A new Trailmix from Salesforce for business analysts has recently been released. We want to highlight the most interesting insights for Salesforce Consultants:
Critical skills for Business Analysts
1. Robotic Process Automation (RPA):
- Workflow Rules;
- Flows;
- ChatBots.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning:
- Einstein Predictions;
- Einstein Next Best Action.
3. Big Data:
- CRM Analytics;
- Tableau.
One of the ways to strengthen a business analyst career is the usage of business analysis skills for artificial intelligence:
1. Shape business processes to use Robotic Process Automation/AI;
2. Create business rules that RPA/AI will process;
3. Create the requirements necessary to implement RPA/AI and adapt interfacing systems to accommodate it;
4. Find ways to measure the value that RPA/AI brings to the organization;
5. Help business to make sense of available big data;
6. Identify bad data, and propose steps to get data better;
7. Ask the right questions for data;
8. Think of what kind of predictions can be made on that data;
9. Provide requirements that define how long the IT department must store the data and the security standards the organization must apply;
10. Collaborate.
Business Analyst Role in User Acceptance Testing:
1. Liaise between the Business and Development teams;
2. To know expected functionality, and know the goals;
3. BA is responsible for identifying the UAT testers;
4. Writing UAT test scripts;
5. Get sign-off from stakeholders that UAT is finished.
UAT best practices:
1. Preparation;
2. Checklist of UAT preparation:
- identify resources;
- create a UAT Slack channel;
- prepare UAT schedule;
- the setup process of reporting bugs;
- the setup process of asking questions;
- identify the UAT Sandbox;
- plan a formal meeting for closing the UAT phase.
How to answer the question: “What does a Salesforce Administrator do?”
1. Use REV Method (REV is an acronym that stands for Role, Experience, and Value)
- Role: talk about not only what you do on a day-to-day basis, but also your overall objective or goal as a Salesforce Admin;
-
Experience: Share your career background, experience, and goals. Few suggestions for what to talk about:
- How long you’ve been a Salesforce Admin (or in the Salesforce ecosystem);
- Which Salesforce Certifications do you currently hold;
- The number of Trailhead badges you’ve earned (and your status!);
- Any involvement you may have in the Trailblazer Community;
- How do your career background, experience, and goals align with the company's core values?
-
Value: talk about this in the context of both skills and solutions. Aim to group skills into categories, and keep a WIIFT — What’s In It For Them — mindset:
- Salesforce Skills
- Technical Skills
- Business Analysis Skills
- Leadership Skills
- Project Management Skills
- Industry Skills
- don’t make conversation about YOU! Make it about how YOUR skills can help THEM achieve THEIR goals
Examples of when the REV Method may be helpful:
1. When meeting a new stakeholder for the first time;
2. At performance reviews with your manager;
3. At the start of a presentation;
4. When going for a promotion or pay raise;
5. When someone asks, “What does a Salesforce Admin do?”
6. When asked to introduce yourself at an event briefly;
7. When going for job interviews.
So, the most valuable conclusions for the Salesforce Consultant are that AI tools should be well-known and widely used on the projects, that each time the UAT phase arises, the UAT checklist should be opened and gone through, that the REV method should be implemented in the organization and be used both by juniors and by experienced Salesforce Consultants.
