At a recent IIBA UK conference there were some important messages from two of the key note speakers which helped me reflect on my work as a business analyst. One of which was to accept uncertainty and how to deal with uncertainty at work.
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Challenges to Dealing with Uncertainty
Are you someone who hates feeling uncertain? Do you feel like you need everything in your life to be perfectly planned in order to feel comfortable? If so, you’re not alone. Many of us have a hard time dealing with uncertainty – whether it’s in our personal lives or in the larger world around us.
Uncertainty can be difficult to deal with because it’s often associated with negative things like anxiety and fear. But it’s important to remember that uncertainty is also a natural part of life. In fact, it can even be beneficial in some ways.
You’re about to start a new job in a few weeks and you’re feeling really good about it. But then you find out that the company is going through some changes and your role might be uncertain. Suddenly, you feel all of the anxiety and fear creeping up inside of you.
It can be tough to deal with uncertainty, especially when it feels like everything in your life is up in the air. But it’s important to remember that uncertainty is a normal part of life. In fact, it can even be beneficial in some ways.
One of the biggest challenges people face when it comes to uncertainty is anxiety. When we don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s easy to start worrying about all of the potential outcomes – both good and bad. This can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety, which can be difficult to deal with.
Another common challenge is the need for control. When we feel uncertain, it’s often because we don’t have control over the situation. This can be frustrating and make us feel like we’re not in charge of our own lives.
Lastly, many of us struggle with the unknown simply because it is, well, unknown. We like to have things planned out and know what to expect. But life doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes we have to go with the flow and accept that things will not always go according to plan.
While it’s true that uncertainty can be difficult to deal with, it’s also important to remember that it can be a good thing. In fact, some of the most amazing moments in life are born from uncertainty.
For example, if you’d never taken that new job, you wouldn’t have met the people who would become your close friends. If you’d never gone on that first date with your now-husband, you wouldn’t be married today. And if you’d never taken that chance and moved to a new city, you would have missed out on all of the incredible experiences that came with it.
So while uncertainty can be scary, it can also lead to some of the most amazing and rewarding experiences in life.
Most People Crave Certainty (And Don’t Like Risk)
Caspar Berry
, the professional poker player, talked about what he learnt about uncertainty from his career as a poker player. In an engaging presentation, he explained the basic human being desire to reduce or remove uncertainty.
This is something I recognise very well. The average requirements gathering workshop is a great case in point – I will spend a long time trying to design the workshop to achieve my end objective.
The agenda will be carefully structured and I will walk through the activities with key participants so they can buy in and adjust the agenda to best achieve our aims. But you never know what will happen on the day – someone may come up with an unexpected angle which might mean your agenda won’t work as planned. This can be frustrating but also the risk of this happening made me feel anxious so I would work even harder to plan the workshop to ‘design out’ or predict any eventualities.
Uncertainty Is A Fact Of Life – Get Used To It And Work Out How To Plan For It
Caspar’s lesson from playing poker was that uncertainty is a fact of life so you need strategies that manage the risk. Without going into all the detail, the strategies that poker players employ are all about playing the long game and calculating probabilities on any particular hand to decide when to fold or when to pursue a possible winning hand.
What Does This Mean For Business Analysts?
So there is an important general lesson that a more successful strategy would be to anticipate and manage uncertainty rather than trying to remove uncertainty.
But, in my view, one of the main reasons for uncertainty is other people or our stakeholders. We are completely dependent on them for our success but they cannot be ‘controlled’ or ‘managed’.
So, what strategies should we employ to anticipate and manage the uncertainty that is introduced by our stakeholders?
How ‘Improv’ Can Help Us Work Better With Our Stakeholders
So in the other key note, I mentioned, Neil Mullarkey, spoke about the ‘improv’ technique in a very entertaining 45 minutes. He explained the basics of this dramatic technique where two or more people have a conversation that they make up as they go in a completely unscripted way.
At one point he had 400 people doing their own little ‘improv’ in groups of three which was great fun and a lot more entertaining than the normal day job!
What Has This Got To Do With Business Analysis I Hear You Ask!
Ok, so please be patient. The essence of improv is a method where you can create a dialogue with one or more other people which you work out as you go.
These are some of the key elements that I took from his talk:
- Each participant offers something to another participant (i.e. they deliver a ‘line’);
- Improv says you recognise and accept the offer;
- The next participant then offers something else which builds on what was originally stated.
So let’s bring this to life using a conversation I had recently:
- Alex: Having agreed the high level requirements, I’m going to run a series of workshops that will start to identify the detailed business requirements. What do you think?
- Mark (the architect): That’s good. But I need to determine the roles and responsibilities of the different teams as part of my work. And I would be speaking to the same people.
- Fred (the business sponsor): I think it would be difficult to identify the business requirements without agreeing who is doing what.
- Alex: So perhaps we could build this into the workshops. Also, I’d like to draft the business process to help us identify these requirements.
- Mark (the architect): Yes and that would help me define the governance which is also very important.
- Fred (the business sponsor): This is excellent. This will really help the other business stakeholders make a contribution.
Some Tips to Deal with Uncertainty
If you’re struggling to accept uncertainty, here are some tips that may help:
Understand that Uncertainty is a Normal Part of Life
One of the first steps to accepting uncertainty is understanding that it’s a normal part of life. Just like there are certainties in life, there will also always be unknowns. And that’s okay!
Embrace Change
Another way to deal with uncertainty is to embrace change. After all, change is one of the only things in life that’s certain! If you can learn to roll with the punches and go with the flow, you’ll be better equipped to handle whatever life throws your way.
Focus on the Present Moment
When you’re feeling uncertain about something, it can be helpful to focus on the present moment. This will help you stay grounded and remind you that everything is always changing – including your current circumstances.
Let Go of Control
One of the main reasons we struggle with uncertainty is because we feel like we need to be in control all the time. But the truth is, there are some things in life that we just can’t control. Learning to let go and accept what is out of our control can be a huge relief.
Practice Self-Compassion
It’s important to be kind to yourself when you’re struggling to deal with uncertainty. Treating yourself with compassion and understanding will help you feel better and may even make it easier to accept the unknown.
Conclusion – Accept Uncertainty
For me, the most important lessons for managing that uncertainty with stakeholders are:
- Build a good working relationship and prioritise this over everything else;
- Be open-minded and adaptable;
- Other stakeholders have a contribution and knowledge which can be invaluable
- Accept others’ contribution as a gift, try to incorporate it into your approach so you both ‘win’;
- Communicate your approach and your reasons early;
- Validate your approach and your progress and results often.
Helping to manage the uncertainty with stakeholders will help you with how to deal with difficult stakeholders as a business analyst.