December 31, 2024 • 11 mins
Top 10 Skills Every Business Analyst Needs for 2024 (That Aren’t in the Job Description)
2024 demands more from Business Analysts than ever before. In this episode, I explore the top 10 underrated skills that will set you apart, including:
- How storytelling turns data into decisions.
- Why systems thinking can save your project.
- The art of influencing without authority.
🎧 Tune in now to learn how to build these essential skills and elevate your BA game.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The Better Business Analysis Institute presence, the Better
Business Analysis podcast with Benjamin Walsh.
Welcome back to the Better Business Analysis podcast with
your host Benjamin Walsh from the Better Business Analysis
Institute. Again, if you haven't done our
(00:22):
certified Better Business Analysis Level 1 course for 199
US, you can be a certified BA, so do it today.
We're going to dive into our BA Bytes topic today, which is top
ten skills every business analyst needs for 2025 that
aren't in the job description. That's right.
(00:43):
I'm going to talk about specificskills that are now relevant as
we move into 2025. Being a business analyst in 2025
is going to be more about gathering requirements and
creating workflows or process diagrams.
The skills that set you apart aren't often listed in the job
(01:03):
description, but they are essential for thriving in
today's fast-paced, tech driven world.
In this episode, we're going to uncover the top 10 underrated
skills that you need as we move into 2025.
Let's dive into our top ten. Number one is storytelling.
(01:25):
Why is it important? Turning data and insights into
compelling stories help stakeholders understand and
support your recommendations. Storytelling is a human quality
that can't really be replicated by AI or automation.
It's really has a human touch. BAS often focus on data and
(01:46):
facts, but not emotional kind ofnarrative or flow.
And so you need to focus on thatfor 2025 is going to set you
apart from other BAS. An example here would be
explaining how a process improvement would save time and
increase employee morale. So use a relatable story there.
(02:13):
So if you want to develop the skill, take a public speaking
course, start recording yourself.
There are frameworks like the Hero's journey to structure
presentations from beginning to end #2 is systems thinking.
You need to understand how partsof a system interact to enable
better analysis of impacts and dependencies.
(02:35):
We overlook this sometimes because we focus on our project
without seeing the bigger organizational picture and how
everything connects together in an ecosystem.
OK, think about it that way, nota technical system.
Recognize that automating one process can actually create
bottlenecks in other places. So again, this is a push back on
(02:57):
just using automation or just AI, whereas a human can see the
greater picture. You develop it by creating
system diagrams. So system, I mean, end to end
system diagrams, study books like Thinking and Systems as
well is a really good idea. Rolling back up, I always do
(03:18):
focusing on customer journey, onjobs to be done #3 is
negotiation. It's now expected in 2024,
moving into 2025 that you can negotiate that.
That's your role as well. We need to be more proactive.
So you need to run into conflicting stakeholder issues
(03:40):
and priorities, and you need to use your negotiation skills and
resolve them. Be proactive here.
Be overly assertive. Many Bis see themselves as
neutral facilitators, but at 2025 you need to be active
negotiators. OK or otherwise.
The BI role is going to be in the background and it needs to
be in the foreground. Maybe you need to help marketing
(04:02):
and IT agree on a feasible project, timeline, news,
persuasion, negotiation. You probably know what the the
answer is, so push it. You develop it by attending
workshops or role-playing stakeholder scenarios to build
confidence in doing it. It's around confidence there.
Sometimes you need to turn on the fake confidence to get you
(04:23):
there. Fake it until you make it #4 I
talk about this often. EQ.
So emotional intelligence, building trust and managing
stakeholders emotions is critical for smooth
collaborations. Some of us do this without
knowing what the skill is, and so it's hard to nurture it and
develop it. So sometimes technical skills
(04:46):
often over shadow or over shadowinterpersonal ones.
So if you can calm a frustrated stakeholder and understand
through empathy why they're frustrated, you acknowledge
their concerns, you propose solutions to their problem.
So you focus on active listing, seeking feedback, using your
emotional responses in those conversations you have with
(05:09):
stakeholders, you're going to bebetter off.
Ask why Tony's always angry #5 is what we've what Agile's
really turned into. And it's adaptability.
And it's important with rapidly developing change means that
flexibility is key both in organization structures, the
(05:31):
world is moving fast, but also in technology.
