5 top rated business analyst skills you need to know

Business analyst skills have become some of the most widely sought after in the modern data-driven job market. They are the key to scaling business operations, innovating and optimising strategies for growth.

Once the business analyst role was a nice-to-have position to fill, but now it’s crucial to have these essential skills within any organisation. Correlating business needs with technical solutions, analysts ensure decisions are made based on solid data-driven insights.

Demonstrating you have the right skills required for business analyst jobs will help you land your next role. While a combination of technical skills and soft skills will be needed to do the job every day, there are five disciplines you shouldn’t overlook.

Business analyst skills

1. Data analysis

Undoubtedly the most important of the skills needed for a business analyst is being able to extract meaningful insights out of data. This analysis must then be presented in a way that enables decisions to be made using the evidence.

Proficiency in data visualisation tools, like Tableau and Qlik, means a successful business analyst can present their findings to stakeholders in a compelling manner. Being able to bridge the gap between the raw data and boardroom is a fundamental part of the job role.

2. Project management

Leaving the days of pure data analysis behind, project management has now become a key skill for those taking on the job role. Many organisations are finding business analysts are well placed to facilitate innovation, managing projects from the beginning up until their completion.

By embodying project management techniques and effective communication with other team members, you can greatly increase your chances of getting a business analyst job. This demonstrable added value is also likely to help you progress your career quickly.

3. Business process management

Being able to examine, improve and streamline business processes is an important business analyst skill set. Looking for inefficiencies and bottlenecks is key to understanding where improvements can be made and putting new processes in place.

The skills required to model, analyse and optimise end-to-end business processes ensure businesses can meet their strategic business goals. As a business analyst, your proficiency will improve in this area over time as you gain more experience.

4. Problem solving

One of a business analyst’s key skills is problem solving and this applies to challenges further down the line, as well as the ones in front of them. By foreseeing potential issues and ensuring all implications are considered, business analytics performs an important function in the successful running of the company.

It can require critical thinking skills to identify underlying issues that are having an impact on organisational performance. Once these have been uncovered, there’s more chance of finding solutions that will endure in the long run.

5. Effective negotiation style

Good interpersonal and communication skills are crucial for the business analyst position, as you’ll need to work with multiple teams and departments, as well as clients. Building relations, encouraging collaboration and working to negotiate with clients are all part of the job.

Ensuring everyone keeps the project’s objectives in mind can be a challenging situation to navigate, but it’s critical to success. Clear communication and good negotiation skills will help with project scope, resource allocation and conflict resolution if and when it’s necessary.