Archive for the ‘agile requirements’ Category
Monday, May 14th, 2012
What practices can you adopt to help your team experience Agile?
This question was raised by a listener to the podcast we recorded on agile analysis practices with BA coach Yamo. (Find the podcast here.) The specific question that Katie Metcalf asked us was this:
“What Agile techniques would you suggest introducing to a software development team that is currently not using the Agile approach but would like to get a flavor for the methodology?”
Tags: Agile, Agile BA, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, agile team, Analysis Debt, BDD, Business Analyst, business analyst role, Business Rules, Business Value, collaboration, Elicitation, Facilitation, leadership, Personal Development, product needs, Product Partnership, Product stakeholders, Requirements by Example, retrospectives, Scenarios, Specification by Example, Stakeholders, Structured Conversation
Posted in Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, Agile Planning, agile requirements, Agile Testing, Analysis, Business Analysis, Business Analyst, Business Value, collaboration, Discovery Workshop, ellen gottesdiener, Learning, mary gorman, Product Partnership, requirements, retrospectives, Scenarios, Specification by Example, Stakeholders, Structured Conversation | No Comments »
Friday, March 16th, 2012
My experiences working with agile teams have taught me that agile analysis and testing ski
lls are truly synergestic.
So much so, that I put together a tutorial for the April 2011 Quest Conference (Quality Engineering Software & Testing) entitled, “Requirements Exploration with Tester Collaboration”. Subsequently, I had the honor to work with agile testing guru Janet Gregory to present this at Agile 2011.
Next month, EBG’er Sue Burk will co-present this tutorial with Janet at Software Testing Analysis & Review (STAR) conferences. So, you might be wondering, what are those synergies?
The Testing Mindset
Product needs evolve into requirements that define what will be built, what will be tested, and how the product needs will provide value for the organization. People with testing skills need to be involved in requirements for the same reason the other product stakeholders need to be involved: to boost the team’s ability to deliver a high-quality product. Continue reading
Tags: Agile, Agile analysis, Agile BA, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, Agile tester, Agile testing, ATDD, BDD, Business Value, collaboration, Facilitation, leadership, Planguage, Product Owner, requirements, Specification by Example, Tester Mindset
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, Agile tester, Agile Testing, Books, Business Analysis, Business Analyst, collaboration, ellen gottesdiener, mary gorman, Product Owner, requirements, roles and responsibilities, Scenarios, Specification by Example, Sue Burk | No Comments »
Friday, November 18th, 2011
I’m pleased to share my podcast with Jochen (Joe) Krebs*, Founder of Agile NYC. The podcast was recorded on October 11, 2011, just before my presentation to the Agile NYC group.
The presentation, entitled, Power Up Your Agile Planning and Analysis:
Deliver Value via Structured Conversations describes how product stakeholders partner to develop a shared understanding of the product needs. I discuss how the partners gain a focused yet holistic understanding of the highest-value requirements and plan the project so that the delivery team builds the right product, at the right time. Continue reading
Tags: Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Planning, agile requirements, Business Value, Elicitation, product needs, Product Partnership, Product stakeholders, requirements, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholders, Structured Conversation
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, Agile Planning, agile requirements, Agile Workshops, Analysis, collaboration, Discovery Workshop, Elicitation, Elicitation Workshops, ellen gottesdiener, Facilitation, lean, mary gorman, Product Partnership, requirements, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholders, Structured Conversation, Workshops | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
I’m honored to share my podcast with Yaaqub (Yamo) Mohamed of The BACoach. We discuss ingredients for effective requirements workshops described in my first book, Requirements by Collaboration: Workshops for Defining Needs.
Tags: Agile, Agile Business Analysis, agile requirements, agile team, BABOK, Books, Business Analyst, Business Value, collaboration, Elicitation, Facilitation, requirements
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile manifesto, Agile Planning, agile requirements, Agile Workshops, Analysis, Books, Business Analysis, collaboration, Communication Skills, Discovery Workshop, Elicitation, Elicitation Workshops, ellen gottesdiener, Facilitation, requirements, Requirements by Collaboration, Workshops | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
I’m pleased to share with you an “author cast,” a podcast interview of me by Yaaqub (Yamo) Mohamed of The BACoach.
Yamo’s interview got me thinking and reflecting on my own professional learning journey and dig into the two books I’ve written (so far 
). Continue reading | 1 Comment
Tags: Agile BA, Agile Business Analysis, agile requirements, Books, Business Value, Elicitation, Product Owner, requirements, Workshops, Writing
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, Agile Workshops, Analysis, Books, collaboration, Communication Skills, Discovery Workshop, Elicitation, ellen gottesdiener, Facilitation, leadership, lean, Learning, requirements, Requirements by Collaboration, retrospectives, The Software Requirements Memory Jogger, Workshops, Writing | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 14th, 2011
I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Janet Gregory, co-author with Lisa Crispin of Agile Testing, on a workshop entitled “Agile Requirements Exploration with Tester Collaboration” at Agile 2011 Conference and STARWEST.
