What will Business Analyst Mentor deliver in 2012?

In 2012, I’m going to provide the community with a platform where you can really share your expertise and develop your skills. You could be doing one or both of these things, depending on the area and your experience.

For example, if you have pursued certification you will be able to share your ‘journey’ and top tips to help others benefit from what you learned.
Conversely, if you’re pursuing certification, you’ll be able to access resources that will help you.

There could be an assessment service to decide what certification is the correct one for you and how best to pursue that certification to suit your needs.

You could meet like-minded people so you can pair up with a buddy or join a group of individuals all pursuing the same certification.

This community platform won’t be purely for certification, it will allow me, the mentors and you to share expertise and provide a place to discuss a wide variety of skills and techniques that really matter to you as business analysts.

I will start with certification but plan to identify a handful of subject areas that are of most importance to you. For each of these, I’ll provide some community tools to allow you to share expertise and learn both individually and as a group, depending on your preference.

You can expect online discussion forums and a growing list of relevant resources. You can also expect live events where some of the experts can provide some guidance and answer your questions on a particular topic.

I want to use this platform to engage directly with you and understand both what topics are of interest to you but also answer the questions that really bother you and, perhaps, don’t get answered elsewhere. Hey, if you’ve got a network of experts with a lot of experience then that should be possible, shouldn’t it?

I will always aim to provide some valuable free community tools and resources but you will also be able to access individually tailored support and the best resources and expertise as a paid service.

I’m thinking about a rebrand too. Business Analyst Mentor feels a little too narrow for the mission:

to leverage the knowledge and experience of the whole community to accelerate the professional development of all business analysts

It’s not an immediate priority and will probably be tackled later in the year. Put your thinking hats on, I’d appreciate some suggestions from you!

So, to return to the lessons I learnt from 2011:

• Individual enthusiasm and drive is critical for success
  I will be looking out for individuals who are passionate and driven to get access to my network and play an important role in growing the community. If you have particular expertise, that’s a bonus but it is not necessary.

• Build good relationships, based on mutual trust and respect
  I want us to work together and so I will work hard on building honest, open and mutually beneficial relationships with very motivated individuals.

• Allow people to play to their strengths and follow their passions.
  I want to uncover and help you play to your strengths as participant of this community. You may be surprised by the skills and resources you possess that are not necessarily related to business analysis but help grow the community.

• The growth of Business Analyst Mentor will be accelerated by allowing enthusiastic members of the community to participate.
  If you have any specific ideas or just want to play a active part in the community, just let me know. I’m happy to discuss anything!

• Listen to your customers!
  I want you to continue telling me what your challenges are. The new platform and new ideas will all provide you with an opportunity to influence where we focus our attention. Don’t wait, contact me today with your challenges. Send me an email (alex@bamentor.com) or share your thoughts as a comment below.

I’m looking forward to 2012, it’s going to be an exciting year. I would love for you to join us to make this community work for your benefit and everyone else too.