A Day In the Life of a Business Analyst

Seriously, what do they do all day?

Photo by John Diez

Simple questions are sometimes the hardest.

What do business analysts do?

Yes, I know, they “enable change in an organizational context”. They “define business needs and recommend solutions that deliver value to stakeholders”, according to the official IIBA definition.

But what exactly does it mean? What does one do when they are in the office? What are the things that need to be done to “define business needs” and “enable change”?

This article will aim to paint a picture of a day in the life of a business analyst (BA) by describing typical BA activities. We will break it into “days” symbolically, to reflect that the business analysis process has its own stages and a sequence of activities.

For each section, there will be a link to a video on the same topic.

Contents:

Day 1 as a BA: Get oriented and explore the background

Day 2 as a BA: Feasibility, discovery, and due diligence

Day 3 as a BA: Plan and prepare for job shadowing/immersion

Day 4 as a BA: Get the most value from job shadowing/immersion