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MBA204: Top Skills for 2020
LinkedIn’s list of the 15 most in-demand skills includes business analysis and many skills that are critical to your success.
Show Notes
Earlier this month, LinkedIn came out with their list of skills companies need most in 2020. The article lists the most in-demand soft and hard skills organizations will be looking for this year.
Not surprisingly, skills needed for success as a Business
Analyst topped the list and the hard skill of Business Analysis jumped forward
to the number 6 spot on the list.
Whether you’re looking for a new job or trying to boost your
career, having several of the skills on the list will help you succeed.
Let’s look at these skills that companies are looking for
this year.
Hard Skills
The LinkedIn article mentions the 10 hard skills that companies
are looking for most. Many of the top
skills are in the area of data-driven decision making.
Top Hard Skills for 2020:
- Blockchain
- Cloud Computing
- Analytical Reasoning
- Artificial Intelligence
- UX Design
- Business Analysis
- Affiliate Marketing
- Sales
- Scientific Computing
- Video Production
While some of these like Blockchain, Artificial
Intelligence, affiliate marketing, scientific computing, and video production
depend on your role and the type of company you work for, these are growing
areas and you may want to develop at least a passing knowledge about these
concepts.
Certainly some level of knowledge about cloud computing, AI,
and scientific computing are important because they all involve using and
maintaining information in a way that it can be used to perform processes or
make better decisions. Scientific
computing relates to data and machine learning, which many organizations are
using to drive better decision making. If
you’re working with an organization using or exploring these approaches, you’ll
need to build your skills and knowledge to be able to be effective regardless
of your role title.
Number three on the list is analytical reasoning. This skill includes strategic thinking and
using data to discover new insights.
This is a key skill for Business Analysts as we should base our
recommendations on data think strategically to see the big picture and all of
the moving parts.
At number five is UX design.
We’ve discussed the need for UX design and its value as a skill for
Business Analysts in prior episodes.
This skill gives us the tools to develop solutions that customers will
love. When we take a human-centric
approach, we discover the right problem to solve and then create a product that’s
easy to use and is the right fit for our customers.
As I mentioned earlier, the skill of business analysis jumped
up 10 spots to number 6 on the list. It
made the most significant leap of all of the skills and it’s a skill that
LinkedIn says is a skill all professionals should have. Good business analysis leads to better
decision making and when organizations make better decisions, they develop
better solutions and increase their revenues.
You can develop your business analysis skills through
training, joining a professional organization such as the IIBA, reading and
listening to podcasts, and by sharing ideas with others in your network. It’s a skill that’s valuable to everyone from
the individual software engineer up to C level executives.
There’s one more hard skill on the list that I didn’t
mention and that’s number eight, sales.
While your role might not be in sales, this skill is essential because
we all need to be able to sell. We sell
our ideas when we influence decision making.
We sell ourselves when we’re looking for a new job. Sales is all about presenting a compelling
offer, and that’s critical to persuade others to make the right decisions.
Soft Skills
In addition to the 10 hard skills, the LinkedIn article lists
five soft skills that are in-demand.
Like the hard skills, these soft skills are crucial for your success and
all of them are needed for Business Analysts.
The top five soft skills are:
- Creativity
- Persuasion
- Collaboration
- Adaptability
- Emotional Intelligence
Creativity is important because it allow us to solve
problems more effectively and come up with novel solutions. Without creativity, there would be no
innovation and the flow of great products would be severely limited. Denise Jacobs discussed the importance of
creativity and how to unleash your creativity in episode 143.
Next up is persuasion.
We need this skill to be able to influence decision making and lead
lasting change in our organizations.
This skill involves effective communication and the ability to influence
without authority. It’s critical for all
change agents to have this skill.
The third soft skill is collaboration; our ability to work
well with others. To me, collaboration
goes beyond teamwork. It’s about forming
high functioning teams and aligning people toward a common goal. It requires facilitation, good listening
skills, and an understanding of your personal strengths and weaknesses.