I believe that there is a lot of cross-fertilization benefit to be gained when people with skills in different disciplines collaborate closely toward shared ends. This is very true for the disciplines of testing and business analysis. The tester mind-set is crucial for verifying requirements. The business analysis mind-set is crucial for validating requirements. Continue reading | 1 Comment
Tags: Agile, Agile BA, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, agile team, Business Analyst, Business Value, Elicitation, product needs, Product Owner, Requirements by Example, Scenarios, Specification by Example, Structured Conversation, Tester Mindset
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, collaboration, Elicitation, Elicitation Workshops, ellen gottesdiener, Facilitation, iiba babok, Product Owner, Product Partnership, requirements, Structured Conversation, Tester Mindset | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
I was recently interviewed by SearchSoftwareQuality editor Yvette Francino about this week’s Business Analysis and Requirements Workshop at the Better Conference/Development Conference this week in Las Vegas, Nevada (6-7 June, 2011).
Yvette asked me to explain the logistics, if we would be emulating gathering requirements for a particular project and if the workshop be relevant regardless of domain area. Here are my answers: As conference chair, Continue reading | 1 Comment
Tags: Agile, Agile BA, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, BABOK, Business Analyst, business analysts role, Business Value, Documentation, Elicitation, Product Owner, requirements, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholders
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, Agile Workshops, Analysis, BABOK, Business Analysis, Business Analysis Training, Business Analyst, Business Value, collaboration, Communication Skills, Documentation, Elicitation, ellen gottesdiener, Facilitation, iiba babok, lean, Learning, requirements, retrospectives, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholders, Waste, Workshops | 1 Comment »
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
In a prior blog post, you learned about the in-progress book Mary Gorman and I are writing. We are thrilled to have our workshop proposal for the Agile 2011 Conference accepted. The workshop will incorporates elements of our book. Here’s our YouTube video on The Product Partnership submission. Continue reading | 1 Comment
Tags: Agile 2011, Agile BA, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, Agile Planning, agile requirements, agile team, Books, buisness analyst, Elicitation, product needs, Product Partnership, Product stakeholders, requirements, Stakeholders, Structured Conversation
Posted in Agile, Agile analysis, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Planning, agile requirements, Agile Workshops, Books, Business Analysis Training, Business Value, collaboration, Discovery Workshop, Elicitation, Elicitation Workshops, Facilitation, mary gorman, Product Partnership, requirements, Structured Conversation, Workshops | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
Mary Gorman and I are in the midst of writing a book. The title is still a WIP (work in process). A couple of contenders are “Agile Product Needs: <subtitle1:> ” and “The Agile Product Partnership: <subtitle2>”. We’ll be looking for your help on settling on a compelling title – stay tuned, we can use your creative inspiration!
Our goal is to provide practical guidance on challenges agile teams face. Wrestling the “right” user stories out of the product backlog. Slicing user stories into “right-sized” chunks so they are ready for estimating and planning. Deciding on the next high-value product needs for delivery. Planning more than two weeks ahead (realizing you need a longer time horizon). Using acceptance criteria and examples to deepen shared understanding. Exploring product needs in a holistic way. … Continue reading | 3 Comments
Tags: Agile BA, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, Agile Planning, agile requirements, agile team, Books, Business Analysis, Elicitation, product needs, Product Partnership, Product stakeholders, requirements, Stakeholders, Structured Conversation
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, Agile Planning, agile requirements, Agile Workshops, Books, Business Analysis, Business Analysis Training, Business Analyst, Business Value, collaboration, Discovery Workshop, Elicitation, Elicitation Workshops, Facilitation, mary gorman, Product Partnership, requirements, Structured Conversation, Workshops | 3 Comments »
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
What Tough Agile Analysis Questions Do Business Analysts Need Answered? 
This is the question I posed to the participants in a facilitated workshop at the Building Business Capability Conference (BBC) 2010 this past fall. The BBC conference, held in the Washington, D.C. area, was the first official IIBA ® conference. It offered tracks for business analysis, business rules, and business process management.
Context for the “Tough Agile Analysis Questions” Workshop
As the facilitator, I had 30 minutes to “crowdsource” from an energetic, curious, and motivated group of 120 business analysts. Many analysts in attendance were new to agile practices. All of them cared deeply about the value of business analysis. They were eager to… Continue reading
Tags: Agile, Agile analysis, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, BABOK, Business Analyst, business analysts role, IIBA, requirements
Posted in Agile, Agile Business Analysis, Agile Business Analyst, agile requirements, Agile Workshops, Analysis, BABOK, Business Analysis, Business Analysis Training, Business Analyst, Business Consulting, Business Value, collaboration, Communication Skills, Facilitation, iiba babok, requirements, Workshops | No Comments »
I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Janet Gregory, co-author with Lisa Crispin of Agile Testing, on a workshop entitled “Agile Requirements Exploration with Tester Collaboration” at Agile 2011 Conference and STARWEST.
I was recently interviewed by SearchSoftwareQuality editor Yvette Francino about this week’s Business Analysis and Requirements Workshop at the Better Conference/Development Conference this week in Las Vegas, Nevada (6-7 June, 2011).
