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TheAgileBA

Weare:• 300+Improvers• SoftwareDevelopers• Agilists• IndustryThoughtLeaders• EducationProviders

WhereistheBA?

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TheBAIdentityDilemma

• Coderscode• Testerstest• WhatdoBA’sdo?

..andaretheynecessary?

RequirementsSpecialistorGeneralist?

BusinessProcessModeling

Facilitating

DomainModeling

AcceptanceCriteria

UserStories

StoryBoarding

DataModeling

BusinessModeling

BusinessAlgorithms

Writing

Organizing

Interviewing

Abstraction

RootCauseAnalysis GapAnalysis

DataElementSpecification

ROIAnalysis

WorkflowAnalysis

Industry/DomainExpertise

SWOT

FinancialModeling

GENERALIST

SPECIALIST

Speaking

DecisionMatrix

Couldbefulfilledbyanyteammember

BAasthe ProductOwner

Why?Businessunabletocommitsomeonetotherole.

Viableif…

• BAisqualifiedtomakebusinessdecisions.

• BAisempoweredtomakescope/budget/prioritizationdecisions.

• BAisastakeholderinthesuccessofthebusiness.

• BAisinbusinessorganizationalhierarchy.

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BAasProxy ProductOwner

Why? Disconnected/unavailableproductowner.

Risks:

• Couldberedundant.

• Latencyindecisionmaking.

• Informationcangetlostintranslation.

• Bottleneck/blockifnotempoweredtomakedecisions.

Scrum.org ProductOwnerAdvice:Expectedbenefits

Yes,And…NOT

Scrummini-CEOBusiness

withMandate

BusinessRep

ProxyAnalyst

*FromScrum.org’sProfessionalScrum

Mastercourse

BAasDevTeamMember

SPRINT1

SPRINT2

SPRINT3

T4

Helpdevelopersandtesterswithcurrentsprint.

Prepareforthenextsprint.

Solicitfeedbackoncompletedsoftwareincrementsto-date.

ManagingComplexityI need you to build us an accounting system.

Sounds like a pretty straightforward domain.

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Remember:It’snotthefirstlayerthat’sbothersome.

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Wherearetherequirements?

Yourself

ProductOwner

Accountants

DomainExperts

CFO

OtherSME’s

Executives

Software/Systems

Customers

DemystifyingComplexThings

LeverageExistingOntologiesPublisheddomainvocabularies,entities,andrelationships.

DemystifyingComplexThings

Animal

Canine

Dog

Dalmation

UseAbstraction

DemystifyingComplexThingsStayIsomorphicFabricatingentitiesandconceptsthatdon’tmatchtherealworldcanoverlycomplicatethetargetsystem.

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Thegoal:Target

SoftwareSystem

KnowledgeSkills

ExpertiseStrategyCreativity

Asfewstepsaspossible!

Why?

Asa<businessrole>Iwill<dosomebusinessfunction>Sothat<businessvalue>

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perhapsnottoobrief..

ThinkofaUserStoryas..

Thisworkswhenthecomposerisalsothe

performer…

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Butforanyoneotherthanthecomposer…

P SW

TRYTHIS:

Drawapizzathathaseightsliceswiththreelines.

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Whatisfairweather?

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Kennedy:“Whatisthe

CIA’sassessment?”

Bissel:“Wehaveafairchanceofsuccess.” Asauserofthesystem

Icanclickfile-saveSothatstuffissaved.

Clear?Useful?

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Whatifit’snight?Raining?Foggy?Eclipse?

EffectiveBrevitycanbedifficult…

“IfIhadmoretime,Iwouldhavewrittena

shorterletter.” Pascal,etal

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TABOOteapotshortstoutcoffeewaterheat

TABOObedbunksleepmattressstepsdrawerstopbottom

TABOOmotorcyclebikecamperhouseRVtrailerchopperHarley

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Isitbestto…Writethemdown?

Talkaboutthem?

Drawthem? Performthem?

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Nomatterhowmuchyou…Thinkabout

Writedown

Draw

Talkabout

Develop

Demonstrate

Deploy

Requirements…

That’s

why

we

iterate...

Knowledge Howdowebest:- Communicate?- Learn?- Understand?- Retain?

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MostBA’sknowtheymust:

Solicit requirements

Capture requirements

Record requirements

Organize requirements

Elaborate requirements

BA’sshouldalso :

Bestewardsofthebacklog

Embracerequirementschanges

Eliminateambiguity

Helpothers understandrequirements

Isthishowyoucommunicate?

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VARK:Whichareyou?

Visual

Auditory

Reading/Writing

Kinesthetic

©1995,NeilFleming,LincolnUniversity

Visual

Auditory

Reading/Writing

Kinesthetic

Knowingyour fellowteammembers’VARKis

….aBASuperpower!!

