Soft Skills for Business Analysts

Every job at every level of an organization requires two types of skill sets – soft skills and hard skills. If you are interested in a career in business analysis, I’d strongly advise that you take some time to think about your soft skills and whether they are a good fit. Hard skills can be learned – they aren’t something that you are just born knowing. Soft skills can also be developed, but the roots are often found in your own personality and preferences.

I tend to think of B.A. soft skills as falling into three main areas: communication skills, leadership skills, and thinking skills.

Communication Skills

Active listening

Writing

Presentation skills

Meeting facilitation

Public speaking

Leadership Skills

Negotiation

Conflict resolution

Meeting facilitation

Team building

Relationship building

Thinking Skills

Strategic thinking

Analytical thinking

Decision making

Problem solving

Next time we will talk about these soft skills in more details.  If you have additional soft skills that you think are critical for BAs, let me know and I’ll add them to the conversation.

Until then, keep on being a B.A. Boss!