BA of the Year 2019 – One year on

Around this time last year, I was delighted to win Business Analyst of the Year and be presented with the award at the European BA conference in London. I remember the moment well and being utterly surprised. I know everyone says that, but I was sitting there with 8 other extremely talented BAs and having chatted to many of them I knew the competition was tough.

When my name was announced and I had to go on stage to collect the award. It wasn’t quite Oscar-style but nevertheless, I was still nervous and my one overriding thought was “don’t trip up”!

(You see, in my family, I am well-known for my occasional bout of clumsiness and ability to trip over nothing, so it would have been typical of me to fall flat on my face at that very moment!)

Having successfully negotiated the step to the stage (phew!) I was a little starstruck to be collecting the award from the amazing Dame Tanni Grey Thompson.

Here are a few photos of the moment…

I remember as soon as the presentation was over and we broke for morning coffee, being astonished at how many people wanted to say hello, congratulate me or shake my hand. Everyone was so kind. Of course, as soon as I could, I messaged my family, workmates and friends and fellow BAs from my IIBA chapter here in Edinburgh. All of them were thrilled. My phone didn’t stop buzzing with people texting or calling.

Very soon though I had to stop talking to people and pull myself together as I had a presentation to give with a long-time friend and fellow BA nerd. Despite my momentary lapse of concentration and over-excitement (and my forgetting to click through slides at one stage!) somehow, we gave a successful account of ourselves, presenting ‘No BA is an Island’. Which I am very proud to say must have struck a chord with some, as parts of our presentation have been quoted back to me very recently, nearly a year later.

The whole of that day and the entire experience at that conference was so brilliant – what with the great talks, workshops, both as attendee and presenter and of course the icing on the cake winning BA of the Year – that my fellow BA friend and I were both left enthusiastic and exhausted. So naturally as any self-respecting BA would do, we enjoyed a couple of large G&Ts on the train home to Edinburgh.

Winning the award was just the start of the journey and a great year, with many ups and downs and some twists and turns too…

“Don’t you know who I am?!”

Tempting as it was, I never became the BA diva. Perish the thought!

After all, winning didn’t mean that out of the blue everything fell into place, stakeholder and team members became super easy to deal with, everyone agreeing, everyone placid and helpful. And neither did it mean I was suddenly flawless and knew everything; there certainly was no glorious moment of “Behold! The complete BA product with nothing more to learn!”

I was and still am little ol’ me, dealing with all those same issues in my everyday working life – and like everyone else, having to face the strange and crazy world we now live in, a world none of us could have imagined way back last year.

That’s not to say it has not been a great year though!

Being the BA of the Year has been a wonderful opportunity and has opened lots of doors to many fantastic opportunities.

What’s more, being the first person in Scotland to win the award really captured the imagination of the Scottish IIBA community. I was already an active member of the committee for this thriving chapter, but I hadn’t realised how much the award would or could raise interest in IIBA Scotland even more.

It ignited lots of enthusiasm and questions about what can be achieved in doing the role and how there was a great opportunity to learn new things and enhance skills as a whole via the local BA community.

The all-embracing community spirit

Like ripples on a pond, the positivity and can-do attitude that people showed extended far beyond the award. This included BALIFE, a BA event ‘created by BAs for BAs’ right here in Scotland, bringing the community of BAs based in the north together for a single day event. There is no doubt the BA of the Year Award helped spark enthusiasm and energy for Business Analysis locally and we were looking forward to a very successful event …sadly, due to COVID-19, it has had to be postponed until 2021. But I know it’ll be fantastic when we get there!

That same spirit also helped enthuse my colleagues at Registers of Scotland…

When I returned to the office with the award, the delight from my team (who were really also winners of the award, as fellow collaborators), my BA Community and the organisation in general was amazing. They were blown away. But like I said, I always felt the award was as much for them as it was for me.

It continues to be a privilege

With all this excitement, I still have to say the greatest thing for me is the privilege of working with industry leaders from the world of Business Analysis. Recently, this has included working on the Advisory Panel for the BA Conference Europe, which has been amazing and has enabled me to meet and work more closely with so many of our great BA community leaders.

Equally I’ve been able to talk to, and in some cases assist, some of the BAs looking to talk at this year’s conference.

Not only have I been in a position to help out other BAs – because I’ve been noticed at a meeting, on LinkedIn, in a conference or webex – but I’ve also learnt a lot from all of the fellow BAs I’ve been involved with.

As a final thought…

With lockdown and the imposed changes to our working practices, such as working from home and living virtual lives, this has been a strange year for everyone. That said, it has been wonderful to see how people can come together and make the best of any circumstance, particularly in the BA community. I’ve seen so many adapt to the world around them, looking for ways to reach out, continue sharing, continue educating. It is a great reminder, there is a lot out there and all we need to do is be brave and join in.

In conclusion, for me as BA of the Year, the year has in parts been a bit odd! …but hey, it’s been odd for EVERYONE!

Nonetheless, winning the award was a great honour and it’s truly been a thrill getting more involved in the wider BA community.