book

The Agile Guide to Business Analysis and Planning: From Strategic Plan to Continuous Value Delivery

by Howard Podeswa

March 2021

Beginner to intermediate

800 pages

21h 54m

English

Addison-Wesley Professional

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Why I Wrote This BookState-of-the-Art Guidance across Agile FrameworksWhat Makes This Book Unique?Why Agile Analysis and Planning Is Important for the EnterpriseWho Should Read This BookHow This Book WorksRepeating Book FeaturesIntroducing the BLInK Case StudyCertification InformationThanks

1.1 Objectives1.2 On Art and Agile Analysis1.3 I Work for a Mainstream Company! What’s This Got to Do with Me?1.4 Story 1: It’s Not My Problem1.5 Story 2: The Cantankerous Customer1.6 Chapter Summary1.7 What’s Next?
2.1 Objectives2.2 What Is Agile Analysis and Planning?2.3 Who Is a Business Analyst?2.4 Why Agile Analysis and Planning?2.5 The Parallel Histories of Agile and Business Analysis2.6 Two Diagnoses for the Same Problem2.7 The Business Analysis Diagnosis2.8 The Business Analysis Track Record2.9 The Agile Diagnosis2.10 The Agile Track Record2.11 Why Agile Teams Should Include an Effective BA Competency2.12 Chapter Summary2.13 What’s Next?
3.1 Objectives3.2 What the Agile Manifesto Means for Business Analysis3.3 What the Twelve Principles Mean for Business Analysis3.4 Practices, Standards, and Frameworks3.5 Overview of Agile Roles and the Business Analyst3.6 Soft Skills of the Agile Business Analyst3.7 13 Key Practices of Agile Analysis and How They Differ from Waterfall3.8 Agile Business Analysis Rules of Thumb3.9 Chapter Summary3.10 What’s Next?
4.1 Objectives4.2 Overview of the Agile Analysis and Planning Map4.3 The Zones4.4 The Lanes4.5 A Story in Three Acts4.6 Act 1: The Short Lane4.7 Act 2: The Long Lane4.8 Act 3: The Grand Lane4.9 Chapter Summary4.10 What’s Next?
5.1 Objectives5.2 This Chapter on the Map5.3 What Is Initiation and Planning?5.4 How Long Should You Spend Up Front on Initiation and Planning?5.5 The Purpose Alignment Model5.6 Preparing the Infrastructure5.7 Organizing Development Teams5.8 Managing Stakeholder Expectations about Agile Development5.9 Preparing the Customer–Developer Relationship5.10 Agile Financial Planning5.11 Preparing the Marketing and Distribution Teams5.12 Preparing Channels and Supply Chains5.13 Preparing Governance and Compliance5.14 Preparing for Increased Demand on Resources5.15 Preparing an Enterprise for Agile Development5.16 Determine Organizational Readiness5.17 Chapter Summary5.18 What’s Next?
6.1 Objectives6.2 This Chapter on the Map6.3 Process Preparation6.4 Tailoring the Agile Practice to the Context6.5 Tuning the Process6.6 Optimizing the Process Using Value Stream Mapping6.7 Determining Process Readiness6.8 Chapter Summary6.9 What’s Next?
7.1 Objectives7.2 This Chapter on the Map7.3 Overview of Product Visioning and Epic Preparation7.4 Root-Cause Analysis7.5 Specifying a Product or Epic7.6 The Problem or Opportunity Statement7.7 The Product Portrait7.8 Crafting the Product and Epic Vision Statements7.9 Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement7.10 Analyzing Goals and Objectives7.11 Analyze Leap of Faith Hypotheses7.12 Chapter Summary7.13 What’s Next?
