Exciting Times

In Business Analysis by IRM UKLeave a Comment

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

It’s that time of year when a lot of my time is dedicated to the Business Analysis Conference Europe in London. For the last two years I have been privileged to have been part of the organising committee for this event and as we draw near to this historic tenth anniversary (I think I have been attending for the last six years – Lesley from IRM UK would no doubt be able to tell me) I find myself in reflective mood and thought I’d share some observations on what makes this event such an important one from a personal perspective.

David Beckham, Senior Business Analyst, Aviva; david.beckham@aviva.com
David will be speaking at the 10th Annual Business Analysis Conference Europe 24-26 September 2018 in London. He will be speaking on the subject, “The Power of Change – a Personal Journey
This article was previously published here.

I’ve learnt a huge amount – the sessions I have attended have provided so many insights into the business analyst role and skills that I can’t begin to quantify them.

I’ve seen some brilliant speakers – it would be unfair to single out individuals but it’s true to say that some of the presentations I’ve seen have quite literally changed my life.

I’ve met some great and inspirational people – again I’m not going to single out individuals (I’ll save that for my retirement speech) but it’s been a real pleasure meeting the wide range of BAs and other speakers that I have encountered over the years.

I’ve developed my skills – if you attend the conference you can’t help but do this!

I’ve developed personally and professionally – when I look back at the young callow youth (OK, at least three of those words are not quite accurate) who first presented at the conference I realise how far I’ve come since then. I now have a huge contact network, have key-noted at a conference, have developed a whole suite of presentations and ideas that I’ve used to great effect both within my company and in some cases externally. I have started (or at least rejuvenated) my external blog and my confidence has increased immeasurably. In short, I feel I have arrived and have somewhere to belong.

I’ve gained a greater appreciation of the BA Community – as the years have gone by the community has grown and strengthened and I’ve been proud to have been a teeny part of that journey. I’ve also played a lot of that back into my own community at work.

I’ve learnt A LOT about presentation skills and conferences in general – as a self-confessed ‘presentation geek’  I’ve been able to observe and learn a lot of useful stuff that I’ve incorporated into my training and coaching of others, plus have gained a huge admiration for the team at IRM UK who organise and run this behemoth year after year.

I’ve had a huge amount of fun – from some of the more wacky presentations to some of the craic during the evenings there have been a whole lot of laughs.

So, in summary, if you get the chance to go I would heartily recommend it, but as you may have seen, I’m biased!

It’s been emotional……

David Beckham has spent his career working in Financial Services, initially at Norwich Union then subsequently with Aviva. He was a founder member of the Business Analysis Practice when it was formed within Aviva IT and has had two terms as the Practice Lead. He has worked on numerous large change programmes and has been heavily involved in building the capability of Business Analysis within the organisation over the last decade. He has presented at the European BA Conference on a regular basis and has had several articles published on Business Analysis topics. Despite being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2010 at the age of 43 David continues to relish his role as a Business Analyst and is a passionate advocate of the profession and the benefits it gives to organisations everywhere. Since his diagnosis David has been developing a series of seminars focussing on his recent experiences and regularly speaks on the positive power of change both on a professional and personal basis.

Copyright David Beckham, Aviva

Leave a Comment