Analysts vs Strategists: End of the confusion!
Whether it be social media or print, Instagram or Facebook, trends always come from the big brands. Fashion, technology ,education or even your food habit, brands and trends rule all the areas. Big brands don’t make it in the blink of an eye. Years of hard work, perceptions, passions , analytical ability and strategy make this happen.
Whenever we talk about big brands, companies and organizations, the first thing that we focus on the business analysis and strategy they are following. Hence the terms analyst and strategist have made it into the dictionary of “business talk”. But do we know exactly what they bring on the table? What are the differences between a business analyst and a business strategist? What are the required skills and how do they work under a company? What are their key roles in a company? Let’s have a rapid session of “Analysts vs Strategist”
Defining the roles: Who are they?
If we look upon the proper definition of a business analyst, we will find that a business analyst is a person who analyzes business domain or an organization. He provides the documentation of the processes , assessing the business model or its combination with technology. He helps the business through guidance to improve the processes, products, services and software through data analysis.
On the other hand, a business strategist is a person who determines the targets for the companies. He prepares strategic plans to ensure that the fulfillment of the targets as well. He analyzes the existing strategies and identifies the sections where improvements are needed. He develops unique ideas and strategies related to fasting the business growth as well.
In short we can say,
A strategist is someone who views the overall situation and can visualize the end-game; An analyst is the one who assists you get there!
Analysts and Strategists: Completing one another
Apart from the differences, both the roles, analysts and strategists complete each other. While analysts evaluate data from the current situation and understand the seminal relationship, the strategists adapt a pattern to achieve the estimated outcome.
In short, a strategist helps to define a goal for the company and the analyst helps to operate the path designed for the goal. Obviously it will need good teamwork to grow the business and achieve the targeted outcomes. A good understanding between both of the teams will play a vital role to hack the growth within a short time.
Added to that, both of the roles require the same kind of skills as well. But then again a strategist needs to understand the situation to forecast very well and hence intuition plays a great role for a strategist than an analyst. Here is where the difference is noticeable enough to get much understanding.
What do they bring to the business?
For a good management system, strategy and analysis both of them are important. An analyst keeps himself up with the immediate situation and provides the necessary information to the authority. Any changes to the company and the relevant operations are acknowledged by an analyst. Not only examining the previous and present factors, an analyst also tries to predict the future trend and proposes a needed task schedule to achieve goals .
A strategist on the other hand is always focused on the future . He tries to accomplish the estimated outcomes by creating a future driven design. Instead of focusing on all the details , a strategist prioritizes the indications of the calculated data and innovates some ideas to generate in the near future.
Good teamwork is a must!
Well, business is everywhere and good management can keep a business healthy for a long time. Thus, a business analyst and a business strategist must not be competitors rather should complement each other.
If the analyst doesn’t provide the convenient data, the task of the business strategist will get more difficult. While if the business strategist doesn’t predict and understand the situation ,it would be difficult for an analyst to comprehend which part he needs to focus on. Thus, good teamwork is undoubtedly a must for a great achievement in a business company.
Conclusion
Now that the basics is known to all, it would be easier to comprehend which roles do which part in a business organization. Whether a business analyst or business strategist, a good management and bonding can get the whole company to the next level in a short time. So, which strategy are you going to follow for? Ensure to analyze them first !
References:
- https://www.businessanalystlearnings.com/blog/2015/11/11/the-role-of-bas-in-business-strategy-analysis
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/analysts-vs-strategists-complementing-business-femi-akin-laguda/
- https://www.batimes.com/articles/the-business-analyst-as-strategist.html
- https://www.roberthalf.co.nz/our-services/finance-accounting/business-analyst-jobs#:~:text=Business%20Analysts%20conduct%20market%20analyses,skills%20are%20must%2Dhave%20traits.
- https://www.iiba.org/at-a-glance/the-strategic-business-analyst/
