Can you use one sentence to explain the business analyst’s job?
You may think this is easy. BA is a bridge between the Business and Engineer team, or BA is a translator.
Yes and no.
Yes, BAs need to know both Business language and Engineer language. BAs need to work with both Business people and Engineers.
No, BAs are not just facilitators to pass what the Business asks the Engineer team. The BAs are more like a filter between the Business and the Engineer team. They need to understand, define and validate the Business requirements, and explain the elicited requirements to the Engineer team transparently.
We can probably say BA’s job is to keep everybody on the same page or align people’s thoughts in the team. And this is also the value that BA bring to the team. However, this doesn’t mean BA do facilitation and communication work.
What exactly are BA’s responsibilities then?
We can divide BA’s job into two main parts,
- working with stakeholders
- working with team
Working with Stakeholders
Working with stakeholders including,
- Identify the stakeholders
- Involve the stakeholders in discovery workshops
- Prepare discovery workshops
- Engage the stakeholders in team activities
Working with the team
BAs’ work with the team can be divided into three parts, Analysis, Planning and Development.
- Analysis, BA needs to ensure that each new feature in priority should go through a proper discovery process before going into the development.
2. Planning, BA needs to
- Explain to the team the requirements, dependencies, and risks to support the team in making a plan.
- Work with the team to discuss each feature’s MVP and the release plan.
- Work with Product Manager and Engineer Lead on the backlog refinement.
- Work with the team in sprint planning.
3. Development, this doesn’t mean that BA needs to write code. One big part of BA’s job is to write Acceptance Criteria for each user story. And then use events like story kick-off, desk check and sign off to make sure the ACs are aligned with the whole team so that what we delivered meets the business need.
I hope that my share finds you well.
If you are interested in what Business Analysts do, what are the values that the Business Analyst can provide to the organization or the team? You can visit https://gominibits.com/courses/introduction-what-do-business-analysts-do/ for more information.