8.1 Objectives8.2 This Chapter on the Map8.3 Overview: Seeding the Backlog8.4 Circumstance-Based Market Segmentation for Feature Discovery8.5 Other Ways to Discover Initial Features8.6 Feature Independence8.7 Using the Role-Feature-Reason Template to Represent Epics and Features8.8 Specifying Emergent Features8.9 Physical Representation of Features8.10 Feature Attributes8.11 Determining Customer and User Value with Kano Analysis8.12 Sequencing Epics and Features in the Backlog8.13 Writing Feature Acceptance Criteria8.14 Analyzing Nonfunctional Requirements and Constraints8.15 Chapter Summary8.16 What’s Next?
9.1 Objectives9.2 This Chapter on the Map9.3 Overview of Long-Term Planning, Epic Planning, and MVP9.4 The Full-Potential Plan9.5 Using MVPs to Validate the Assumptions behind the Plan9.6 Capabilities for Effective MVP Implementation9.7 Overview of the Product Roadmap9.8 Planning the Interim Periods9.9 Using the Product Roadmap for Shorter Planning Horizons9.10 Chapter Summary9.11 What’s Next?
10.1 Objectives10.2 This Chapter on the Map10.3 Overview of Features10.4 Benefits of Feature Preparation10.5 Feature Preparation Activities10.6 Timing of Feature Preparation10.7 Assessing Readiness10.8 Accounting for Preparation Work: Tasks and Spikes10.9 Specifying Features and Their Acceptance Criteria10.10 Context Analysis10.11 Stakeholder Analysis10.12 Persona Analysis10.13 Overview of Journey, Process, and Value Stream Maps10.14 Journey Mapping10.15 Value Stream Mapping10.16 Business Process Modeling10.17 Use-Case Modeling10.18 User-Role Modeling Workshops10.19 Review the Architecture10.20 Chapter Summary10.21 What’s Next?
11.1 Objectives11.2 This Chapter on the Map11.3 Overview of Quarterly Planning11.4 Overview of Flow-Based Feature Planning11.5 When Is Planning at This Level Advised and Not Advised?11.6 When to Use Quarterly Planning versus Flow-Based Feature Planning11.7 How to Conduct Quarterly Planning with Agility11.8 XP’s Planning Game Guidelines11.9 Quarterly Planning: Timing Considerations11.10 Preparing for the Planning Event11.11 Planning Topics (Agenda)11.12 Reviewing the Quarterly Plan, Once the Quarter Is Underway11.13 Chapter Summary11.14 What’s Next?
12.1 Objectives12.2 This Chapter on the Map12.3 MVPs and Story Mapping: How the Tools Complement Each Other12.4 MVP Planning12.5 Story Mapping12.6 Chapter Summary12.7 What’s Next?
13.1 Objectives13.2 This Chapter on the Map13.3 Overview of Story Preparation13.4 Story Fundamentals13.5 The Three Cs of Stories13.6 Who Is Responsible for User Stories?13.7 Physical versus Electronic Stories13.8 Specifying Values for Story Attributes13.9 Writing the Story Description13.10 Specifying Story Acceptance Criteria13.11 Stories That Aren’t User Stories13.12 Guidelines for Writing High-Quality Stories13.13 Patterns for Splitting Stories13.14 Analyzing Business Rules and AC with Decision Tables13.15 Chapter Summary13.16 What’s Next?
14.1 Objectives14.2 This Chapter on the Map14.3 Overview of Iteration and Story Planning14.4 Attendees14.5 Duration14.6 Inputs for Iteration Planning14.7 Deliverables of Iteration Planning14.8 Planning Rules14.9 Part 1: Forecast What Will Be Accomplished14.10 Part 2: Plan the Implementation14.11 Setting Up the Kanban Board14.12 Scaling Iteration Planning14.13 Feature Preview Meeting14.14 Chapter Summary14.15 What’s Next?
15.1 Objectives15.2 This Chapter on the Map15.3 Overview of Rolling Analysis15.4 Updating Task Progress15.5 Triad Guideline15.6 Actions That May Be Taken against a Developer Task15.7 Monitoring Progress15.8 Story Testing and Inspection (Analyze-Code-Build-Test)15.9 Managing Scope Change during the Iteration15.10 Updating Business Analysis Documentation15.11 Ongoing Analysis of Upcoming Epics, Features, and Stories15.12 Accounting for Progress at the End of the Iteration15.13 The Iteration Review15.14 The Iteration Retrospective15.15 Chapter Summary15.16 What’s Next?
