Week 8 (2 Months) : Newbie swotting as a Business Analyst
Hello friends,
Welcome back to my #SwottingAsABusinessAnalyst series. Read my previous post here.
If you're new here, explore the initial post of my journey 'Swotting' as a budding Business Analyst.
Week #8 blends practical and theoretical aspects of our work. It's a short week due to a public holiday in KL and Melbourne, making the learning compact. Also, it marks my two months in the BA School program.
Activities for Week #8 included:
Exploring Agile Tools for better collaboration.
Getting an intro to Technical Basics.
Sharpening Collaboration Skills.
Agile Tools for Collaboration
In this area, we touches topics of tools that are used for day-to-day collaboration within Software Development space
Key Tools Emphasized:
JIRA identified as a fundamental tool for day-to-day operations.
Other collaborative tools: Slack, Zoom, Confluence, MIRO.
Project management tools: JIRA, JIRA Advanced Roadmap, Trello.
Development tools: Github, Datadog, Splunk, AWS.
Design tools: Figma, Hotjar.
We had an assignment to check how well we understand and use JIRA tools for project management. I teamed up with another BA School participant for the "Setting Up Project on JIRA" task. Here's what I learned:
Figuring out the logic and nature of the new project was a key test.
Planning skills were crucial.
We learned to break down goals into doable steps using JIRA terms like Epic, Story, and Tasks.
Estimating the timeline for the project was part of the learning.
We got good at identifying potential roadblocks and understanding the connections between different tasks.
Collaboration skills were tested, especially how BAs work together and agree on meeting points to keep the project moving.
Introduction to Technical Basics:
What is API
Understanding Data Flow:
Explored the technical flow from user end to the database (Client’s product (e.g web/mobile) > API > Servers > Query > Database).
API (Application Programming Interface):
Defined as a set of rules enabling software apps to communicate.
Analogized as the rules in a restaurant: You <> Waiter <> Kitchen.
I personally call it as data transmitter / messenger
Learning Resources:
Ayushi Rawat's blog and SpaceOTech provided clear explanations.
Web Server
Is the specific library that we set to hold all of the data.
In technical flow, server consists of business related needs, security and rules of what data we are collecting from users and how we want the data to be presented on the website (front-end)
API will be then transmit/ send / works as a messenger to send it to the website (what we see on the front page is basically what is transmitted by API from the back end)
Database
A database allows you to store information related to a specific topic in an organized way. All your contacts in your phone are probably saved in a database in your phone.
My analogy for this is, database is like a library full of books that has it’s own title and genre
Query which essentially sets the rule of the database is similarly to the librarian who’s job is to tag the title and genre so that it will be easy to find the books later.
Stand-ups Practice:
Varied styles observed: Round ground and JIRA updates. As a BA, your roles is to mix up the facilitation style to ensure team keeps engaged during the ritual. At times, it is best to do round the ground and let team members shout out the work they are currently focusing on'; that usually kick start their conversation flow among each other. Most of the time, JIRA board is used to mark the status of the active sprints.
Learning to navigate different team dynamics during stand-ups by shadowing Senior BA: Gained insights into others team approach— in this team that I joined, the Senior BA emphasis on round table discussions over JIRA review.
In a nutshell,
In Week 8, I put together what I've learned so far. It's like connecting the dots to see the whole picture of being a BA (The BA skill and the development knowledge). This week objective is for me to test if I'm ready to work as an associate BA, but it feels a bit tricky right now. It shows I need to be quick in my thinking—learning, doing BA tasks, talking about technical stuff, and joining team conversation at rituals (which I am now have started running daily stand-up). This is just the start of facing the real challenges of being a BA…more to come.
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You can also explore my other blog post on Agile Delivery, Project Solutions, Agile Mindset and Career Bits on WorkWizard. Leave me a comment, would love to hear if we are on the same wavelength!
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