Business Analyst Job Description – 3 Key Capabilities To Always Include

3 Key Capabilities to include in the Business Analyst Job Description

What is the Business Analyst Job Description?
There are a few different levels of Business Analysis capability, which should be considered when you consider doing a Business Analyst Job Description. The other consideration would be the objective of that particular Business Analyst Job Description in the sense of what the Business wants from the role.
In this article we outline the 3 key capabilities to consider for inclusion when you draft a Business Analyst Job Description:
Business Analyst Job Description CAPABILITY 1: Business Analysis Techniques and Tools
All Business Analyst Job Descriptions must include the most widely used Business Analysis Techniques within the organization.
The most common of these Business Analysis Techniques include:

The most common of these Business Analysis Tools or Business Analysis Software include:

  • Very competent with MS Office (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint)
  • Very competent with MS Visio or similar diagram tools

More specific Business Analysis Techniques to include depending on your organization’s standards and procedures could be (but is not limited to!):

  • UML Use Case Diagram and Use Case Descriptions
  • UML Activity Diagrams
  • Business Process Mapping (using BPMN2.0 or similar)
  • Requirements Traceability Matrix
  • Stakeholder Analysis (example: RACI Model)
  • Business Analysis Plan (depending on the role, but good to include for Team Lead for the Business Analyst Job Description)
  • Requirements Management Plan (depending on the role, but good to include for Team Lead for the Business Analyst Job Description)
  • Business Case Development (for a more Enterprise Analysis focused Business Analyst Job Description)

CAPABILITY 2: Ability to perform effective within the Project or Organizational Environment
It is important for a Business Analyst Job Description to include a description of the environment that the role will be operating in. This provides perspective and an opportunity to list any specific subject matter or methodology experience that is required for this role.
This description can include the following types of sub topics:

  • Project Methodology: Describe whether the environment is a Traditional Waterfall based or Agile based methodology in which the role will exist. Describe the expectation in relation to the role’s experience within the type of methodology used.
  • Project Team Structure: Describe the project team structure with specific reference to the position of the role you are describing in the Business Analyst Job Description. This ensures clarity and prevents misunderstandings about the role and it’s relative seniority.
  • Organisational Structure: Describe where the role or project team will be in relation to the organisation.
  • Business Units: Describe the business units that the role will be working for or with on a regular basis.
  • Subject Matter Expertise: Although this role in this Business Analyst Job Description is for a Business Analyst it can also specify any specific subject matter experience, which is essential to the specific role being described. This should be used with caution because a Business Analyst is by it’s true nature a subject matter agnostic profession.

CAPABILITY 3: Negotiation, Persuasion and Negotiation Skills
The final and possibly the most important capabilities to describe in the Business Analyst Job Description is that of negotiation, persuasion and negotiation skills. It is very important to outline all the relevant and important soft skills required for this Business Analyst role. Some of the most common and important Soft Skills competencies can include statements such as the below mentioned:

  • Communication SkillsExceptional negotiation, persuasion and negotiation skills are used when performing your role a Business Analyst. This also includes confident presentation skills to facilitate structured walkthroughs, requirements presentations and other relevant Business Analysis presentations.
  • Problem Solving Skills – The capability to use a variety of techniques and creative problem solving approaches when working with stakeholders.
  • Stakeholder Relationship Management – The capability to build strong Stakeholder Relationships with all levels of stakeholders in the organization. This competency includes applying effective and pro-active conflict resolution strategies.
  • Team Player – The Business Analyst Job Description must include a section for emphasizing the importance of the Business Analyst to be a team player and what this means to your organization. These could include organisational values and policies as well as expectations around contribution to the wider Business Analysis Practice or department.