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Mugabe works as a Business Analyst at Elia
At leading market player Elia, everyone is on the same page when it comes to keeping Belgium’s electricity grid operating safely and reliably. One of the colleagues who helps facilitate this teamwork is Mugabe. As a Business Analyst, he acts as a bridge between business and IT. It’s a role that suits him down to the ground.
Atypical profile
“Compared with my colleagues, I’ve had a somewhat unusual career so far. Despite my technical background, having studied civil engineering/automation and control engineering, I worked in the banking sector for several years – a world away from high and low voltage, technical drawings and substations. During my time as a financial consultant, Elia was one of my clients. That was how I discovered the essential role the company plays in our society, with its focus on innovation, sustainability and good working conditions.”
Bridge builder
Mugabe joined Elia as an employee in February 2021. “I started working as a Business Analyst. It’s a job that perfectly combines my knowledge and experience as it involves understanding business needs and translating them into technological solutions. This is a vital link in the project development process. My tasks range from having in-depth discussions with stakeholders and identifying their needs to drawing up detailed requirements for our IT development teams.
“Acting as a bridge between business and IT suits me down to the ground. Within my department’s Transformation, Data & Information (TDI) sub-department, I’m ideally placed to ensure that the collaboration between management and developers runs as smoothly as possible. It isn’t always an easy job and requires a certain set of skills.”
Open-minded and empathetic
“Those skills are an open mind, empathy, well-developed analytical ability and perseverance.
“By keeping an open mind, my colleagues and I are able to listen impartially to the needs of the various stakeholders within Elia, because every department has its own needs, wishes and requirements. You also have to have a degree of empathy with everyone you deal with. That means putting myself in their shoes, understanding their challenges and finding solutions that work for them.”
Analytical skills
“Another key quality you need as a Business Analyst is analytical ability. You have to be able to analyse complex problems, interpret data and detect patterns in order to devise effective solutions that meet Elia’s needs. And of course perseverance is also very important. Sometimes business projects can be extremely challenging and time-consuming, so you need to be persistent and overcome obstacles in order to successfully complete a project.”
Close teamwork
“Such a driven and successful approach is only possible by working together closely as a team. Collaboration generates a lot of interesting ideas that help to strengthen the case for a project, leading to more buy-in from both management and IT colleagues.”
