The Agile Perspective
The Agile Perspective
Overview
Highlights unique aspects of business analysis in agile environments.
Focuses on a flexible mindset with specific values and principles.
Emphasizes constant change and adaptability.
Key Characteristics
Flexible Mindset:
Embodied in values, principles, and practices.
Constant reassessment and adjustment.
Just-in-Time Analysis:
Conducts analysis at the last responsible moment.
Ensures flexibility for change.
Role of Agile Business Analysts
Providing Timely Information:
Ensures the agile team has the right level of detail at the right time.
Key Questions Addressed:
What need are we trying to satisfy?
Is that need worth satisfying?
Should we deliver something to satisfy that need?
What is the right thing to do to deliver that need?
Continuous Involvement
Ongoing Analysis:
Performed throughout the agile initiative.
Interpersonal Skills:
Emphasizes communication, facilitation, coaching, and negotiation.
Team Integration
Active Team Members:
Facilitate planning, analyzing, testing, and demonstrating activities.
Various Roles:
Business analysis may be performed by product managers/owners, business analysts, or other team roles.
Adapting to Change
Identifying Variations:
Helps the team identify and adapt to changes in assumptions and project variations.
Additional Resources
Refer to the Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide for expanded details.
Visit the Agile Manifesto website (www.agilemanifesto.org) for values and principles.
Agile Business Analysis Overview
Flexible Mindset in Agile
Emphasizes a flexible mindset rooted in values and principles
Demonstrates through various complementary practices
Constant change and adaptation
Continuous Reassessment and Adaptation
Business analysts continually reassess, adapt, and adjust efforts
Deliver work products at the last responsible moment
Detailed analysis performed just in time for team utilization
Key Roles and Questions
Ensuring Timely Information
Information available at the right level of detail and time
Helps agile teams answer critical questions:
What need are we trying to satisfy?
Is that need worth satisfying?
Should we deliver something to satisfy that need?
What is the right thing to do to deliver that need?
Continuous Business Analysis
Ongoing Analysis Work
Performed continuously throughout agile initiatives
Relies on interpersonal skills: communication, facilitation, coaching, negotiation
Active Team Membership
Business analysts as active members of agile teams
Facilitate planning, analyzing, testing, and demonstrating activities
Role Flexibility in Agile Teams
Diverse Role Fulfillment
Business analysis performed by various roles: product manager/owner, business analyst, or other team roles
Aid in identifying modifications and project variations
Additional Resources
Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide
Expanded details on the role, mindset, and practices in agile approaches
Values and principles of the Agile Manifesto: www.agilemanifesto.org
Scope in Agile Business Analysis
Strategic Engagement
Business analysts work with business sponsors at a strategic level
Align proposed products/features with organizational objectives
Collaborate with stakeholders to prioritize work items
Handling Change
Change Management
Agile teams expect and respond rapidly to change
Deliver small, incremental changes
Commit to work items one iteration at a time
Continual exploration and analysis of business needs
Backlog Management
Scope evolves through a continuously reviewed and re-prioritized backlog
Refinement and redefinition of scope based on emerging business needs
Breadth and Depth of Change
Breadth of Agile Approaches
Applied in software development and non-software changes (process engineering, business improvement)
Can span single departments or multiple divisions
Depth of Change Initiatives
Part of larger programs (organizational transformation, business process re-engineering)
Agile work streams often focus on software development
Agile principles applied where:
Clear customer commitment
Complex or changing business needs
Developing or maintaining solutions
Value and Solutions Delivered
Delivering Value
Emphasis on early value delivery in a collaborative manner
Adaptive planning with a focus on continuous improvement
Frequent review and feedback for stakeholders
Evolution of solutions with rapid response to change
Clear and visible communication
Building Trust and Collaboration
Business analysts help build rapport among team members and stakeholders
Facilitates ongoing collaborative discussions
Delivery Approach
Agile Characteristics
Focus on people interactions, transparent communication, and valuable change
Teams select or combine approaches that best suit their initiative
Major Assumptions in Agile
Assumptions
Welcoming changing requirements, even late in development
Business problems addressed by combining technology and business process change
Fully engaged customers and empowered SMEs
Prefer constant team membership and multidisciplinary, co-located teams
Distributed teams require strong communication channels
Team members may perform multiple roles
Continuous improvement and value delivery through regular inspection
Empowered and self-organizing agile teams
Additional Resources
Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide
Detailed descriptions of different agile delivery approaches
Expanded insights into agile roles, mindset, and practices
Business Analysis Scope in Agile
Change Sponsor
Importance of familiarity with agile philosophy and mindset
Sponsor's role involves:
Adaptive planning over predictive planning
Valuing fixed periods for work cycles
Active involvement and continuous feedback
Active sponsor involvement critical for previewing, understanding, and adjusting the product
Change Targets and Agents
Organizational Culture
Success linked to intensive collaboration, frequent communication, and incremental delivery
Agile Team Structure
Typically small teams or teams of small teams
Deliverables can affect a large group of stakeholders
Primary Agents
Agile Team Leader
Facilitates team work
Delegates planning, scheduling, and prioritization to the team
Practices servant leadership (roles: scrum master, iteration manager, team leader, coach)
Customer Representative or Product Owner
Ensures change addresses requirements
Known as product owner in Scrum, visionary in DSDM, customer representative in XP
Team Members
Specialists or domain experts (usability experts, technical architects, database administrators)
External Stakeholders
Interested parties not considered team members but support the project
Business Analyst Position
Cross-Skilled Team Members
Business analysis skills may be distributed among team members
Business analysis activities performed by:
Business analyst on the team
Customer representative or product owner
Distributed throughout the team
Business Analysis Outcomes
Open Communication and Collaboration
Ensures right stakeholders are involved at the right time
Aligns project vision and direction with organizational goals and business needs
Shared Responsibility
Defining strategic criteria for project completion
Assisting with defining acceptance criteria
Facilitating the articulation of the product vision statement
Documentation Approach
Just enough and just-in-time documentation
Mandatory documentation for auditing or compliance still produced
Documentation must deliver more value than the cost to produce and maintain
Additional Resources
Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide
More details on business analysis roles and activities in agile contexts
Approaches and Techniques in Agile Business Analysis
Approaches
Overview
Agile includes a variety of approaches, each aligned with Agile Manifesto values and principles.