Rigid adherement to any kind of process can slow you down.
In a dynamic environment. You need a framework over
process. You need a pivot, pivot from
waterfall to agile to mid project.
There's, there's, there are going to be hybrid approaches
moving forward much more than they have been in 2024 or 2023.
(05:56):
We're now going to have a mix. If you want to develop that
skill, volunteer for cross functional teams or projects
outside your comfort zone. OK.
And then that will put you in a position where you have to adapt
or die. OK.
I mean that in the nicest way #6it's data literacy.
You need to understand data muchmore than you do now.
(06:19):
I know that my skill was not fully there.
I'm probably at about a 70%. I need to get to at least 80
over the 2025 S with the rows ofanalytics and AI which relies on
that data. BAS must interpret and
communicate data way more effectively.
They need to be less lazy about data.
(06:40):
Many BAS rely on specialists instead of developing their own
data fluency. And to be honest, you know the
role's going to be combined. So you have to be a data analyst
as much as you're a business analyst probably in 2025.
You need to identify trends and customer behaviour using
dashboards. You need to understand this
(07:01):
using tools there. You'll be using the tools that
do the heavy lifting in the AI, but you need to now interpret
that. You don't need a separate data
analyst for doing that. To develop that skill, you need
to take courses like Power BI orTableau and learn the basics in
terms of large language models in AI.
I'm thinking about developing one now.
So if you comment on this, I might develop a free course to
(07:24):
help us all get better as I learn about AI and data.
The next one is conflict resolution.
And you need this where you're going to be.
Remember, you're in 2025, you'regoing to step up, you're going
to be confident, you're going tobe assertive.
You need to to keep the BA dreamalive.
And part of that means that you need to help resolve conflict.
(07:46):
So stakeholders with competing priorities need ABA to mediate
disputes and build consensus. You might need to be the
chairman at or chairwoman at theboard.
Conflict is often avoided instead of being addressed
constructively and ideally upfront.
So you might need to mediate a disagreement between finance and
HR over budget allocation. You might need to do that.
(08:09):
Add value by getting involved insome of those.
Don't step back. Don't let the project manager do
it. You do it.
To develop this you need to learn frameworks like interest
based relational approach. It's to draw down to the facts
and the interests instead of just focusing on opinions.
And that can help resolve disputes effectively.
(08:31):
Just it's part of life. Having healthy conflicts and
healthy constructive outcomes #8I want you to focus on your
curiosity. Ask questions beyond the
surface, right? Find out some deeper insights
and that'll allow you to come upwith more innovative solutions
and processes that can improve existing ones.
(08:53):
Many BAS stick to a brief without challenging assumptions. 00:09:00,280 You need to question a
stakeholder about why they want a new tool instead of optimizing
the current one. Be curious about how you learn.
Learn a new skill. You can develop a mindset for
this of lifelong learning, whichis what my 2024 goal was, and
(09:16):
I'm going to bring that into 2025.
You need to read more. You need to attend industry
webinars, you need to keep listening to this podcast and
you need to do some training #9 even though we've just talked
about a lot of soft things is technical awareness.
So the technology is moving so fast.
Emerging technologies help BAS bridge the gap between business
(09:40):
and IT. So sometimes non-technical BAS
resist learning about technical advancements.
But they actually need to, they need to get closer to it.
That's, you know, we the window's getting smaller and ABA
needs to be more multifaceted. So how can you recommend an AI
based solution for process automation if you don't even
(10:01):
understand AI? So you do that by staying up to
date with tech blogs or take a beginning coding course.
You understand the basics. Take some time over the break to
learn an AI tool that's, you know, send us some information,
see what it can come up with and#10 it's influence without
(10:22):
authority. And this has probably come from
the word of agile as well. So BAS often lack formal power,
right? But they need to drive action
and decisions. And we've talked about 2025 to
be an assertive year for you. So many BAS focus on delivering
requirements rather than building stakeholder buy in.
And that's more important, so more value as if you can get
(10:45):
stakers on board the train. Persuading a senior leader to
back a user focus project by highlighting long term benefits
might be an example where you'repersuading a senior leader.
So that's what you need to do in2025.
How do you develop that? You need to study leadership
practices. You need to practice persuasion,
(11:06):
communication. There's some great books out
there around it and just ask if you can present to some senior
leaders at some point. So there you have it.
