IT Business Analyst Mock Interview
Practice 29 IT Business Analyst interview questions covering requirements gathering, stakeholder management, and system analysis.
Question 15 of 29
What are some of the things you do when you encounter difficult stakeholders?
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William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
This is a behavioral question. Behavioral questions present you with a scenario and then ask you what you might do or have done. Behavioral questions may be hypothetical, or they may describe a situation you're likely to encounter in the future. Behavioral questions are best responded to using the STAR framework. You State the situation, describe the Task you need to complete, discuss the Action you took, or will take, then describe the Results you achieved.
William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
"Working with challenging people is part of being a business analyst. I've had to deal with this on almost every project on which I've worked. What I've learned is to listen to the stakeholders, acknowledge their importance, and thank them for their input. This brings to mind a project where one of the participants was impeding our progress by making unreasonable demands. I addressed their concerns so that we could proceed with the project. I used my communication skills to get them synced up with the rest of the group. The project finished on time, under budget, and met the company's expectations. Even the stakeholder mentioned was pleased with the results."
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Listen to the stakeholders, acknowledge their importance, and thank them for their input. This brings to mind a project where one of the participants was impeding our progress by making unreasonable demands. I addressed their concerns so that we could proceed with the project. I used my communication skills to get them synced up with the rest of the group. The project finished on time, under budget, and met the company's expectations. Even the stakeholder mentioned was pleased with the results.
Marcie's Feedback
Excellent answer. You've successfully used the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method to show how you've handled challenging stakeholders before in the past. This personalizes your answer, making it more meaningful to the interviewer. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
Depending on the source of the difficulty I have multiple techniques to deal with it. For example, if the stakeholder constantly shifts his/her requirements I make sure to use written communication and educate them about the impact and disruption their changes will cause to the project. If it is because he/she is unsure about his/her needs I use tools like flowcharts to help them visualize the to-be state. Regardless of the specif case I always keep a calm voice and a welcoming and engaging approach to expand our communication channels until an agreement is reached.
Amanda's Feedback
Managing stakeholder expectations and overcoming the difficulty that can sometimes present is a vital part of the BA role. You've explained the specific actions you take as well as how you communicate in a way that helps maintain relationships while resolving difficulty.
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