BA’scommunicatealot!andknowingyourVARK

canbeuseful...

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Understandsbestby:• Takingnotesandmakingliststoreadlater• Readinginformationtobelearned• Learningfrombooks,videotapes,filmstripsandprintouts

• Seeingademonstration

Isgoodat:• Rememberingdetailsandcolorsofwhathe/shesees

• Reading,spellingandproofreading• Rememberingfacesofpeoplehe/shemeets(forgetsnames);remembersnamesseeninprint

• Quietlytakinginsurroundings• Creatingmentalphotos

Understandsbestby:• Talkingaloud• Listeningtoalecture• Discussinginsmallorlargegroups• Hearingmusicwithoutwordsasabackgroundinthelearningenvironment

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Isgoodat:• Speakingonhis/herfeet• Noticingsoundsinenvironment• Rememberingnamesofpeoplehe/shemeets(forgetsfaces)

• Workingwithwordsandlanguages• Tuningintosmallshiftsinvoiceintonation

Understandsbestby:• Readingandwriting• Readingandre-readingbooksandarticles• Writingandrewritingnotesthey’vetakenIsgoodat:• Organizinginformation• Beingthoroughanddetailed

Learnsbestby:• Processinginformationtroughtouch,movementandrhythmicmovements

• Doinghands-onactivitiessuchaswoodshop,dance,and/orathletics.

Isgoodat:• Expressingideasthroughmovement• Fine-motorskills• Demonstratingbydoing

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UserStories

DailySCRUM

PlanningMeetings

Backlogs

StoryEstimation

Reviews/Demos

Wireframes/Storyboards

Models/Diagrams

Burndown/upCharts

Theuserstoryisastart…

…butwhatelse?

SkillfulBA’scommunicate…

…likemapmakers

OR=

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WhatisaMap?

A representation of the features of anarea from a physical (often geographical),logical, or conceptual domain, showingthose features in their respective forms,sizes, and relationships according to someconvention of representation.

2300BC

BabylonClayTablets

Oldestacknowledgedmaps

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350BC

Aristotle

FirstrepresentationoftheEarthasasphere

85ADPtolemy

Madeasubjectivedecisionthataffectsallofus,

andmaybeimpossibletoeverchange.

1569GerardusMercaturSkewedourviewoftheworld.

BETTER!

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2005GoogleCorporationHelpedmakeinteractivemapsanessentiallifetool.

WARNING:Incorrectmapscansteerpeoplewrong…

WhyBuildMaps? WhyBuildMaps?

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Somemapsdescribestructure… Somemapsdescribeprocess/behavior…

Somemapscandescribetheunseen…Human

ChromosomeElectionResults

MindMap

FictionalPlaces

“ The map doesn’t let us see anything,

but it does let us know what others have seen or found out or

discovered. “

Denis Wood

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AvoidMyopiaWhatLetterisshownbelow?

AvoidMyopia

Tip:Don’tAvoidSurroundingContext

Includeafewelementsoutsidethetargetscopeiftheyhelpestablishpropercontext.

Software/SystemMaps

Oftenreferredtoasmodels…

• Somedepictstructure

• Othersdepictbehavior

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FromStorytoSoftware…

DomainMaps SystemMaps

CANBERISKY

WorksbestwhenallareAuditorylearners

UserStory

DomainModel

UseCase-

Epic

DETAIL

low

highTests

DataMaps

OtherModels

StoryBoards

DataDefinitions

BizRules

“Aremindertohavea

conversation”Detailed

RequirementsSpecifications

UserStory

DomainModel

UseCase-

Epic

DETAIL

low

highTests

DataMaps

OtherModels

StoryBoards

DataDefinitionsBiz

Rules

“Aremindertohavea

conversation”

DetailedRequirementsSpecifications

Whenarewritten

detailsneeded?

Howmanyofthese

areuseful?

ComplementaryMapscanHelp

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Creatinganewproductbacklog?

Trystartingwitha

UseCaseDiagram

EXAMPLE

Candidate

epics

Complexdata?

Tryadomainmodel.

EXAMPLE

Describingabusinessprocess?

YoucandepictusingBPMN.

EXAMPLE

Employ

eeMan

agerCo

mpa

ny

Per-Diem

Cacu

lator

www.gsa.gov

RecordExpenses

CalculateTotal

CalculatePer-Diem

SubmitExpenseReport

UtilitarianService--Encapsulatedandloosely

coupled.