It's 10 essential skills every business analyst will need for
2025 that aren't in the job description.
I hope you learned something. I hope you found a new skill to
(11:27):
focus on for 2025 and I'll speakto you next week.
The Better Business Analysis Institute presence, the Better
Business Analysis podcast with Benjamin Walsh.
Welcome back to the Better Business Analysis podcast with
your host Benjamin Walsh from the Better Business Analysis
Institute. Again, if you haven't done our
(00:22):
certified Better Business Analysis Level 1 course for 199
US, you can be a certified BA, so do it today.
We're going to dive into our BA Bytes topic today, which is top
ten skills every business analyst needs for 2025 that
aren't in the job description. That's right.
(00:43):
I'm going to talk about specificskills that are now relevant as
we move into 2025. Being a business analyst in 2025
is going to be more about gathering requirements and
creating workflows or process diagrams.
The skills that set you apart aren't often listed in the job
(01:03):
description, but they are essential for thriving in
today's fast-paced, tech driven world.
In this episode, we're going to uncover the top 10 underrated
skills that you need as we move into 2025.
Let's dive into our top ten. Number one is storytelling.
(01:25):
Why is it important? Turning data and insights into
compelling stories help stakeholders understand and
support your recommendations. Storytelling is a human quality
that can't really be replicated by AI or automation.
It's really has a human touch. BAS often focus on data and
(01:46):
facts, but not emotional kind ofnarrative or flow.
And so you need to focus on thatfor 2025 is going to set you
apart from other BAS. An example here would be
explaining how a process improvement would save time and
increase employee morale. So use a relatable story there.
(02:13):
So if you want to develop the skill, take a public speaking
course, start recording yourself.
There are frameworks like the Hero's journey to structure
presentations from beginning to end #2 is systems thinking.
You need to understand how partsof a system interact to enable
better analysis of impacts and dependencies.
(02:35):
We overlook this sometimes because we focus on our project
without seeing the bigger organizational picture and how
everything connects together in an ecosystem.
OK, think about it that way, nota technical system.
Recognize that automating one process can actually create
bottlenecks in other places. So again, this is a push back on
(02:57):
just using automation or just AI, whereas a human can see the
greater picture. You develop it by creating
system diagrams. So system, I mean, end to end
system diagrams, study books like Thinking and Systems as
well is a really good idea. Rolling back up, I always do
(03:18):
focusing on customer journey, onjobs to be done #3 is
negotiation. It's now expected in 2024,
moving into 2025 that you can negotiate that.
That's your role as well. We need to be more proactive.
So you need to run into conflicting stakeholder issues
(03:40):
and priorities, and you need to use your negotiation skills and
resolve them. Be proactive here.
Be overly assertive. Many Bis see themselves as
neutral facilitators, but at 2025 you need to be active
negotiators. OK or otherwise.
The BI role is going to be in the background and it needs to
be in the foreground. Maybe you need to help marketing
(04:02):
and IT agree on a feasible project, timeline, news,
persuasion, negotiation. You probably know what the the
answer is, so push it. You develop it by attending
workshops or role-playing stakeholder scenarios to build
confidence in doing it. It's around confidence there.
Sometimes you need to turn on the fake confidence to get you
(04:23):
there. Fake it until you make it #4 I
talk about this often. EQ.
So emotional intelligence, building trust and managing
stakeholders emotions is critical for smooth
collaborations. Some of us do this without
knowing what the skill is, and so it's hard to nurture it and
develop it. So sometimes technical skills
(04:46):
often over shadow or over shadowinterpersonal ones.
So if you can calm a frustrated stakeholder and understand
through empathy why they're frustrated, you acknowledge
their concerns, you propose solutions to their problem.
So you focus on active listing, seeking feedback, using your
emotional responses in those conversations you have with
(05:09):
stakeholders, you're going to bebetter off.
Ask why Tony's always angry #5 is what we've what Agile's
really turned into. And it's adaptability.
And it's important with rapidly developing change means that
flexibility is key both in organization structures, the
(05:31):
world is moving fast, but also in technology.
Rigid adherement to any kind of process can slow you down.
In a dynamic environment. You need a framework over
process. You need a pivot, pivot from
waterfall to agile to mid project.
There's, there's, there are going to be hybrid approaches
moving forward much more than they have been in 2024 or 2023.
