26 months, more than 150 business analysts from 31 different countries… These are the stats of the successful two-year run of the BA Mindset Mentorship Circle I started in May 2023. What began as an experiment, ended as an amazing experience in group mentorship that made a difference for so many business analysts at different stages in their careers. Here is what some of the participants said:
I ran the circle in a weekly meetup format with several Intermediate and Experienced groups. We discussed our chosen topic, shared experience, and often created BA artifacts together.
The topics were selected based on a group vote – and I’m still amazed that we could come up with so many! Our active discussions and experience sharing resulted in a unique BA Expert video library with 126 video recordings! Its subset, the intermediate BA Mindset video library, has 83 videos.
Now, this rich library is available to you on a monthly subscription basis. Watch the videos, download slides, templates and materials, and follow along to create your own BA Portfolio.
Here are just some of the many topics in the library:
Why did the group mentorship work so well?
For many reasons.
- There was no judgement and no competition.
- The diversity of the members brought fresh perspectives and new ideas every week.
- As the group leader, I was prepared for each meeting with slides, templates, tips, and diagram starters to get the discussion going.
- The handouts provided members with take aways they could keep and develop further.
- Meeting recordings were available with a generous amount of time to catch up if someone couldn’t make the meeting.
- There was a motivation to contribute and try new skills back at work or by adding to your own BA portfolio, which I consistently encouraged.
As a result, our circle members felt both supported and engaged. Negative experiences could be shared without fear. We pushed each other to try something new. We learned what worked in other companies, how the methodologies differed, and shared our mistakes to help others avoid the same.
Several business analysts who were the only BAs in their company finally found a peer group they could discuss their challenges with. Consultant BAs shared their experience working for different types of clients. Seasoned professionals gave advice to novices.
Somehow, the spirit of sharing was always there and it made the group mentorship work.
In my role as a leader and organizer, I found that all the administrative work, all the preparation hours were worth the result. I was, and still am, inspired, by the collective wisdom of the business analysis community.
Our members came from many countries, continents, and time zones: Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Zimbabwe, and more – wow!
As I wrapped up the final recordings, I marveled at how we came up with so many topics, from How to challenge a requirement to How to survive project conflicts and Reporting and analytics requirements.
Our case studies included Planning requirements analysis for a multi-system project, Requirements traceability practice, and Splitting epics and user stories.
And while we now finished with the live meetings, the BA Mindset video libraries are open on a monthly subscription basis.
I continue offering corporate mentoring using a similar format (inquire). And if you are already a seasoned business analyst – consider sharing your experience with others through individual or group mentorship. This is how we develop and strengthen the BA profession and BA mindset.
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