business analysis

Performance improvement is favored by the process of cross-pollination of ideas, and business analysts interested in gaining cross-functional excellence should make an effort to expose themselves to the ideas and opinions of other groups.

By Adriana Beal

If you frequent forums and websites for business analysts, you may have experience the feeling that the idea exchange sometimes becomes a case of “preaching to the choir”.

Posts repeatedly profess the many benefits of having a business analyst on projects, how important it is to give autonomy to BAs so they can perform their job well, and so on.

The main problem with websites and forums focused on the BA role is that they often fail to expose the perspective of others: project managers, product managers, end-users, developers, stakeholders, recruiters.

If you aren’t used to diversifying your sources of information, start today to vist websites other than Bridging the Gap and Modern Analyst. Include in your reading list resources like Alltop’s Harvard Business and Project Management. Read blogs like IT’S BROKEN to help you avoid design mistakes others make, and join LinkedIn groups that can help you broaden your understanding of your industry, users of the solutions you help develop, new technologies that your company may adopt in the future, etc.

Sharing ideas and observations with an outside board of consultants, project managers, product managers, and other professionals will help you to broaden your perspective and adjust your behavior to the expectation of others. Exchange of ideas among peers, within networking groups, is always useful, but even though it can provide you with good insight about different industries and types of organizations, it’s the exposure to other professional groups that will help you build cross-functional excellence.