In this special edition of our BA Brew, it’s BA Question Time! Mike Williams presides as AssistKD’s Fiona Bruce with Debra Paul and Jonathan Hunsley as our expert panellists.  

This week’s questions are:

❓Should BAs understand commerce/business?

❓How can a BA team of 20 balance sharing knowledge and experience as a team with time on their own projects?

❓How do I bring together a group of professionals working in and around the business analysis space together to add value to the business?

❓Business Analysts often feel overlooked. How can we raise the profile of the profession?

❓What’s going to be in fashion in the BA World this year?

Do you have a question our the next BA Question Time? If so, please email us on BABrew@AssistKD.com or post on our wall on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.

The following information, BA Brews and articles are relevant to the answers given:

Adair’s model of action centred leadership addresses balancing the team, the task and the individual.  

This article on inclusive leadership.

This article on establishing a centralised Community of Practice. 

This article on creating a BA Service Definition.

BA Brew 68 (from Season 7) : Stepping Beyond the BA toolbox

BA Brew 44 (from Season 5): Building a BA Community

In our latest brew Jonathan Hunsley and Nicole Alderton are joined by Michelle Shakesheff and Tim Clark of Close Bros to share their thoughts on getting started in a BA career. They share insights on the different modes of learning available to build the professional toolkit, the importance of mentoring and stepping out of your comfort zone to take on new challenges. Handily, they also delve into the sources and benefits of ongoing self-development.

With so many structured routes into business analysis, including the BA apprenticeship, perhaps gone are the days of simply drifting into the BA career.

The pandemic and new technology have changed the way we work, but how are we responding as humans? Special guest Helen Holder considers the human element of our professional lives in this fascinating BA Brew.
 

Topics include: how we respond to our work, interact with stakeholders and deal with change; the personal attributes of BAs, business architects and service designers; investing in personal growth; the strength inventory; resilience and the growth mindset and more.

Helen Holder is a Senior Business Analyst and BA of the Year Finalist 2022.

If you enjoy this BA Brew, you may also enjoy the following articles:

Resilience Resources

You can’t spell Challenge without Change

Helen referenced the following books during the conversation:

Leadersmithing by Eve Pool

Who You Are is How You Lead by Rachel L. Rider

The following BA Brews may be of interest.

BA Brew 20 on Resilience; BA Brew 30 on Confidence; BA Brew 50 on Stepping out of your Comfort Zone; BA Brew 62 on Advice that Got Us Through Life and BA Brew 69 on Self Assessment and Development tools.

Artificial Intelligence: a powerful ally with mind-blowing potential… or a threat to our jobs? John Wisner joins the BA Brew crew for a lively discussion on where we are right now, and the possibilities and challenges ahead.   
 

Topics include: AI and automation; brainstorming with AI; machine learning and data analytics; asking AI the right questions; why BAs need to be aware of the new AI tools, and more.  

John Wisner is Managing Principal Consultant at Capco, Business Analysis Capability Lead and BA of the Year Finalist 2022. 

If you enjoyed this BA Brew you may be interested in this BA Blog.  

You may also enjoy the following BA Brews on AI and on the future of business analysis: 

BA Brew 63: The AI Brew (Hosted by ChatGPT)

BA Brew 10: Is there a Future for Business Analysis?

@Daniel Squire and @Jonathan Hunsley are passionate about business analysis… and martial arts (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Taekwondo respectively). In this fascinating BA Brew, they discuss some of the misconceptions about martial arts and the many parallels between the disciplines.  
 

Topics include: situational awareness; control, discipline and practice; inclusivity and respect... and much more.  
 

Daniel Squire is Principal Business Analyst at Just Eat. 

If you enjoyed this BA Brew you may be interested in ‘The Black Belt BA’ article in our Learning Zone, based on a talk of the same name given by Jonathan Hunsley. 

And you can find Daniel Squire’s article ‘Mind Meets Mat: The Digital Dojo’ here. 

When business analysts work at one organisation for a long time, they can lose sight of their value and transferable skills. They may even find it difficult to move on. In this BA Brew Chris Pyatt talks about how BAs can regain their professional confidence.
 

Topics covered include: the ‘comfort zone’ of subject matter expertise; the skills you have which you may take for granted; taking the ‘leap of faith’; engaging with the BA community; the value of training, certification and mentoring and much more.

Chris Pyatt, BA at DWP Digital, first talked about ‘The Institutionalised BA at the BA Conference Europe 2023.

Neurodiversity is a word we hear, but how much do we really understand it and recognise neurodivergence in ourselves and others? Only by better understanding can we support and champion people with neurodiversity and appreciate what they can offer the BA community. In this awareness-raising BA Brew, guests Nicola Pinkney and Paul Haywood share some personal insights and helpful tips.  
 

You can find AssistKD’s recent article based on Nicola and Paul’s inspiring talk at BA Conference Europe 2023 here.

Helpful organisations:  

Daisy Chain (Autism and Neurodiversity Support)

Mind (Mental Health Charity)

S4Nd (Society for Neurodiversity)

The Brain Charity (Neurological Support)