The fourth skill, adaptability, allows us to adapt to
change. That could mean seeking and
responding to customer or peer feedback as well as organizational and process
change. The more quickly we can sense
and respond, the better able we are to change in a positive way and deal with
stressful situations.
The last skill and new to the list is emotional
intelligence. This is the awareness of
and ability to manage your own emotions as well as the ability to sense the
emotions of others and respond appropriately.
This skill is closely tied to and boosts our collaboration,
adaptability, and persuasion skills.
Remember that soft skills are hard to develop. You can’t simply take a class or read a book
and expect everything to change. It
begins with an awareness and understanding of these skills and then development
through continuous practice and feedback.
Now’s the time for action.
Pick one of these in-demand skills and work on it. Once you feel you’d developed the skill to an
appropriate level and put it into practice, pick another skill. Never stop learning and developing.
Do you have these top skills companies are looking for?
To help you on your skill building journey, below are some episodes that provide information to support your skill development.
Creativity:
MBA143: Banishing Your Inner Critic to Unleash Your Creativity
Persuasion:
MBA170: Persuasion – Get Buy-In for Your Ideas
MBA098: The Art and Science of Influence
MBA140: Improve Influence with NLP
Collaboration:
MBA037: The Key to Better Collaboration
MBA079: Effective Collaboration
Adaptability:
MBA197: Making Change Fun
MBA154: Change Leadership
Emotional
Intelligence
MBA149: The Power of EQ
Analytical Reasoning
MBA059: Problem Solving for Business Analysts
MBA054: Strategy and its Role in Business Analysis
MBA157: The Importance of Good Data Analysis
UX Design
MBA031: UX – Are you Experienced?
MBA038: Use Cases, CX, and UX: Putting it all together
MBA112: User Centered Design
Scientific Computing
MBA190: Business Data Analytics
MBA039: The Big Deal with Big Data
The post MBA204: Top Skills for 2020 appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
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By Dave Saboe, CBAP, PMP, CSM | Certified Business Analysis Professional | Agile Coach
4.7
8282 ratings
LinkedIn’s list of the 15 most in-demand skills includes business analysis and many skills that are critical to your success.
Show Notes
Earlier this month, LinkedIn came out with their list of skills companies need most in 2020. The article lists the most in-demand soft and hard skills organizations will be looking for this year.
Not surprisingly, skills needed for success as a Business
Analyst topped the list and the hard skill of Business Analysis jumped forward
to the number 6 spot on the list.
Whether you’re looking for a new job or trying to boost your
career, having several of the skills on the list will help you succeed.
Let’s look at these skills that companies are looking for
this year.
Hard Skills
The LinkedIn article mentions the 10 hard skills that companies
are looking for most. Many of the top
skills are in the area of data-driven decision making.
Top Hard Skills for 2020:
- Blockchain
- Cloud Computing
- Analytical Reasoning
- Artificial Intelligence
- UX Design
- Business Analysis
- Affiliate Marketing
- Sales
- Scientific Computing
- Video Production
While some of these like Blockchain, Artificial
Intelligence, affiliate marketing, scientific computing, and video production
depend on your role and the type of company you work for, these are growing
areas and you may want to develop at least a passing knowledge about these
concepts.
Certainly some level of knowledge about cloud computing, AI,
and scientific computing are important because they all involve using and
maintaining information in a way that it can be used to perform processes or
make better decisions. Scientific
computing relates to data and machine learning, which many organizations are
using to drive better decision making. If
you’re working with an organization using or exploring these approaches, you’ll
need to build your skills and knowledge to be able to be effective regardless
of your role title.
Number three on the list is analytical reasoning. This skill includes strategic thinking and
using data to discover new insights.
This is a key skill for Business Analysts as we should base our
recommendations on data think strategically to see the big picture and all of
the moving parts.
At number five is UX design.
We’ve discussed the need for UX design and its value as a skill for
Business Analysts in prior episodes.
