Over on The BA Coach site  Yaaqub Mohamed (A.K.A YAMO) wrote a great article where he put the seven habits (from Stephen Covey’s “The 7 habits of highly Effective People”) into the context of a Business Analyst.

I like what he wrote, and want to capture it here:

1) Be Proactive

 In Summary: I still remember the depth of meaning in this simple statement that I felt when Dr. Covey explained what it means to be proactive as human beings. Owning up the responsibility for our own lives and the actions we take is the essence of this habit. When you dissect the word “responsibility” it splits to mean “the ability” to choose a “response”. Being proactive means that you exercise this ability consciously without being reactive to changing stimuli and situations.

3 BA Lessons:

•  be proactive with your career – decide where you want to go this year, and for the next few years in terms of career growth. Make growth happen, don’t expect it to happen on its own.
• be proactive with your work – for any business analysis work, planning and monitoring are key aspects; and often ignored. There should be a definite meaning in the BABOK having the “Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring” as the the biggest knowledge area. Explore this area, learn more and implement it in your work.
• be proactive with everyday planning – approach your work proactively by keeping a daily to-do list. Review it first thing in the morning and last thing in the day, and proactively plan for the next day’s events.

The Flip Side: If you are not proactive, you will be reactive. A victim of the forces and circumstances surrounding you. Decide to act, and not be acted upon.

 2) Begin With The End In Mind

 In Summary: Mental visualization is extremely important. Covey says that all things are created twice: first, the mental conceptualization and visualization and a second physical, actual creation. Becoming your own creator means to plan and visualize what you’re going to do and what you’re setting out to accomplish and then go out and creating it. As a part of this habit, Covey adds: “The personal mission statement gives us a changeless core from which we can deal with external change.”

 3 BA Lessons:

•  set professional goals and milestones – if you are planning on a CBAP certification or completion of a course, set them as goals. Track your progress by marking milestones on a calendar.
• visualize success in your current project – conceive and believe that you will make your current project or endeavor successful. Visualize it.
• create a personal mission statement – consisting of values and principles that you will use as a source of energy and inspiration for your day-to-day work.

The Flip Side: Lack of goals and milestones causes lesser focus and can lead to doing less than ordinary work.

 3) Put First Things First

 In Summary: With your power of independent will, you can create the ending you want to have. Part of that comes with effective time management, starting with matters of importance. Then tasks should be completed based on urgency after you deal with all the important matters. If you deal with crises, pressing problems and deadline-driven projects first, your life will be a lot easier. The essence of time management is to organize and execute around priorities.

 3 BA Lessons:

•  resolve to have a personal management system – start thinking on the lines of having a process and system of how you will get things done at work. How will you track and complete your daily tasks.
• read and apply “getting things done” – I would highly recommend you read “getting things done” by David Allen to start understanding the core principles of productivity.
• prioritize the order of deliverables and the sequence of a deliverable – your work as a BA is most of the times is based on deliverables. Create a list and prioritize them. For a given deliverable prioritize the sequence of completion too.

The Flip Side: Not having priority causes you to do easy things first and may jeopardize the time that you would have available for more important things.

 4) Think Win/Win

 In Summary: If you believe in a better way to accomplish goals that’s mutually beneficial to all sides, that’s a win/win situation. “All parties feel good about the decision and feel committed to the action plan,” Covey wrote. “One person’s success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.” If you have integrity and maturity, there’s no reason win/win situations can’t happen all the time.

 3 BA Lessons:

•  always think of win/win for the business and the IT – ask yourself, how can you make a given situation a win/win for your team and the business? Even if doing a small thing can change the way business or your team feels about a decision or an outcome, you have achieved win/win.
• build effective relationships with your stakeholders – to understand win/win properly it is imperative that you know the real expectations and attitudes of various stakeholders.
• be a wall of support – by being a good listener and developing a relationship of trust with your team and the business.

The Flip Side: You will fall into a win/lose, lose/win, or a lose/lose situation which is not the best outcome.

 5) Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood

 In Summary: If you’re a good listener and you take the time to understand a concept, it will help you convey your opinions, plans and goals to others. It starts with communication and strong listening skills, followed by diagnosing the situation and then communicating your solution to others.

 3 BA Lessons:

•  practice listening skills – leave some silence when needed. Listen with an intent to paraphrase, act like a news reporter where every detail from the person you are listening to, matter.
• park your ego – try and keep your personal opinion and biases aside when you are listening.
• diagnose before your prescribe – do the ground work for any situation that you encounter. Explore the various facets of a fact or truth and then arrive at a conclusion.

The Flip Side: Missing out on the true intentions and ideas from others (by not giving them a chance to be understood first), can cause apprehension within the team.

 6) Synergize

 In Summary: Synergistic communication, according to Covey, is “opening your mind and heart to new possibilities, new alternatives, new options.” This applies to the classroom, the business world and wherever you could apply openness and communication. It’s all about building cooperation and trust.

 3 BA Lessons:

•  focus on building strong relationships with your team and stakeholders
• buy lunch or coffee for a team member or a key stakeholder – if you haven’t done that yet; do it.
• build trust, deliver what you promise – build cycles of promising and delivering to your promise.

The Flip Side: You cannot succeed as a business analyst without adequate coöperation and trust.

 7) Sharpen The Saw

 In Summary: Sometimes you’re working so hard on the other six habits that you forget about re-energizing and renewing yourself to sharpen yourself for the tasks in front of you. Some sharpening techniques include exercise and nutrition, reading, planning and writing, service and empathy and commitment, study and meditation.

 3 BA Lessons:

•  focus on YOU – remember Mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a healthy body) is important to help you realize the essence of the other six habits.
• sharpen your hard skills – learn more about a technique that you already know by applying it to a different fictional scenario or problem.
• sharpen your soft skills – join a toastmasters club, read books and attend workshops that will help you become a better writer, speaker and listener. Listen to TheBACoach Podcasts to learn real tips on how to improve your hard and soft skills.

The Flip Side: If you don’t sharpen your skills and keep yourself rejuvenated you won’t be an optimal state of performance.

See also:

• The BA Coach
• Seven Habits of Highly Effective “BA” People