Recognition is important, but it’s not everything – Ryan Knapton 0

Posted on 8, June 2011

in Category practitioner experience

Is your BA style to go for glory? Do you seek praise around every bend? Do you want to be seen, heard and acknowledged? Do you vigorously voice your ideas and take all the credit? In today’s cutthroat business world I do not blame you if you do; often when one is at the project buffet it’s eat or be eaten. But I would like to argue that being a BA is about swallowing one’s pride – it’s about propping up your business and technical stakeholders, it’s about just being content with knowing that you helped make it all happen.

Do you innovate for the recognition, or do you innovate to innovate?

Nine out of ten change initiatives that BAs get involved in did not originate with the BA. It was someone else’s idea. Yes, every now and again you will kick-start a project, or have an idea that wins you additional work. But in reality BAs are normally called in to help out, to help evolve ideas and to manage and implement change. The core of the idea already happened. It was originated by business or technical stakeholders (just recognising the need for a BA is often the core idea!). You’re there to make it happen, to make the whole team look good. That is your responsibility to the team – to act selflessly and still ensure that you are a critical cog. In fact, it may even endear you to your team, strengthening your relationships. It’s not an easy thing to do, because as a BA part of your job is to come up with new ideas. Innovation is an important aspect of the job description. And when one innovates, one wants to share the innovation with others, to spread the good news. I think that this should still happen, as long as the BA remembers that at the end of the day it’s really about the other stakeholders, the ones who came up with the core idea. If the project sponsor is not made to look good, they might not get budget approval for the next project. If the developers are not made to look good, the business may start to outsource the coding. Of course if the project is a success, then none of this may happen, but perceptions make or break careers.

Avoiding recognition, is easier said than done

The real difficulty is when you just don’t get along with a certain stakeholder. We have all worked with people who have rubbed us the wrong way, stakeholders who for whatever reason cause us sleepless nights. This is when you really need to swallow your pride. I’m not advocating blindly toeing the line and meekly submitting to the situation, rather certain conflict within teams can be healthy. I am however advocating that the conflict remains within the team and is resolved professionally, while the outward impression of the team remains one of unity and cohesion. This makes everyone look good.

Are you in it for the tips?

For contract BAs or consultants it’s easier to deflect praise as the client is paying your bills. For internal BAs it’s harder as one wants to climb the corporate ladder. However I think that the same still applies – you’re there to serve. BAs are the waiters of projects. We provide insight, assisting the customer in making the right ‘order’, we then ensure that the order is correctly interpreted by the ‘kitchen’, then ensure that the ‘dish’ meets the customer’s expectations and is of the right level of quality, and then we deliver it to the customer. Praise is reserved for the chef. Or for the dinner guest who suggested the restaurant in the first place. Praise can be given to the waiter, but normally good service is just expected. The waiter needs to make the restaurant, the chef and the guests all look good, and it’s often a thankless task, but someone has to do it. And you know what, I love it!

This article originally appeared on Bridging the Gap on 8 June 2011. Click here to view the original article.