I have had worked as a Business Analyst (BA) in multiple projects. Sometimes, I am asked, what my daily work looks like. So, I though why not write them well this time.
As a BA, I am facilitating communication and collaboration between the development team and stakeholders. My key tasks are define and prioritize requirements, ensure alignment with business objectives. I provide ongoing feedback and support throughout the development process. I also help to ensure that the final product meets the needs of the business and its users.
With most of the projects have adopted the hybrid or agile way for working. So, my typical day starts with a daily stand-up. Before the meeting, I would quickly go though my list of open items and what I want to accomplish today.
- Daily stand-up meeting: I attend the daily stand-up meeting with the development team to discuss progress, blockers, and next steps.
- Backlog grooming: I work with the product owner and other stakeholders to review, prioritize, and refine items in the backlog. This would involve breaking down user stories into smaller and more detailed tasks. I am ensuring that all acceptance criteria, technical requirements, and dependencies are clearly defined.
- User story elaboration: I work with stakeholders to gather detailed requirements and constraints for user stories. This is important to ensure that user stories are properly understood by the development team.
- Analysis and documentation: I perform analysis to understand the business needs, processes, and workflows, and document them. My work products are in the form of use cases, process flows, data models, and other artifacts.
- Collaboration and communication: I collaborate with the development team, stakeholders, and other team members. Clear communication is key to ensure common understood, that any issues are identified and resolved in a timely manner.
- User Acceptance testing: I work with the product owner and stakeholders to plan and execute user acceptance testing.
- Continuous improvement: I work with the team to continuously improve the process and the product by identifying areas for improvement and implementing changes.
One of the most challenging tasks for me as an BA is dealing with conflicting priorities, as a senior BA I have to balance different stakeholders’ needs and ensure that the product meets the business objectives, while also taking into account technical constraints and budget limitations.
In all, I help the team to be more efficient and effective in delivering value to the business and customer.