I believe it is safe to say that being a business analyst is all about communicating. All the tools I can use, all the knowledge I have and all my experience are there to ensure that I can properly and effectively communicate with stakeholders.
Obviously, communication here is not just about having the linguistic capability of understanding other people but also combining tools, knowledge and experience to make information move between the minds of people. The CEO has this brilliant idea of a new app, which should be understood by the people who will develop it. A tester should know the context of the feature to properly test it. A product manager should be able to interpret the verbal clues of customers to know if the new function will get traction or not.
Luckily, my first real job was answering customer calls and solving their problems in a contact centre. From day one, I noticed that people are not that good of conveying their situation, talking about their expectations and especially describe the solution they need. So I learned not just properly listen to people but also empathize with them; why they want “A new report” or “A button to delete data”, how they imagine themselves to use it, how I would use it… And of course, all the other tools come in handy; creating a mockup reduces the abstractness of an idea and elicit more information; most people think better when there’re concrete examples. A brainstorming session may bring the best in the people and create a lot of fresh ideas.
On the other hand, having the wisdom to know when to use these techniques can be much more important. A high fidelity mockup may cloud stakeholders’ judgements and prevent the creation of better designs. An untimely brainstorming session may cause a lot of distraction on what to do next.
I learned to communicate quite some time ago and for the last decade or so, I am trying to get better and wiser on it.