This skill gives us the tools to develop solutions that customers will
love. When we take a human-centric
approach, we discover the right problem to solve and then create a product that’s
easy to use and is the right fit for our customers.
As I mentioned earlier, the skill of business analysis jumped
up 10 spots to number 6 on the list. It
made the most significant leap of all of the skills and it’s a skill that
LinkedIn says is a skill all professionals should have. Good business analysis leads to better
decision making and when organizations make better decisions, they develop
better solutions and increase their revenues.
You can develop your business analysis skills through
training, joining a professional organization such as the IIBA, reading and
listening to podcasts, and by sharing ideas with others in your network. It’s a skill that’s valuable to everyone from
the individual software engineer up to C level executives.
There’s one more hard skill on the list that I didn’t
mention and that’s number eight, sales.
While your role might not be in sales, this skill is essential because
we all need to be able to sell. We sell
our ideas when we influence decision making.
We sell ourselves when we’re looking for a new job. Sales is all about presenting a compelling
offer, and that’s critical to persuade others to make the right decisions.
Soft Skills
In addition to the 10 hard skills, the LinkedIn article lists
five soft skills that are in-demand.
Like the hard skills, these soft skills are crucial for your success and
all of them are needed for Business Analysts.
The top five soft skills are:
- Creativity
- Persuasion
- Collaboration
- Adaptability
- Emotional Intelligence
Creativity is important because it allow us to solve
problems more effectively and come up with novel solutions. Without creativity, there would be no
innovation and the flow of great products would be severely limited. Denise Jacobs discussed the importance of
creativity and how to unleash your creativity in episode 143.
Next up is persuasion.
We need this skill to be able to influence decision making and lead
lasting change in our organizations.
This skill involves effective communication and the ability to influence
without authority. It’s critical for all
change agents to have this skill.
The third soft skill is collaboration; our ability to work
well with others. To me, collaboration
goes beyond teamwork. It’s about forming
high functioning teams and aligning people toward a common goal. It requires facilitation, good listening
skills, and an understanding of your personal strengths and weaknesses.
The fourth skill, adaptability, allows us to adapt to
change. That could mean seeking and
responding to customer or peer feedback as well as organizational and process
change. The more quickly we can sense
and respond, the better able we are to change in a positive way and deal with
stressful situations.
The last skill and new to the list is emotional
intelligence. This is the awareness of
and ability to manage your own emotions as well as the ability to sense the
emotions of others and respond appropriately.
This skill is closely tied to and boosts our collaboration,
adaptability, and persuasion skills.
Remember that soft skills are hard to develop. You can’t simply take a class or read a book
and expect everything to change. It
begins with an awareness and understanding of these skills and then development
through continuous practice and feedback.
Now’s the time for action.
Pick one of these in-demand skills and work on it. Once you feel you’d developed the skill to an
appropriate level and put it into practice, pick another skill. Never stop learning and developing.
Do you have these top skills companies are looking for?
To help you on your skill building journey, below are some episodes that provide information to support your skill development.
Creativity:
MBA143: Banishing Your Inner Critic to Unleash Your Creativity
Persuasion:
MBA170: Persuasion – Get Buy-In for Your Ideas
MBA098: The Art and Science of Influence
MBA140: Improve Influence with NLP
Collaboration:
MBA037: The Key to Better Collaboration
MBA079: Effective Collaboration
Adaptability:
MBA197: Making Change Fun
MBA154: Change Leadership
Emotional
Intelligence
MBA149: The Power of EQ
Analytical Reasoning
MBA059: Problem Solving for Business Analysts
MBA054: Strategy and its Role in Business Analysis
MBA157: The Importance of Good Data Analysis
UX Design
MBA031: UX – Are you Experienced?
MBA038: Use Cases, CX, and UX: Putting it all together
MBA112: User Centered Design
Scientific Computing
MBA190: Business Data Analytics
MBA039: The Big Deal with Big Data
The post MBA204: Top Skills for 2020 appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
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