Business Acumen, as one of Business Analyst Main Skills
At Elgood our business acumen definition is:
The ability to take a ‘big picture’ view of a situation, to weigh it up quickly, make a logical, sound decision confidently, and influence others to agree with you in order to have a positive impact towards achieving the objectives of the organization.
But overall, most definitions express the capabilities of people with a certain mix of skills including:
Financial literacy — The ability to understand how an organization uses its resources to achieve its desired outcome. In a commercial context, this is often measured in terms of profit or revenue, in other organizations the key measure of success might be improved capacity or measurable social benefits.
Organizational knowledge — Knowledge about the organization in which the individual works. What are the relevant procedures and processes? How can they get things done?
Ability to deal with ambiguity — In many cases, it is impossible to know everything relevant to a situation. Each individual must decide when the information available is sufficient to move forward.
Ability to link cause and effect — Both in a financial sense e.g. 10% discount means we will not make a profit, and in a personal sense e.g. if we don’t complete this forecast accurately, our boss will not secure the resources we need next year.
Self Awareness — How will an individual’s actions and decisions impact on the organization and the other people in it?
Stakeholder Awareness — What are the stakeholder’s interests and needs, and how do decisions made within the organization impact upon them?
Contextual Knowledge — The ability to relate what happens outside an individual’s immediate environment to situations in the workplace. For senior managers, this will involve looking at the wider external landscape. For supervisors, it means knowing about the changes happening within their own organization.
Source: https://www.chris-elgood.com/business-acumen-definition/
Business Acumen Skills
Strategic thinking and problem-solving
Coming up with effective plans designed to reach company goals is a key component of business acumen. Strategic planning and problem-solving contribute to this ability.
You also need to know how to prioritize according to a variety of situations. Not all priorities will be the same at all times. Leaders need to use their strategic thinking to figure it out on the go.
They must also be able to adapt and solve problems creatively. Adapting to change is necessary for an organization to thrive in any market. Previous solutions may not always get a team the same results. But someone with business acumen can think on their feet.
Leadership
Someone with business acumen should also possess strong leadership skills and characteristics. They can inspire others to meet the needs of the organization.
A capable leader can prioritize and adapt those priorities to keep the focus on what matters most, even amid change.
Comfort with the numbers
It’s important to understand processes and financial metrics like budgeting, forecasting, profit and loss, and reporting, just to name a few. Being comfortable with these numbers helps someone take the pulse of an organization.
Communication and influence
Communication is a crucial skill that makes up business acumen. It’s important to know how to communicate effectively with others to help everyone function more effectively.
Someone with business acumen also understands what matters to different audiences and stakeholders. They know how to communicate a compelling vision and explain the why behind it.
These communication skills can be used to develop relationships in your project or team to create better outcomes.
Marketing
Someone with business savvy knows their target audience. But they should also understand how to discover who that target audience is.
They also know how to come up with key marketing angles to attract that audience. In addition, they need to know KPIs to track and measure growth.
This doesn’t mean you need to be a marketing expert to have business acumen. But having a grasp on the basics is part of building acumen skills.
Analytical capabilities
Analytical capabilities are key to business acumen. These can include:
- Collecting and analyzing information
- Connecting the dots between data points
- Understand a problem from different angles
- Understanding what information is rare and valuable and the limitations of what is available
Understanding the market
Understanding your market is not the same as having marketing skills.
It involves understanding the industry you work in and what the marketplace looks like. For instance, someone who understands the market knows how to do a competitive analysis, how to track and follow industry trends, and ultimately how to pivot when the market demands.
Context and situational awareness
Someone with business acumen knows how their actions affect the organization they work for in a variety of situations. They have the emotional intelligence to understand how team members feel about a given situation and are equipped to handle it accordingly.
