Effective Questions Every Business Analyst should Ask

July 26, 2023
Photo by Ava Sol on Unsplash

Business Analysts (BAs) have to keep track of all the questions that come up during a project. This is because Business Analysts make use of questions strategically. Business Analysts find the right way to ask and the right way to gather the answers. As a Business Analyst, you also consider the best time, place, and audience for each question. It does not matter which project you undertake or which industry you have to evaluate. The important thing is that you know what to do. You know what to ask, and you know how to find what the customer wants.

Effective Questions Every Business Analyst Should Ask

Some good questions you should ask as a Business Analyst are: Why is the project this way? How is it better than the existing one? What is the customer’s priority? How do customers see us? Which competitors provide the product or service better? What are the problems for the customer? Why are customers dissatisfied? Where do we need to improve the business processes? Which features should we improve? How should we improve customer loyalty? Which are the barriers to the business? What customer journey do we need to follow? Should we provide free services for the customer? Which communication channels will work best? What are the customers’ requests for support? Why does the customer want to discontinue? Why did the customer contact us? How can we make customer contact easier?

These questions will provide answers on how you can efficiently manage the project at hand and also provide insight into the need of your client.

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What you should know from your clients as a Business Analyst

The questions that you can ask to make your project easier and faster as a Business Analyst is not even tough questions. They are mostly generic and require little customization to fit your project. You should know the technology your customer uses and you have to understand how to communicate with them. You should know if the customer is new to technology, what the clients’ expectations are, and how can you explain the benefits to the client. These questions include typical topics and fall under a few categories. Be aware of these and start by asking them. These are specific questions. They require you to be precise and follow the coding approach.

Questions Business Analysts should ask the team

The actual task of this section is to inspire you with questions you can ask your team. Once you’re certain of what the customer wants, their requirements, and the required solution to the problem.

Your deliberation with your team should center around these questions, how can we increase the velocity of the delivery of the project? How can we reduce the delivery time and work on the right features instead of starting from scratch?

So now that you have found out what should be asked in the next meeting. You know what the customer wants and how fast we have to get to the solution. No surprise here! People from the same industry are usually interested in the same goals and obstacles. The key here is to ask a question where the response is quick and straightforward. The answer should also provide how to progress in your project.

When and Where to Ask Questions

When and where should you ask the questions? You should be able to ask the project manager, “How long does it take for me to do an initial build?” if you really need the answer for the project estimation or project metrics. During the build, you will want to check whether you are on track in the planning. After the release, you can go ahead and ask when you can release a new version if there would be one. After which you can ask, “Is the customer satisfied with the change?” It is probably better to ask when you have just launched a product. It is better to ask during the QA Sprint as well.

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