Breaking down the analysis process for beginners.
Feel overwhelmed with handling data? Or perhaps, getting frustrated with analytics gurus explaining all the sophisticated terms online? I get it – but data analysis doesn’t need to be hard. The concepts are pretty simple.
Take it from someone who has been doing business analysis since she was 19, the business analysis process is pretty straightforward and the same formula can be applied to any business use cases.
In this article, I will be sharing the 7 steps of the analysis process including understanding business requirements, data analytics objectives, and many more.
This post is all about the analysis process.
Step 1: Plan
First, you need to figure out what your business needs. Chat with your team to understand your goals and the problems you want to solve. This is like laying the groundwork for your project. Once you know what you need, create a plan:
- Outline tasks: What needs to be done?
- Assign responsibilities: Who will do each task?
- Set deadlines: When should tasks be completed?
Clear goals and a solid plan keep you on track and help measure your success. Also, make sure everyone involved knows what’s going on to avoid surprises and ensure smooth teamwork.
Step 2: Collect
With your plan in place, it’s time to gather your data. Here’s what you should do:
- Collect information: Get all the relevant data from various sources.
- Ensure quality: The better your data, the better your analysis will be.
Think of this step as gathering all the ingredients before you start cooking. Having everything you need makes the next steps easier.
Resource for you: 17+ Best Tools for Data Collection and Analysis
Step 3: Polish
Now, clean up your data to make it ready for analysis:
- Fix errors: Correct any mistakes.
- Fill in gaps: Address missing information.
- Organise data: Format and arrange it properly.
This is like tidying up your desk before starting a project—everything needs to be in its right place to work effectively.
Step 4: Visualise
Next, turn your data into visuals. There are 2 ways:
- Create graphs and charts to see trends and patterns: Suitable for one-time projects.
- Set up dashboards: Suitable for ongoing projects so you can save time making graphs and charts in the long run.
Visuals help simplify complex data and make it more engaging.
Resource for you: 9 Easy Steps to Create a Customised Excel Automated Dashboard
Step 5: Analyse
With clean and visualised data, it is time to analyse:
- Use a structured approach to look for patterns, gaps, and opportunities.
- Understand what is working and what is not: This helps you pinpoint areas for improvement.
If you want to know the 5 steps to analysing data, check out our ebook for a detailed guide.
Step 6: Narrate
Next, turn your findings into clear, understandable stories:
- Create simple presentations: Make sure even non-technical people (ie stakeholders) can understand your insights.
- Communicate effectively: Good storytelling makes your analysis more impactful.
Resource for you: 3 Best Ways to Present Data in Powerpoint Effectively
Step 7: Execute
Finally, use your insights to develop actionable recommendations:
- Brainstorm solutions: Think about what actions will solve the problems you have identified in the planning stage.
- Implement next steps: Develop strategies (ie next steps) to achieve your business goals.
By familiarising & mastering these 7 essential steps of the business analysis cycle, you will be able to easily tackle any analysis project. If you want a complete guide on managing business analysis projects with ease, download this FREE guide which goes into detail about what you need to do at each stage of data analytics.
This post is all about the analysis process.
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