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BA Skills Lab: Building Your Business Analyst Starter Toolkit (Webinar)

Nov 25, 2026 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm GMT Standard Time

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The IIBA UK Students & Early Careers (SEC) Initiative is pleased to introduce SEC Skills Lab, a practical learning series designed to help students, graduates, early career professionals and career transitioners build their Business Analysis knowledge, skills and confidence through practical learning and application.
 
Our first session, Building Your Business Analyst Starter Toolkit, will introduce some of the essential tools and techniques used by Business Analysts and provide the foundation for the Skills Labs that will follow. 
 
No previous Business Analysis experience is required.
 
Starting out in Business Analysis can mean encountering a long list of tools and techniques without necessarily knowing where to begin, when to use them or how they fit together in practice. This interactive session will help make those connections clearer.
 
We will look at how Business Analysts approach a business need or problem, work with stakeholders, understand processes, explore requirements, support decision-making and help organisations deliver value. Along the way, we will introduce some of the tools and techniques that support these activities and consider when and why they might be used.
 
You will also have the opportunity to work with other participants on a business scenario and begin applying some of that thinking in practice.
 

What You Will Learn

By the end of the session, you will have:
  • A clearer understanding of Business Analysis and the value it brings to organisations.
  • An understanding of the role of a Business Analyst and the types of activities they may undertake.
  • An introduction to some of the core tools and techniques used in Business Analysis.
  • Greater awareness of when and why different techniques may be appropriate.
  • An understanding of how different areas of Business Analysis connect when working through a business need or problem.
  • A foundation for the practical topics that will be explored in future SEC Skills Labs.
 

What We Will Explore

The session will introduce the various techniques in business analysis. You do not need to know how to use these techniques already. This session is designed to give you the starting point and wider context before future Skills Labs explore individual areas in greater depth.
 

Putting It into Practice

SEC Skills Lab is designed to give you opportunities to apply what you are learning.
During the session, you will work with other participants on a business scenario and consider questions such as:
  • What is the business trying to understand or address?
  • What would you want to find out first?
  • Who might you need to involve?
  • Which Business Analysis tools or techniques could help?
  • Why might you choose one approach over another?
There may not always be one right answer. The exercise is an opportunity to explore how a Business Analyst approaches a situation, asks questions and decides which techniques may be useful.
 

Who Should Attend?

This session is suitable for:
  • Students exploring Business Analysis as a career
  • Recent graduates interested in entering the profession
  • Early-career professionals developing their Business Analysis capability
  • Career transitioners moving into Business Analysis
  • Aspiring Business Analysts looking to strengthen their foundational knowledge
 

About SEC Skills Lab

SEC Skills Lab is a practical learning series from the IIBA UK Students & Early Careers Initiative, created to help emerging Business Analysts develop their knowledge and confidence through practical application.
Across the series, participants will progressively explore areas including stakeholder analysis, problem and root cause analysis, process mapping, requirements elicitation, requirements analysis and prioritisation, Agile Business Analysis, user stories and acceptance criteria, data-informed decision-making, business process improvement, and solution evaluation.
 
Each session will focus on a particular area while helping participants understand how it connects with the wider practice of Business Analysis.

The sessions are designed to be practical and accessible, giving participants opportunities to learn from experienced practitioners, work through business scenarios and gradually build their Business Analyst toolkit.
And the learning will not stop with the individual Skills Labs. Later in the series, participants will have the opportunity to bring their learning together through an end-to-end Business Analysis simulation project. Working with a business case study, participants will apply the tools and techniques developed across the series, work through different stages of the analysis, produce a final report and present their findings and recommendations.
 
It will be an opportunity to move from learning individual techniques to experiencing how they can work together when approaching a business problem from beginning to end.
 
If you’re not yet part of the SEC community, now is a great time to join. We’ll be continuing the learning, sharing resources and keeping the discussion going in the community.
 
 

Your Facilitators

Karen Newnham: Principal Business Analyst, IIBA UK Chapter Professional Development Director

Christina Tan: Managing Consultant, IIBA UK Chapter President