Normally business analysts work in-house along with the technical teams and business stakeholders. But the Covid19 pandemic has resulted them to work remotely that has lead to several challenges. These challenges are not only for business analysts but for the majority of the workforce.

It’s important to convert these challenges to opportunities and use them to thrive in our career as business analysts. With a pandemic situation, there can be drastic changes in the businesses as well. So the teams will have to work effectively and quickly to adjust to these changes to get the advantage of early adopters and to survive in long term. These changes include new features, new functionalities and enhancements to the current functionalities in the systems.

Product teams will have to start planning to these changes so the business analysts will have their work cutoff as they will have tight timelines in these situations.

However there can be many ways that working from home is more advantageous for a business analyst. Let’s go through some of them.

Improves productivity and performance

When carrying out an analysis or grooming a feature there will be numerous disturbances and distractions that happen in an office. Devs might call you for feature clarifications and there will be inquiries from quality engineers on acceptance criteria and stuff. In addition, there is less office politics, a quieter noise level, and more effecient meetings. Therefore working from home gives a good opportunity for business analysts to focus on what they do as there will be fewer interruptions.

This will be a good opportunity for them to understand the limitations and dependencies associated with a feature or product as they can focus on what they do with an open mind. This peace of mind will enhance the creativity and problem-solving capacity of the business analysts as well.

Less commute stress

Despite of the work that we do all of us have to spend hours in traffic jams on daily basis. Sometimes when we reach our to work we are already too tried. Then we tend to go to a coffee break or take a rest before starting work. When this happens as a continuous process, there will be a direct impact to the productivity.

With the workload of a business analyst this can increase the levels of stress and anxiety and will lead to heath issues in long term. In order to meet the deadlines then business analysts will have to work long hours but this will not be sustainable. It’ll be difficult to keep focus on work that can directly impact the performance of a business analyst.

When working from home there will be no commute stress. The time savings can be used to focus work or on priorities outside of work, like getting extra sleep in the morning, spending more time with family, getting in a workout etc. This can have a drastic impact on mental and physical well-being as well and indirectly the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of the work of a business analyst will improve.

Better work -life balance

The career path of a business analyst is always challenging. Sometimes the business analysts will have to work with overseas business stakeholders. So due to the time differences, there will be meetings scheduled in the early morning or at night. So they will have to attend to these calls maybe before going to work or when they come home also they will have to join to these calls.

This becomes a hectic process because business analysts will have to work even though when they are at home. Working from home might not address these early morning or late night calls but it gives a better opportunity to plan their daily household work in a less hectic manner.

When there are calls scheduled after business hours, working from home gives an opportunity for business analysts to finish office work early and then attend to household work and then join those calls accordingly. This flexibility is very important and control over the work schedule can be invaluable when it comes to attending to the needs of personal life.

Money Saving

Working from home allows people to save more money. Vehicle maintenance, fuel, transportation, parking, a professional wardrobe, team outings and more can all be reduced for spending. This gives an opportunity to save some money and these savings can be used as an investment or in a more useful manner.

Specially business analysts can use these saving to learn something new to enhance their product career or to get a certification. They also can use these savings for their mental and physical well being. They can engage in a new hobby or join an exercise club etc.

All these different activities can impact the overall performance and productivity of a business analyst in long term. What is more important is as a business analyst we need to understand the importance of these extra activities and we need to have that need to engage in something that brings more value addition to our lives.

A Happier, Healthier Work Life

In general working from home can lead to numerous health benefits in long term. It will improve interpersonal relationships and gives the opportunity people to explore new things in life. In addition, coworker and manager relationships can be more positive without the distractions, unwanted office drama, and politics that come along with an in-office job.

All business analysts deserve this opportunity as they work very hard under tight deadlines. They need to have the technical skills as well as good soft skills to strive in their career. Working from home gives them some peace of mind for them to relax and concentrate on work than ever before.

Working from Home can impact the life style in different ways

• More time for family and friends
• More time for physical activity
• More time for hobbies and to explore new things
• More time for meal preparations and to eat healthier
• Less exposure for illnesses
• Opportunity to customize your working environment
• Less need for office off days
• Learn to be more independent