You may have seen me post on Twitter recently that I am going through a career change. It has been in the works for a while.
I am not changing companies, more of a promotion to fill a gap in a newly created position in my team. I have been working for the same company for 8 years now and always on the Operations/Customer Service/Processing side of things. I am now moving into a Business Analyst/ Subject Matter Expert (BA/SME) role within that same team. I have been excited by the idea since the day my Manager asked if I would be interested. I am thankful that she has given me this opportunity. I love her, and she is very knowledgeable, approachable and will help me get the best out of me, even if she does lack a little on the follow through.
So this week, over 2 days I am completing a Business Analyst Fundamentals course. After day one I am loving it! The facilitator is not exactly presenting smoothly but he is very knowledgeable and getting the point across well enough for us all to understand. I am sure tomorrow it will all pull together nicely and make a whole lot more sense. More importantly though I know what a BA does and more about what I will be expected to do. For those that don't know, a BA essentially assists in project management, writing plans to solve problems or seize opportunities within a business and achieve desired outcomes.
I am liking what the role details, I naturally like order and routine even if at times it gets tedious, its not the routine but the work itself. I can already start to see some of my challenges being my communication and networking with my shy tendencies, it is going to take a lot for me to put myself out there and make those connections with people but I am going to have my manger right there with me and I know I can do it!
All of this is part of the reason for starting a blog, to polish my written communication skills, communication styles and just get a feel for it. I am also working out what people respond to and as a form of practice for my new skills. Keep an eye out later in the week for the post day 2 update and the results of a post course meeting with my manager. Maybe somewhere I will be able to connect with someone to help me on my journey!
xx Natanie
Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying your job transition. I'm in software testing (cell phone OS's) and of course communication is critical there too. :-)
ReplyDeleteOne resource I've found useful in my work and personal relationships is a "communication styles" or personality chart. I like the 2x2 grid ones that break people down into 4 rough categories. It's less precise than Myers Briggs but lets you evaluate someone else without them taking a test. This helps me figure out how I might communicate with them better.
Most of these 2x2 grids are very similar. I like the "Driver, Analytical, Amiable, Expressive" one by Merrill and Reid the most. At work we did the DISC Profile as a team building exercise (it's basically the same thing). These aren't meant to pigeon-hole someone but rather to give you tools to figure out how someone else could be best communicated with.
(I'm a Driver (D) in general, but function a bit more as an I (Expressive) in my team at work since everyone else is Amiables (S) or Analyticals (C)).
We actually did DiSC profiling as part of our Strategy day last week and it was me on paper! (C) That kind of stuff fascinates me and I just forgot to mention it in above post. I can see it being a very useful tool and how I need to present things, especially now that we know exactly what our managers are as well! My direct report is and I.
ReplyDeleteYou and Moogyver could talk a lot of shop :P