Many job ads for business analysis roles ask for specialist knowledge. This might be experience within the particular industry, knowledge of the product or business function, or familiarity with particular tools or methods. Yet it is often argued that a great BA can be dropped into any business situation and still be effective – we have “transferrable skills” coming out of our ears! In this article, I’ll examine the different knowledge areas and skills that business analysis professionals possess, and share my thoughts on what “enough” specialist knowledge looks like.
For the majority of my career in business analysis, I’ve been working in the legal sector. Clients typically engage me to identify and help improve their business processes and systems. I’m very familiar with how law firms are structured, how they operate, how they’re regulated, and what their customers need from them. I know the key technologies used, and I know many of the challenges faced. I like to think that in conversations with law firm leaders (and those that work for them) that my knowledge of the domain gives confidence that I can actually help them. However, I don’t sell myself as a “legal BA”, and I’ve argued repeatedly that my knowledge of the industry simply helps me ask the right questions.
“The specialist knows more and more about less and less and finally knows everything about nothing.”
Konrad Lorenz
The quotation above is an attempt to be deliberately provocative! It’s possible to be very effective and successful as specialist business analyst. As I’ll explore in more detail below, I think what matters most is matching the right BA to the situation, and addressing any trade-offs appropriately.
Knowledge areas
Business analysts come equipped with a wide range of knowledge. We bring a raft of “soft skills”: listening, communication, negotiation, facilitation. We have a toolbox full of techniques we can deploy to investigate and analyse. We know about business change and product development methodologies. And through our work, we learn about industries, organisations, tools, and specific business functions or products. Our level of expertise in each of these areas will vary – generalists will likely be stronger in their soft skills and have a broader range of analysis tools, while specialists may have deeper knowledge of a particular methodology or business domain.
Soft skills
I’m not a huge fan of the term, but “soft skills” is often used to describe the capabilities and behaviours a BA deploys in how they interact with others and in how they perform their work. IIBA’s ‘Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge‘ (BABOK) speaks of “underlying competencies” we need as BAs. Three of these relate to “soft skills” and behaviours.
- Behavioural characteristics – ethics, personal accountability, trustworthiness, adaptability, and organisation and time management.
- Communication skills – verbal/written/non-verbal communication, and listening skills.
- Interpersonal skills – facilitation, leadership, negotiation, conflict resolution, teaching, influencing.
I think these skills are absolutely essential for any BA. Some business analysts may already possess many of these capabilities (either innately or actively learned elsewhere), but they take time to develop, and they need to be constantly honed and polished.
Specialist BAs may be tempted to trade on their deep experience in other areas, such as their knowledge of the organisation’s industry, but these competencies are fundamental to successful business analysis and should not be neglected (by BAs or those hiring or managing them!).
Investigation and analysis skills
There are so many techniques out there – with new ones being formulated all the time – that it’s impossible for a BA to master them all. However, great generalist BAs will have picked up a really broad range of techniques, and will easily identify a great tool to use in a new situation. They’ll be adept in creative thinking and problem solving, and can turn their hand to process analysis, data analysis, strategy analysis, business case development, requirement engineering, and benefits management. And they’ll have a million ways of engaging with stakeholders while they do these things.
The two main certifications for business analysts in the UK – IIBA’s CBAP and BCS’s International Diploma in Business Analysis both cover a broad range of analysis areas and techniques; employers can be sure that a BA holding one of these at least has a sound theoretical knowledge across all areas of business analysis.
It’s possible for a BA to become a specialist in a particular type of analysis. I like to think I’m pretty hot on process modelling and analysis, but I don’t think I’d make a similar claim about my data-crunching skills. And I’d definitely have to Google ‘Net Present Value’ next time it comes up!
I think this is an arena in which specialist BAs could find their capabilities limited or lacking. If their work is always in one particular space (such as product development), then they will develop deep skills in requirements elicitation and management, but they could struggle to deploy their capabilities in a more wide-ranging role.
Methodology knowledge
Whether it’s “waterfall” approaches, such as PRINCE2, or Agile methods, such as Scrum, business analysts often practise their craft within formal frameworks or methodologies. Some BAs choose to pick up skills from other roles within these frameworks, such as Product Owner, Scrum Master, or Project Manager – and just as many BAs come into our profession from these roles!
Employers often ask that BA candidates bring experience of some of these approaches to change or product development, and (particularly in product-focussed roles) they may even request deep knowledge of a specific methodology.
I think this is one area in which employers are often missing the mark. Any BA worth their salt should be able to adapt their work to the constraints of a particular process – and the actual practices of many organisations can – if we’re being kind – be labelled “a bit of a mix” anyway. In the Agile world (or is that “Wagile”?) there is often a greater reverence given to ceremonies and labels than values and principles. Rejecting a great BA because they don’t know the ins-and-outs of DevOps or SAFE seems like a major mis-step.
