Training Services → BA and PM Advanced
The Agile Business Analyst
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Course Overview
The Agile Business Analyst describes the role of the BA in an agile project environment. While examining core agile BA concepts, participants engage in hands-on exercises in order to learn commonly used tools and techniques. Topics include seeing the big picture; work of the BA on an agile team; fostering stakeholder engagement; an agile requirements model; features, epics, and stories; prioritizing requirements; making things real with models; conversation and discovery; fulfilling stakeholder needs and delivering value. Topics include:
- Roles of the agile business analyst
- The BA and team development
- The agile requirements model
- Developing the product backlog
- Conversation-based discovery
- Iteration planning
- Using models to analyze requirements
- Requirements prioritization
- Verifying and validating requirements
- BA participation in design and test
- Solution validation
- Post-Project solution assessment
Who should attend
This course is of particular value to business analysts and other agile team members, Product Owners, other project staff with direct or indirect responsibility for requirements definition and analysis; Project Management Office staff; and managers of business analysts.
Prerequisites
This course assumes that participants have participated in some projects and have some understanding of the agile project environment.
Course Outline
Section 1: Introduction
- Nature of Business Analysis
- Value of Business Analysis
- Roles of the Agile Business Analyst
Section 2: The Business Analysis Professional
- IIBA®: BABOK Guide®, Agile Extension®
- Role of the Agile BA
- Agile Manifesto applied to the BA
- BA focus on the team
- Agile BA Techniques
- Agile BA Certification
- BA Competencies
Section 3: Stakeholder Collaboration Skills
- Stakeholder identification and analysis
- Fostering stakeholder engagement
Section 4: Understanding Project Requirements
- Poor requirements cause project failure
- Agile and waterfall project methodologies
- A quick agile primer
- An Agile Requirements Model
- Business requirements, Capabilities
- Features, Epics, Enablers, Themes
- User Stories
- Business Rules
- Transition Requirements
Section 5: Enterprise Analysis
- Enterprise analysis
- The Lean Business Case
- Problem assessment
- Root cause analysis and Pareto
- Needs analysis and Solution definition
Section 6: Requirements Planning in Agile
- Work of the BA in Iteration Zero
- Defining Project Scope
- Business Analysis Plan
- Prioritizing requirements
- Agile Vision Document
- Product and Iteration Backlogs
- Slicing Stories from Epics
- User Story Acceptance Criteria
Section 7: Requirements Elicitation
- Requirements elicitation
- Conversations; Workshops
- Iterative Prototyping
- Interviews
- Document Analysis
- Observation and Surveys
- Brainstorming and Mind Maps
- Requirements Versus Design
Section 8: Analyzing Requirements
- Requirements analysis and models
- Swim Lane Diagram
- State Diagram; Use Case Scenario
- Entity Relationship Diagram
- Data Dictionary; CRUD Matrix
- Personas
Section 9: Communication in Agile
- Importance of Communication
- Documenting requirements
- The INVEST Model
- User Story Quality Characteristics
- Given - When - Then
- Story boards
Section 10: Verification and Validation
- Verification and Validation objectives
- Traceability and the RTM
- Requirements approval
Section 11: Additional BA Functions
- BA participation in Design
- Change Control in Agile
- BA participation in Solution Testing
- End of Iteration Review
- Requirements Harmonization
- Retrospectives
- Keeping the Focus on Value
- Solution Validation
- Assessing Increment readiness
- Assessing for Business Value
Final Review and Q&A
This course includes over 25 hands-on exercises plus demos and guided discussions that reinforce learning and retention.
Learning Approach
- A CBAP® certified instructor will use interactive lecture format, numerous hands-on exercises, team activities, group discussions, and other techniques to drive home the essential points of this material
- We will build on your prior experience in this topic, while providing you with a structure and vocabulary to use in all of your future projects.
- If you have modest understanding of the Business Analyst role in agile, you will find that the clarity of the material and direct presentation style of the instructor will make the subject matter easy to understand.
- You will receive a Participant Guide which will help you follow the material, take notes and retain what you learned so that you can apply it on your job.
Why should I take this course?
- Experienced Business Analysts will acquire a broader understanding of how their work can be expressed in the agile setting.
- If you are new to agile Business Analysis, the exercises in this course will give insights into essential concepts and techniques.
- All participants take home a set of tools and techniques to help them deal with all aspects of Business Analysis.
- Take this course and learn how to avoid many of the problems that Business Analysts most often encounter.
Licensing
Use this courseware to teach your students! This course is available under license to qualified Training Providers. Courseware materials include:
- Instructor slides
- Instructor manual with timing guide
- Printed participant guide
- Train the Trainer instruction
- Written for classroom or virtual delivery
For more information, see
Courseware-On-Demand or Contact Us
Every course and workshop in our Project Training program is fully customizable. We offer virtual delivery of the training program you need. Call us: +1.919.495.7371.
All of our courses are fully compliant with the latest release of each relevant standards document such as the PMBOK® Guide, Standard for Portfolio Management, BABOK® Guide, and others.
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