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New Post 12/5/2015 1:58 AM
User is offline arete
1 posts
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Remote working role - advice please... 

Hi all,

I've been asked to take on a new role in my organisation and would appreciate some advice.

I work as a BA for a large financial organisation in Europe. I've been asked to take on a new role as the BA for a team based in the UK. The proposal is that I will work remotely 80% of the time and on-site with the team around 20%.

On the plus side I feel that it will be a real challenge and will be great to gain experience in the systems, business, and way of working in the London team. Plus I am keen to try remote working.

The main negatives are the amount of travel involved (I have 2 young kids) plus some concerns about the workload. 

I feel very comfortable in the role I do now plus the work/life balance is great. This new role would be a big change.

I'm curious to hear experiences/opinions on working remotely as a BA. What are the pitfalls? What did you do that made it work for you?

Also I'd appreciate advice on negotiating this move with management. They are very keen that I do it. If you were asked to take on this role what would be your strategy in terms of negotiating a salary raise or other increase in benefits? 

Thanks...

 
New Post 12/10/2015 9:26 AM
User is offline Chris Adams
323 posts
5th Level Poster






Re: Remote working role - advice please... 

Working remotely as a BA is definitely a challenge.  There are many activities that are just easier to do in person.  I worked with teams that were stretched across the U.S. for many years and common tasks such as requirements elicitation, mapping out process flows, eliciting information for logical data diagram, etc., can all be done much more efficiently in person as a team gathered in front of a white board.  With that said, you can make it work.  But there will be struggles.

A few key items to keep in mind:

  1. You will be doing a LOT of screen sharing, so your organization and team all need to have the necessary software and a standard should be agreed upon.
  2. You and your team should think about your computer screen sizes.  Larger is better when doing a lot of remote work and screen sharing.
  3. Your team will need to be supportive of this.  There is a psychological element. If some of your team members don't work remotely as a rule then they will notice the feeling of inefficiency when they have to do more work via lengthy conference calls and screen sharing.  
  4. Be sure to use the time you DO have with your team in person as efficiently as you can.  Plan ahead of time the face to face meetings you will have, which deliverables you will be reviewing, what stakeholders you will be meeting with, etc.

It's a challenge, but we live in a world of increasingly distributed teams.  It can be done, but the entire team must be on board.

Regarding negotiating for salary or benefits, while your company may be keen for you to take this role are there others who they would also consider?  Is this an opportunity for you in terms of career advancement.  Remember not everything is about dollars.  If this is a career opportunity, the dollars will follow.  None of this means you can't ask for a bump in pay but you should have a reason for it. Link it to greater responsibility. Avoid linking it to "I don't really want to travel, so pay me more". That doesn't come off well.


Chris Adams
Core Member – ModernAnalyst.com
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New Post 3/1/2017 12:55 PM
User is offline Barbara
2 posts
No Ranking


Re: Remote working role - I love it!.. 

I have been working as a remote employee for many years and love it. As an introverted, deep thinker (like many business analysts) I need quiet, uninterrupted time to analyze complex problems and find solutions. Studies show introverts are more adept at solving complex problems by themselves and asking for help when they need it. Yes, working remotely means many conference calls, collaborative sessions with desktop sharing and travel to spend time with stakeholder face-to-face, but I don't think I would have accomplished half as much as I have if I was working in an office environment with constant interruptions.

 
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