BAs are often required to bring experience of particular software tools. While I’m predominantly thinking of those in product development such as Jira and Confluence, it’s not unusual for employers to ask for skills with Visio, Enterprise Architect, LucidCharts, PowerBI, or others. Again, I think employers over-egg this. New tools can be learned very rapidly, and often the challenge comes in how this particular organisation has decided to use them.
Business domain
Having some understanding of how organisations work is essential to being a business analyst, and I’d argue that a lack of working experience in any organisation (regardless of role) is probably the greatest barrier to those seeking to become BAs straight from education.
Job ads for BAs frequently ask for domain knowledge. This might knowledge of the industry vertical (e.g. Insurance), standards frameworks (e.g. the UK Governments GDS standard), or of tech platforms (such as Salesforce or Sage). The hope is often for a “plug-and-play” hire than can be neatly dropped into the role; this is most visible in the hire of day-rate contractors.
Industry-specific knowledge can be a give a BA a great head start when it comes to investigating and analysing a situation. If you know what “normal” looks like, you’ll rapidly spot anomalies, problems, and opportunities to improvise things. Great understanding of the business context means you’ll see the significance of discoveries and have a good feel for the implications of changes.
Returning to my own work with law firms, I can imagine a newly-arrived BA struggling to get to grips with some of the arcane and obscure concepts and practices, and clients are unlikely to feel great about paying a consultant BA for time to “get up to speed”! However, I have practised business analysis in other industries, including retail, higher education, financial services, and outsourcing.
Conclusions
So, is it better to be a specialist or a generalist BA? At the risk of sounding like a typical business analyst, “it depends”. Sometimes, the organisation needs a neurosurgeon; other times it needs a good GP. I’ve attempted to sum things up below…
Being a generalist BA
As a generalist, it can feel harder to land new roles. Many job ads ask for specialist knowledge of the industry, tools, or tech platforms, and you may find yourself worrying you’ll be passed over for not checking the right boxes. However, you should feel confident you can apply your skills in a huge range of situations, so don’t hold yourself back from applying for any attractive BA role.
You might find it daunting, starting in a new organisation where everything is new, and you may feel a lot of pressure to get “up to speed” quickly. It’s important to lean on the contents of your well-stocked toolbox and on your ability to look at the big picture. Ask LOTS of questions – event ones that sound a bit basic in your head- and query anything that doesn’t sound right. Build up a glossary of new terms, and check your understanding with different stakeholders.
If you’re new to business analysis, acquiring a broad understanding of the role and its capabilities can be done fairly rapidly. Honing those core skills so you can deploy them effectively in new situations can be challenging though, and relies on gaining practical experience in a wider range of BA activity and techniques.
Being a specialist BA
I think being a specialist works very well early in a BA career. Having knowledge of a business domain can be a way into a first business analyst role. Acquiring deep skills in requirements engineering can get you a first role while you build-out your skillset.
Specialism can also be a competitive advantage that commands a hefty price tag later in a career, particularly if the space is hard for others to fill. The flip-side to this can be a fragile reliance on a particular niche; changes outside your control could make your expertise obsolete.
I’ve encountered many BAs suffering with “imposter syndrome”, doubting that their talents are up-to-scratch and that they’re somehow not a “real” business analyst because of gaps in their skillset or experience. It’s important to connect with others in the BA community to understand the diversity of talent out there, and that we all have a mix of strengths and weaknesses in our capabilities.
One potential pitfall is for a BA to become a “specialist” in their organisation by working their for many years. BAs in this situation are often great at getting things done at that organisation because they know how everything works and who to talk to about any topic. While they may be very effective in their current role, it can be really hard to transition to a new environment due to a lack of exposure to other ways of working or best practices elsewhere.
Being a T-shaped BA
The idea of a “T-shaped” business analyst – with a broad understanding of the domain and good “soft skills” accompanied by a deep expertise in analysis – has gained a lot of traction in recent years. Check out this video of Dr Debra Paul and Fabricio Laguna discussing the concept and what it means.
There are other models out there placing different skills and knowledge in different places. While the T-shaped concept leans away from specialism by domain or methodology, it doesn’t discount becoming a specialist in a particular area of business analysis.
I think it’s definitely worth considering how your experience and talents align to the T-shaped model, as doing so is bound to get you asking yourself some great questions about where you are now and where you want to be!
Hiring BA talent
Hiring a strong generalist BA can be really useful if you are building a new business analysis practice, or if you want your BA to be able to work on a wide range of initiatives. However, if a BA lacks expertise or experience in a specialist area, they may need extra time to understand the situation, and they’re more likely to be surprised (or miss things!) in their investigation and analysis.
If you can find (and afford) a specialist, it’s likely they’ll be productive more quickly. They’ll know many of the questions to ask, and they’ll understand the significance of the answers they’re getting. However, “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” – if you need a BA that will quickly adapt to a changing landscape, provide a fresh perspective, or can help you find new ways of doing things, you might be better off looking for a more general skillset. You should also bear in mind the price tag that specialist skills command in a competitive marketplace.
What do you think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic! Do you consider yourself a specialist or a generalist? If you hire BAs, which do you look for? How do you manage the trade-offs? Share your comments below…