Teams may use a combination of approaches to deliver value effectively.
Agile Approaches
Techniques
Common Agile Techniques
Underlying Competencies of Agile Business Analysts
Agile Mindset:
Agile business analysts embody the values and principles of the Agile Manifesto.
Focus on communication and collaboration in product development.
Key Competencies:
Communication and Collaboration:
Communicate sponsor’s vision and needs.
Influence others to support the vision.
Facilitate negotiation of priorities.
Facilitate collaborative agreement on solution outcomes.
Patience and Tolerance:
Maintain self-control under pressure.
Keep an open mind when interacting with others.
Flexibility and Adaptability:
Develop cross-functional skill sets.
Support other team members beyond specialization.
Ability to Handle Change:
Quickly assess the impact of change.
Determine business value among changing requirements.
Assist with reprioritizing work lists.
Ability to Recognize Business Value:
Understand how changes and features achieve business value.
Support the overall vision.
Continuous Improvement:
Periodically review with the agile team for effectiveness improvement.
Impact on Knowledge Areas
Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
Agile Approach:
Planning is deferred until activity work is ready.
Initial plan developed at project start, updated before each cycle.
Stakeholder involvement is key.
Techniques:
BABOK® Guide Techniques:
Backlog Management
Collaborative Games
Estimation
Metrics and KPIs
Mind Mapping
Prioritization
Scope Modelling
Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas
User Stories
Workshops
Agile Extension Techniques:
Lightweight Documentation
MoSCoW Prioritization
Personas
Relative Estimation
Retrospective
Elicitation and Collaboration
Agile Approach:
Progressive elicitation and elaboration.
Initial activity establishes high-level vision and scope.
Detailed elicitation for each cycle.
Techniques:
BABOK® Guide Techniques:
Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria
Backlog Management
Brainstorming
Collaborative Games
Concept Modelling
Interface Analysis
Mind Mapping
Non-Functional Requirements Analysis
Process Modelling
Prototyping
Reviews
Scope Modelling
Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas
Use Cases and Scenarios
User Stories
Workshops
Agile Extension Techniques:
Behaviour Driven Development
Lightweight Documentation
Personas
Storyboarding
Story Mapping
Requirements Life Cycle Management
Agile Approach:
Scope defined with increasing specificity.
Needs change and design evolves.
Feature prioritization drives cycle work.
Validation with stakeholders at each iteration's end.
Techniques:
BABOK® Guide Techniques:
Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria
Backlog Management
Collaborative Games
Prioritization
Reviews
Workshops
Agile Extension Techniques:
Kano Analysis
MoSCoW Prioritization
Story Decomposition
Story Mapping
Strategy Analysis
Agile Approach:
Used in uncertain needs, solutions, or scope.
Constant analysis to ensure value delivery.
Iterative reassessment of proposed solutions.
Techniques:
BABOK® Guide Techniques:
Backlog Management
Brainstorming
Business Capability Analysis
Collaborative Games
Concept Modelling
Metrics and KPIs
Scope Modelling
Workshops
Agile Extension Techniques:
Kano Analysis
Personas
Purpose Alignment Model
Real Options
Value Stream Analysis
Requirements Analysis and Design Definition
Agile Approach:
Needs elaborated just-in-time.
Analysis for planning and during iterations.
Informal use of models and techniques.
User stories with acceptance criteria.
Validation at each iteration's end.
Techniques:
BABOK® Guide Techniques:
Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria
Business Capability Analysis
Business Rules Analysis
Collaborative Games
Concept Modelling
Interface Analysis
Non-Functional Requirements Analysis
Prioritization
Process Analysis
Process Modelling
Scope Modelling
Use Cases and Scenarios
User Stories
Workshops
Agile Extension Techniques:
Behaviour Driven Development
Kano Analysis
Lightweight Documentation
MoSCoW Prioritization
Purpose Alignment Model
Real Options
Story Decomposition
Story Elaboration
Story Mapping
Storyboarding
Value Stream Analysis
Solution Evaluation
Agile Approach:
Continuous assessment and refinement.
Stakeholder evaluation at each cycle's end.
Ensures deliverables meet needs and expectations.
Techniques:
BABOK® Guide Techniques:
Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria
Business Capability Analysis
Metrics and KPIs
Non-Functional Requirements Analysis
Process Analysis
Prototyping
Reviews
Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas
Use Cases and Scenarios
User Stories
Workshops
Agile Extension Techniques:
Personas
Value Stream Analysis