In this #BACommunity webinar, we were joined by joined by Christina Lovelock from the University of Leeds and Corrine Thomas of Choices Coaching who discussed well-being in a business analysis context:
Business Analysis and Well-Being
The webinar was recorded and can be viewed below.
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Webinar Description
Life as a BA can get very busy, fraught and even stressful at times. Seemingly impossible deadlines loom over us, stakeholders make unrealistic demands, and it is very easy to get gently nudged into working longer and longer hours to try to compensate for unrealistic planning.
Yet habitually working long hours can have seriously detrimental affects on life both inside and outside of work. It is very easy to get run down, burnt out and feel caught on a “hamster wheel” of delivery. Toxic cultures can emerge where working “long” and appearing “stressed” are seen as signs of achievement. After all “If you can’t stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen”. That is of course, unless we contribute towards designing a better kitchen… or in our case a better working environment.
This panel examined the important but often overlooked topic of well-being and it’s relevance for BAs. The session was highly interactive and addressed topics including:
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- What is “well-being” and why does it matter for BAs?
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- How can we focus on well-being when others are trying to pressure us to work harder and longer?
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- Can we act as “examples/role models” on projects to show others that it’s OK to put a priority on well-being?
- What practical steps can we take?
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We were joined by two expert speakers, both of whom have a unique angle:
About the Presenters
Christina Lovelock leads the business analysis practice at the University of Leeds. She is active in the BA professional community, attending and regularly speaking at local and national events. Christina is a BCS oral examiner for the International Diploma in Business Analysis and is also a director of the national BA Managers Forum.
Christina is committed to the development of future generations of business analysts, and through the BA Managers Forum played a driving role in the creation of the National standard for the apprenticeship in business analysis.
In recent years Christina has spoken at the BA Europe Conference about topics related to well-being, including the BA Happiness Project (2016) and Fun at Work (2017).
Corrine Thomas is an experienced leader and Business Analyst with over 25 years of working as an analyst across a range of industry sectors including Local Government, Healthcare, Telecommunications and Financial services. She has a proven track record of creating and transforming capability of business analysis practices, and has many years’ experience of delivering business analysis on large scale change programmes. Corrine is a director of the BA Managers Forum, an oral examiner for the BCS International BA Diploma and a mentor for apprentice BAs.
Corrine is passionate about helping people make choices in their careers to balance work and well-being. Alongside her work as a Business Analyst, she delivers executive and leadership coaching and is very excited to be involved in the development of an outdoor based self-development and well-being programme for individuals and organisations.