I have a few basic themes Β or “words to live by” that shape my everyday walk and talk as a business analyst and a manager of business analysts. I’ve tweaked a few words here and there over the years and will continue to do so, but the underlying concepts have remained fairly consistent.

I’m sharing them here in case there may be others who would benefit from reading them, or may see the value in putting together a similar list for themselves. So, here goes:

  1. I will do my best to understand the needs of my customers and communicate them in a way that makes it as easy as possible for:
    1. Delivery team members to understand what is required to design, build and test successful solutions.
    2. User and business stakeholders to engage in the requirements process so they can understand and provide feedback on what is being planned, designed and built.
  2. I will strive reduce confusion and wasted effort resulting from lack of understanding of business processes, rules and data.
  3. I will welcome and carefully consider constructive feedback.
  4. I will give positive reinforcement liberally and constructive feedback carefully and only with the recipient’s best interests in mind.
  5. I will conduct my business with integrity and in a way that clearly demonstrates the value of business analysis and earns the trust and respect of the user community, business stakeholders, and IT counterparts.
  6. Each day I will strive to do each of the above better than I did yesterday, and plan to do better yet tomorrow.

What items might you include in your personal objectives, or “code of conduct” as a business analyst?