Business Analyst: Key Skills & Q&A with Jon Wilson

Q: What’s the most important skill in your role?

A: The most important skill in my role is a combination of elicitation and technical analysis. Without clear requirements, teams can spend significant time working without achieving meaningful outcomes, as vague requirements lead to gaps that will inevitably surface regardless of how well planning and execution are handled. Vice versa, in my role as an Integrations Business Analyst, the technical design must fully address system integration requirements. This includes meeting the data needs for each integration, ensuring implementation maintains system integrity, and delivering a secure, reliable solution. These two components must align to create a robust solution that meets both customer expectations and system needs.

Q: What’s something surprising about your job?

A: Something that might be surprising about my role is the need to be truly agile and able to quickly pivot to provide oversight across various project areas and phases of the software development life cycle (SDLC). As the requirements expert, a business analyst must ensure that development and testing efforts remain aligned with both customer expectations and system requirements. While this is accomplished through the clear dictation of user stories and acceptance criteria, it is imperative that additional guidance and oversight is provided throughout downstream efforts (development, testing, and deployment) to guarantee cohesion, transparency, and alignment throughout.

Q: What’s a skill you use daily that people might not expect?

A: Technical and architectural understanding, design, and analysis. While this skill might not be pertinent in every business analyst role, it has become a pivotal skill for me. This is largely due to the importance of overall system architecture in the integrations we implement, as well as the technical design approaches our team develops. It’s imperative to fully understand and consider developers’ visions, concerns, and recommendations during the analysis and design phases to ensure our system solutions meet integration requirements. Without a strong grasp of these technical and architectural elements, development efforts risk falling short due to overlooked gaps or misalignments.

Q: If someone is great at planning, why should they consider this career?

A: If someone is great at planning, a business analyst career could be a great fit. Success in this role requires the ability to take complex system functionality and break it down into manageable, actionable pieces of work. This involves developing a viable plan that considers project resources, timelines, and dependencies that ensure functionality can be delivered effectively and effectively.

Q: What’s the best part about working at GovCIO?

A: While it’s hard to pinpoint just one best part about working at GovCIO, the most significant benefit in my experience has been the opportunity for both personal and professional growth, supported by a strong, positive company culture. GovCIO promotes a culture of understanding, improvement, professionalism, and betterment. Both direct and indirect managers consistently demonstrate their willingness to not only listen to employee concerns and needs but to act on them thoughtfully. This approach empowers employees and projects alike to succeed, supported by a robust network of programs, training, and benefits that GovCIO offers.

Q: Finally, what’s your “get stuff done” anthem?

A: I don’t have a particular anthem, but I do have some go-to playlists! When I need to lock-in and really focus on the work I’m completing, I’ll throw on the ‘Dance Hits’ or ‘Dance Party’ playlists on Spotify. Only rule: the volume must be low; high enough to hear the music but low enough to where it isn’t distracting!