ApproveExpenseReport

…and/orstoryboards

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• Decompositionofthings• Relationshipsbetweenthings• Multiplicity• Variedabstractionlevels

– Highdetailforsomethings– Littledetailforothers

Examples:– ERD- Datamodel– UMLObjectmodel– UMLDomainmodel– Mindmap– UMLDeploymentDiagram– SoftwareClassDefinition

StructuralSoftwareMaps BehavioralSoftwareMaps

• Processes&Activities• Messages,Events&Triggers• Flow:Sequenceand/orConcurrency

Examples:– UserStory– UseCase– SequenceDiagram– CollaborationDiagram– ActivityDiagram– StateDiagrams– BusinessProcessDiagram– RunBooks– SoftwareMethod Online Store

Browse Catalog

Buy Items

Ship Items

Customer

ShippingDepartment

CustomerService Rep

WARNING: Don’toverdoit!

Remember:Acomprehensivemapisnot theendgoal!

ThistookMichelangelofouryears!

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Trywhiteboardmodeling…

Useittoenhanceconversations.

Andlearntochunkeffectively

Often

overlooked

AgilePrinciple#1:Ourhighestpriorityistosatisfythecustomerthroughearlyandcontinuousdeliveryofvaluablesoftware.

• Developrequirementstop-down.• Elaboratestoriesjust-in-time.• Treatstoriesasreferencestoworkingsoftware-nomore,noless.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

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AgilePrinciple#2:Welcomechangingrequirements,evenlateindevelopment.Agileprocessesharnesschangeforthecustomer'scompetitiveadvantage.

• Addnew/revisedstoriesasrequestedbytheProductOwnerwithoutcomplaint.• Alwaysprioritizeandshift“lesser”storiesdownthelist.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#3:Deliverworkingsoftwarefrequently,fromacoupleofweekstoacoupleofmonths,withapreferencetotheshortertimescale.

• Becomegoodat“chunking”.• Coach/urgethebusinesstoembracesmallusableincrements.• Haveaclearconcrete“DefinitionofDone”

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

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• Encouragebusinessfolkstobeactivelyinvolvedcontinuously,notjustondemodays.• BeempathetictotheSMEandPO’sothercommitments;Trytoworkaroundtheirschedules.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#4:Businesspeopleanddevelopersmustworktogetherdailythroughouttheproject.

• Offerencouragement;don’tcomplain.• Chipintohelpthosewhoarebehind.• Dotasksthatnobodyelsewilldo.• Ask“Whoneedshelp?”“HowcanIhelp”

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#5:Buildprojectsaroundmotivatedindividuals.Givethemtheenvironmentandsupporttheyneed,andtrustthemtogetthejobdone.

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AgilePrinciple#6… Group1

FolderInstructor

Group2

Folder

Instructor

Group3

Folder Instructor

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TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

Agile Principle #6:AgilePrinciple#6:Themostefficientandeffectivemethodofconveyinginformationtoandwithinadevelopmentteamisface-to-faceconversation.

• Choosetalkingoverwriting.• Usewritingasaremindertoyou,notothers.• Prepareforalotofredundancy.• Chooseface-to-faceoverphone,Skype,IM.

• Treatrequirementsasameanstoanend….notanendinitself.• Eliminateallworkthatdoesn’tcontributetothecreationofworkingsoftware.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#7:Workingsoftwareistheprimarymeasureofprogress.

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• Chunkrequirementsasmuchaspossible.• “Feed”chunkstodeveloperscontinuously.• Avoidhavingotherswaitforrequirements.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#8:Agileprocessespromotesustainabledevelopment.Thesponsors,developers,andusersshouldbeabletomaintainaconstantpaceindefinitely.

• Supportdevelopers’“thinktime”.• Helpremoveblockstotechnicalexcellence.• Speculatefuturemodificationstohelpdesignersbuildforeaseoffutureenhancements.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#9:Continuousattentiontotechnicalexcellenceandgooddesignenhancesagility.

• Helpsellthebusinessonincrementalfeatures.• Utilizethe80/20rulewhenprioritizing.• Acceptthatmusthave’saren’talwaysamust.• Helpthebusinessembracechange.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#10:Simplicity— theartofmaximizingtheamountofworknotdone— isessential.

• Minimizetimebetweenneedandaction,don’twaittobetoldwhattodo.• Dowhatyouknowneedstobedone.

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#11:Thebestarchitectures,requirements,anddesignsemergefromself-organizingteams.

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• Betransparent.• Encouragetransparencyinteammates.• Supportretrospectives,andfollowthrough!

TIPSFORTHEAGILEB.A.

AgilePrinciple#12:Atregularintervals,theteamreflectsonhowtobecomemoreeffective,thentunesandadjustsitsbehavioraccordingly.

Questions?

Thanks!

ken.howard@improving.com972.467.3001

www.improving.comwww.AgileIntrovert.com