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?”
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
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.
The tenth anniversary of the international Agile 20xx conference, Agile 2011, returned to its inaugural location, Salt Lake City, Utah. The attendance set a record for being the largest agile conference in the world! This year’s conference, held August 9-12 2011, was attended by 1,600+ people. It was jam-packed with morning-to-night activities. The conference also included events to reflect and celebrate on the 10th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto.
We at EBG Consulting were pleased to have been selected (from over 900 submissions) to present three sessions. Here are some of highlights and trends: 
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
Are you working on data-centric software products? For example, ones that involves building a data warehouse, using extract-transform-load (ETL) and getting the gold—delivering business intelligence and analytic reports and queries for business decision makers?
Sue Burk shares the value of scenarios to define acceptance tests, and other practical techniques to improve your success with these data-centric projects in her expert response. Continue reading
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
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.
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
Mary Gorman and I wrote an article on analysis debt Better Software. In it, we said that, like technical debt, teams can incur analysis debt by either ignoring analysis (a potential pitfall of agile teams) or overinvesting in analysis (a potential pitfall of traditional teams).
In a private exchange, one article reader took me to task. Referencing our table of Analysis Debt Causes, he wrote, “I see poor requirements work that would result in an inadequate solution, no matter how well [the product] built.” Furthermore, he said, “all the Remedies [in your article] are really requirements best practices.”
I was glad to hear his perspective because it prompted me to… Continue reading
“Oh drat”, you think.
“I’ve got to do a presentation!”
Nevertheless, you smile and ask, “Oh, sure—what’s the date?”
Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals to the rescue!
Out comes Naomi’s Karten’s splendid book. You open it, eager for your sit-down with your personal presentation skills coach. You are easily captivated by Naomi’s clever style and practical guidance on presentations, and grateful for the online references and resources that supplement the text. Reading this book not only prepares you for your upcoming presentation; it also helps you get in the groove and enables you to gain confidence as you prepare. You actually enjoy the process!
I was flattered when… Continue reading
Founder and president of EBG Consulting.
Author, trainer, mentor, agile coach, facilitator,
conference advisor,
Certified Professional Facilitator,
Certified Scrum Master
