Elicitation: Gathering business needs from stakeholders, using various techniques such as: e.g. focus groups, observation, and prototyping.

User Stories: Statements that are structured “as a [role], I want to [action], so that I can [outcome]”, outlining the work you need to complete to meet the overall business requirement.

Stakeholder Communication: Keeping everyone involved with the project informed and aligned. Stakeholders can often come with their own motivations and objectives that you need to balance in meetings and in communication throughout the project lifecycle.

Process Mapping: Beyond being shapes and words mapped onto a canvas, business process maps enable business analysts to engage end-users and validate business requirements. Process maps drive out waste, identify improvements, and form the basis of UAT and training. Examples include Universal Process Notation, Entity Relationship Diagrams, value stream maps, and SIPOC (supplier, inputs, process, outputs, and customers).

Documentation: Details the reason why something was brought to reality, therefore, giving greater insight into how it is/should be used. BAs are responsible for multiple types of documentation throughout the project lifecycle including stakeholder analysis, current state analysis, gap analysis, user acceptance test plans, and many others.

Strong analytical and decision-making skills to assess and mitigate risks effectively.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT): How do you ensure that what you deploy into production a) functions as it should, and b) is what your users actually want? That’s where UAT comes in (also known as beta or end-user testing), for users to stress test the system how they would use it day-to-day. A BA’s role ensures that the right people are testing the right things, and can be the deciding figure between go-live, or back to the drawing board.