From Analyst to Teacher: How One Project Reset Our Relationship with the Client

In this talk, I'll share a real-world case study of implementing an in-house ATS at Lenta — and how the BA role grew far beyond requirements gathering. I'll cover the multiple roles I juggled, how we built relationships with the contractor, and the personal and organisational pain points the project revealed — along with the fixes we put in place.

I'll explain the rules we followed to establish contact with the client: how we found common ground, respected their expertise, became "one of them", and why this proved critically important for the entire team, especially in light of a previous failed implementation of a similar system. I'll also show how I built long-term trust by teaching the client BA basics, process modelling, and IT tools.

Finally, I'll bust the "terrible client" myth, argue why investing in both our own and our clients' competencies matters, and share the concrete results we achieved together.