(05:56):
We're now going to have a mix. If you want to develop that
skill, volunteer for cross functional teams or projects
outside your comfort zone. OK.
And then that will put you in a position where you have to adapt
or die. OK.
I mean that in the nicest way #6it's data literacy.
You need to understand data muchmore than you do now.
(06:19):
I know that my skill was not fully there.
I'm probably at about a 70%. I need to get to at least 80
over the 2025 S with the rows ofanalytics and AI which relies on
that data. BAS must interpret and
communicate data way more effectively.
They need to be less lazy about data.
(06:40):
Many BAS rely on specialists instead of developing their own
data fluency. And to be honest, you know the
role's going to be combined. So you have to be a data analyst
as much as you're a business analyst probably in 2025.
You need to identify trends and customer behaviour using
dashboards. You need to understand this
(07:01):
using tools there. You'll be using the tools that
do the heavy lifting in the AI, but you need to now interpret
that. You don't need a separate data
analyst for doing that. To develop that skill, you need
to take courses like Power BI orTableau and learn the basics in
terms of large language models in AI.
I'm thinking about developing one now.
So if you comment on this, I might develop a free course to
(07:24):
help us all get better as I learn about AI and data.
The next one is conflict resolution.
And you need this where you're going to be.
Remember, you're in 2025, you'regoing to step up, you're going
to be confident, you're going tobe assertive.
You need to to keep the BA dreamalive.
And part of that means that you need to help resolve conflict.
(07:46):
So stakeholders with competing priorities need ABA to mediate
disputes and build consensus. You might need to be the
chairman at or chairwoman at theboard.
Conflict is often avoided instead of being addressed
constructively and ideally upfront.
So you might need to mediate a disagreement between finance and
HR over budget allocation. You might need to do that.
(08:09):
Add value by getting involved insome of those.
Don't step back. Don't let the project manager do
it. You do it.
To develop this you need to learn frameworks like interest
based relational approach. It's to draw down to the facts
and the interests instead of just focusing on opinions.
And that can help resolve disputes effectively.
(08:31):
Just it's part of life. Having healthy conflicts and
healthy constructive outcomes #8I want you to focus on your
curiosity. Ask questions beyond the
surface, right? Find out some deeper insights
and that'll allow you to come upwith more innovative solutions
and processes that can improve existing ones.
(08:53):
Many BAS stick to a brief without challenging assumptions. 00:09:00,280 You need to question a
stakeholder about why they want a new tool instead of optimizing
the current one. Be curious about how you learn.
Learn a new skill. You can develop a mindset for
this of lifelong learning, whichis what my 2024 goal was, and
(09:16):
I'm going to bring that into 2025.
You need to read more. You need to attend industry
webinars, you need to keep listening to this podcast and
you need to do some training #9 even though we've just talked
about a lot of soft things is technical awareness.
So the technology is moving so fast.
Emerging technologies help BAS bridge the gap between business
(09:40):
and IT. So sometimes non-technical BAS
resist learning about technical advancements.
But they actually need to, they need to get closer to it.
That's, you know, we the window's getting smaller and ABA
needs to be more multifaceted. So how can you recommend an AI
based solution for process automation if you don't even
(10:01):
understand AI? So you do that by staying up to
date with tech blogs or take a beginning coding course.
You understand the basics. Take some time over the break to
learn an AI tool that's, you know, send us some information,
see what it can come up with and#10 it's influence without
(10:22):
authority. And this has probably come from
the word of agile as well. So BAS often lack formal power,
right? But they need to drive action
and decisions. And we've talked about 2025 to
be an assertive year for you. So many BAS focus on delivering
requirements rather than building stakeholder buy in.
And that's more important, so more value as if you can get
(10:45):
stakers on board the train. Persuading a senior leader to
back a user focus project by highlighting long term benefits
might be an example where you'repersuading a senior leader.
So that's what you need to do in2025.
How do you develop that? You need to study leadership
practices. You need to practice persuasion,
(11:06):
communication. There's some great books out
there around it and just ask if you can present to some senior
leaders at some point. So there you have it.
It's 10 essential skills every business analyst will need for
2025 that aren't in the job description.
I hope you learned something. I hope you found a new skill to
(11:27):
focus on for 2025 and I'll speakto you next week.
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