16.1 Objectives16.2 This Chapter on the Map16.3 Getting Stories to Done16.4 Releasing to the Market: Timing Considerations16.5 Staging the Release16.6 Quarterly (Release) Retrospective16.7 Pivot-or-Persevere Meeting16.8 Chapter Summary16.9 What’s Next?
17.1 Objectives17.2 This Chapter on the Map17.3 Why Do We Need a Scaled Agile Approach?17.4 Planning: Choosing an Approach That Supports Inter-team Collaboration17.5 Continuous Delivery: Delivering Software Continuously, Safely, and Sustainably at Scale17.6 Scaled Agile Culture: Creating a Culture That Supports Innovation at Scale17.7 Scaling the Backlog17.8 Scaling the Agile Organization17.9 Scaling the Agile Process17.10 Agile Requirements Management Software Tools17.11 Lightweight Tools for Supporting Inter-team Collaboration17.12 Potential Issues and Challenges in Scaling Agility17.13 Chapter Summary17.14 What’s Next?
18.1 Objectives18.2 This Chapter on the Map18.3 Overview of Enterprise Agility18.4 Foundational Practices18.5 Overview of the Agile Process for Developing Innovative Products18.6 Agile Corporate Culture18.7 Overview of Principles and Practices for an Agile Corporate Culture18.8 Three Principles for Applying Agile Practices18.9 The Thirteen Practices for an Agile Corporate Culture18.10 Agile Financial Planning18.11 Chapter Summary
A.1 Mapping of Book Chapters to IIBA and PMI GuidesA.2 Rules of Thumb in Agile Analysis and PlanningA.3 Facilitation TipsA.4 Visioning ChecklistA.5 Stakeholder ChecklistA.6 NFRs and Constraints ChecklistA.7 Readiness Checklist for Quarterly PlanningA.8 Checklist of Invitees for Quarterly PlanningA.9 Checklist of Quarterly and Feature Planning InputsA.10 Checklist of Quarterly and Feature Planning DeliverablesA.11 Checklist of Quarterly (Release) Retrospective QuestionsA.12 Checklist of Invitees for Scaled Quarterly and Feature PlanningA.13 Overview of Agile Requirements Management Tools
B.1 Background: BestBots Case StudyB.2 Initial Market AnalysisB.3 Determine Constraints (Required Outcomes)B.4 Create Draft of Reverse Income StatementB.5 Create Pro Forma Operations SpecificationsB.6 Create Assumptions ChecklistB.7 Revise Reverse Income StatementB.8 Create Milestone Planning Chart

Content preview from The Agile Guide to Business Analysis and Planning: From Strategic Plan to Continuous Value Delivery

Appendix B

Discovery-Driven Planning Case Study: BestBots

The following case study illustrates how to perform discovery-driven planning, using the approach described by McGrath and MacMillan in the Harvard Business Review.¹ The case study uses publicly available data regarding the global wet-floor robotics industry,² but dates have been shifted forward three years for didactic purposes. The subject of the case study, BestBots, is a fictional company.

1. Rita Gunter McGrath and Ian MacMillan, “Discovery-Driven Planning,” Harvard Business Review, July–August 1995, https://hbr.org/1995/07/discovery-driven-planning

2. Andrew Murphy, “Domestic: Robotics Outlook 2025,” Loop Ventures, International Federation of Robotics, June 7, 2017, http://loupventures.com/domestic-robotics-outlook-2025 ...

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