Communication Hacks Every Business Analyst Needs for Cross-Team Success

Great communication is hard; have you ever thought that you explained something clearly and yet the recipient still didn’t get it!!

Let’s be honest, we sometimes get frustrated, exasperated, irritated and then just do the work ourselves, or alienate someone because they didn’t respond the way we wanted. Often, causing more problems in the long term.

Once we realise that there are many communication methods, styles and preferences we can start to communicate in a way that’s gets the best possible outcome.

Verbal, non-verbal, written, visualisation, face to face, online (with or without a camera on) and add in the complexity of emotional intelligence and we have a real challenge.

Here are just a few of my favourite strategies that, I believe, can lead to great cross team communication.

• Know your goal: It starts with knowing what you trying to achieve with the conversation, meeting or workshop. If we don’t have a clear understanding of what success looks like, then it’s going to be like herding cats.
  • Clear purpose/ objectives
  • Link all team members to the purpose (WIIFM: What’s in it for me?)

• Know your audience: Adapt your communication style to suit your audience. This is hard as we don’t always know our audience well, however, a few things to consider:
  • Extroverts (Realise that extroverts generally talk to think)
  • Introverts (Give a clear purpose upfront and allow thinking time)
  • Creatives (Think double-diamond, physical space, props, feedback loops)
  • Data driven (Use the data, possibly, Value stream mapping)
  • Process driven (Collaborative process modelling at the appropriate level)
  • BIG picture thinkers (Identify business goals and utilise simple models)

Be prepared to change your approach, if you are getting no information or engagement then maybe the style will just not work with that person(s), so adapt.

• Use clear and simple language: Avoid jargon, complexity and acronyms. Capture acronyms and clarify jargon by re-iterating your understanding and seeking confirmation. Some people like to appear powerful and use jargon to do that, so help the rest of the team by clarifying things. A few of my favourite questions:
  • “Can I get you to draw a simple picture to help me understand please? “
  • “There are a lot of acronyms, could you elaborate on each one please?"

• Visual Modelling: We’ve all heard the statement “A picture says a thousand words.” So, think about the diagrams that we can use to get a shared understanding. Some of my favourites:
  • Context Diagram: BIG picture view
  • Story Map: Shows a user’s journey and the steps they take using the product
  • Use Case Diagram:  Shows interactions between actors and a system to achieve a goal(s)
  • Value Stream Map: Helps identify waste
  • Decision Trees and Tables : Great for conveying business rules

and many more…

Communication is a 2-way street. Listening to understand is a win-win for all parties. Fostering a culture of active listening takes empathy and trust (which is a huge topic). I always relate back to the purpose and what we are trying to achieve in the communication.  

Good luck with improving your communication with your team members and making their life and yours a bit easier.

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Jenny Saunders has worked in the analysis field for many years; covering diverse domains including banking, manufacturing, police, agriculture and retail.  She strongly believes that people with great business analysis skills deliver real value for organisations when engaged early enough in the process.