Hi all,
my question is simple: what second job (part time) should a BA choose if he/she wants to increase the skills mandatory for the BA profession?
I would say selling (not in these particular times, in the financial crisis i mean) because of the soft skills involved.
Let's see, what's your opinion?
Hello Luka,
Let me (hopefully) kick off the series of responses for you...
For me (if I actually owned any spare time) it would need to be a (fun) job that nurtured my ability to think conceptually. I am not sure exactly what that job would be (if you google 'conceptual thinking jobs' a lot of BA opportunities rear their heads!), but possibly a detective or similar. Thinking about detectives, that's what BA's do... investigate, interview, motives, feasibility, join the dots, problem solving etc. Fortunately no murder yet, but sometimes I come close :).
Anyway that's my take - and agree about the soft skills... hugely important.
Thanks for the question, you woke me up!
Joe
Luka and Joebert,
I think a good BA need to be a conceptual thinker. You need to ask yourself, WHAT is it the user is trying to do or plan to do? When you interview people especially SMEs they'll tell you HOW they do things. What you need to know is WHAT they do, not HOW they do it.
A BA is a problem solver. Its good to ask yourself "what is the problem here?". Now most "fairy BAs" would ask what is the ISSUE here? Issues we talk about; problems we solve!
You also need to be a good listener! Talk less and listen. You dont need a special job to listen. If you have time, watch Larry King and Michael Parkinson (I think he is retired now) and note how they listen.
Finally read books like "People Skills" by Bolton!
So in summary: read and apply 1) problem definition skills, 2) listening skills etc.
As an example of the former. We've all heard about the company that wanted to put an additional lift shaft on the outside of a high-rise building because the present lifts could not cope with the morning rush. People hated waiting for the lift. One group of engineers spent a lot of time with modified blue prints and queing theory; they quoted millions for the additional exterior lift shaft. The second group interviewed the waiting crowd and found that they were just bored. So they installed mirrors in the lift foyer so that the waiting crowd could look at themselves, adjust their ties, amuse themselves etc. The mirrors were only a few thousand bucks and all the complaints stopped! The second group defined the problem thus, the people did not mind waiting for the lifts they were just bored! So they solved the boredom problem!
warm regards,
K
Hi Luka,
I'm not sure what you currently do in your full-time job but here are some thoughts for your second/part-time job:
I'm sure there are other options out there...
- Adrian
In conclusion, let's add some answers and even better, some questions to this thread. Thank you!
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