you’re overworked, it could literally be, “I need that hour of free time every week. I’m going to go home at 4 o’clock or 5 o’clock or whatever my quitting time is. I’m going to come back refreshed and better energized for the next work day.” Perfectly fine.
But a lot of times, you want to take that time and repurpose it towards something that adds more value. If you are, today, maybe creating a bunch of documentation but you always feel like, “I don’t understand how this all fits together,” maybe you’re going to do a process flow diagram.
Let’s take that hour and actually map this out visually instead of taking several hours writing it out. “Let’s do a wireframe. I’ve never done a wireframe before. Let’s just go do that.” Again, map something out visually instead of spending copious hours detailing it out in text. Draw some ideas.
Maybe you sit behind the computer screen. Oh, this is one I forgot to mention. The endless tweaking in Visio that we like to do, like getting those lines straight, or Balsamic, if you use those. Making those wireframes perfect instead of doing the down and dirty 15-20 minutes of work that’s going to get you the biggest tool for the conversation.
Instead of sitting behind the computer and perfecting some aspect of the visual part of the documentation that’s not actually clarifying things, get that tool out in front of a stakeholder earlier. Walk through it with them, co-create with them on a whiteboard. Get the communication and the collaboration going. Lots more value quickly than all the endless tweaking in Visio or another tool.
Those are some ideas for you. I want you to leave a comment below. What’s the one task or one thing that you’re going to strike off your list? Like, “I’m done with it!” And what’s the one thing you’re going to add in that will create more value for your business, for your organization, for your project, and for you and your career? This is how you instantly achieve more success as a business analyst.
You don’t have to just do this once. You can do it again and again and again. You might add it to your weekly routine, your weekly checklist, your daily checklist. “What can I take off my to-do list today so that I can add something of more value?” You at least want to be thinking about it weekly.
That’s my quick career tip for you for today. I love to hear, again, what are you letting go of, and what are you replacing it with, how is that going to have a bigger impact for you and your organization? Then how can you do this again and again and again to achieve more transformative results in your career?
I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. We help make career professionals start business analyst careers. Keep taking action, keep making positive change. The world needs you adding more value to your organization. Thank you.
Hi Laura,
This is an excellent tip and I have to really think about this one. I think I’ll give up one hour of endless worrying and analyzing that I do about things I can’t control, and instead replace it with trying to get an understanding about something (drawing out a process flow diagram, mocking up a wireframe, research something, etc.).
Thank you Laura,
Christine
Hi Laura, thanks for the tip. I will stop reading all the emails where I am only cc’ed (because I really get a lot of them) and let people know that they should write to me directly if they want me to respond.
Thanks Dorte
Hi Laura. Thanks for sharing. Going forward, I will minimize email correspodence and explore more interactive channels of communication. This should build efficiency as engagment is faster (not queued in inbox) and feedback is obtained faster
Such a perfect next step, thanks for sharing Chidi.
Hey Laura ! I find your content very well designed and helpful. If recently got hired as a BA in finance & actuary. Although I have no background of either of it. It’s been a month and I am still trying to figure out what actually my role is and how I can add value to the Project. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks !
I’d suggest starting with our free course – Quick Start to Business Analysis – https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/quick-w/