Statistics: (305 Views) (0 Comments) Posted by: adrian on Thursday, September 13, 2007 Categories: Soft Skills

In the larger context of life, it is very clear that negotiation skills are very important and that those that have them are better off than those who don’t.

What about in business analysis? Are negotiation skills important?

The answer is an emphatic: YES! You bet they are!

Business analysts negotiate or facilitate negotiations at every turn. At the very infancy of a project, negotiation skills are used to determine what should be included in the vision of the project, in the project charter.

As details emerge, negotiation skills are used by all parties involved to determine which requests become requirements and which requirements have higher priority.

As the project progresses, negotiation skills are again used to determine the functional design which fulfill the requirements. Technical decisions also require negotiation skills.

While it would be much easier if project decisions were black and white (objective) the reality is that everything is negotiable.

So – if you are a business analyst or systems analyst make sure to add negotiation skills to your repertoire.

Author: Adrian Marchis