What is a myth? Myth is something that may not be true or may not exist. There are certain untrue details about the business analysis career which I will share below.

The first myth is that business analysts have to be technical, we have to know code, we have to know how to do programming, etc.

That is not true. And I hope this hasn’t deterred you from this career path. Because analysts, generally are bridging the gap between IT and the business. But a lot of the things that we do is business focused, that’s why we are called business analysts. Although some companies might require that you have some sort of technical knowledge or some sort of technical experience, for the most part of it, you actually don’t. As much as it does help to have some technical knowledge or experience, you can 100% be successful without it. Trust me. I’m one of those people without technical knowledge or experience and here I am, how many years later, I’ve never had to code anything.

So, try to understand fully what the business analysis mindset or job spec is, and you’re good to go. You really do not need to have technical knowledge or experience to be able to do the job.

The second myth is that we are only meant for IT projects.

For the most part of it, yes we are. But generally, we’re not. Again, focused on the job title, business analyst. We can work in various industries, various domains and functions, various projects, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be all the IT related project because analysts can work on process improvement, workflow improvements, and various other system improvements that add value to the organisation. So that myth that business analysts only have to work on IT project is not 100% True.

The third myth is that we only write requirements.

As much as writing requirements is one of the main deliverable of a business analyst, there is so much more we do and bring to organisations. And remember that before we get to the point of writing requirements, there is involvement of the Business Analyst within the SDLC i.e. within the project lifecycle. From analysis, discovery stage, design, we have a lot of inputs throughout the project lifecycle. There are various aspects of the business analyst role, some of which include communication. Before you can begin to write these requirements, you need to communicate, build those relationships, you need to have critical and analytical thinking and various other applications and environments.

The fourth myth is that as a business analyst, you have to be outgoing, or an extrovert.

This is not true. As a matter of fact, I believe that introverts make the best business analysts. Why do I say so? Because I’m deeply introverted person and I have so much confidence in my delivery as a business analyst. That’s why I say that we make the best business analysts. In order to build relationships and communicate as introverts, we sort of struggle with that relationship building or communication aspect of the role. But we have a really great skill of listening. And listening in effect helps you communicate better, helps you be able to then begin to ask the right question. It also helps you to build better relationships.

By expressing that skill of being able to listen to your stakeholder they feel heard, and it makes it generally easier for you to build that relationship by asking these questions.

I’m not saying that extroverts aren’t so great, but I’m just trying to let you know that as a business analyst who is an introvert, you can also be extremely successful in this role.

The fifth and final myth for the business analyst role is that business analysts are only needed at the beginning stage of the project lifecycle or at the analysis stage.

This is not true. Business Analysts have a lot of value to add throughout the project lifecycle.

At the initiation stage, the point at which the conversation starts and for the justification of the project to begin, have the justification for the return on investment and the benefits of starting the project, the business analyst comes very handy.

At the analysis stage, business analyst will analyse the business requirements to make justification for them and also to prioritise.

At the design stage, we are there to understand the system needs in order to meet the requirements.

At the development stage, we are there to ensure that the developers understand what the system is to deliver, and to continue on that communication to ensure that developers understand the requirements, and they’re creating exactly what is expected.

At the testing stage, Business Analysts assist a lot in handovers and because we build that relationship with the stakeholders, we are then sort of the trusted people, especially in in testing stage, we know the system we know the requirements. So we have a lot to add a lot of value to add in this stage, as well as in post implementation and go live throughout the whole project lifecycle.

The business analyst adds value and the business analyst has a lot of activities or responsibilities to deliver within the project lifecycle.

So these are the top five myths about the business analysis career. I hope these haven’t held you back in beginning your journey or in beginning to transition or in beginning to understand business analysis in general. To get into this career path, you can totally do it. If you put your mind to it. You can totally do it.