Flexing the Business Analysis

The expectations and responsibilities of a Business Analyst (BA) are extremely versatile and vary based on the type of project that is being completed. This session covers the similarities and differences of the BA role in each of the predictive, incremental, and iterative project approaches. Focus is placed on working in the virtual environment and driving value centric delivery.

Borrowing the “Context Matters and Choice is Good” concept from Disciplined Agile, we explore how a BA analyzes the Context of the situation, defines an iteration goal of what is to be accomplished, and then selects the best approach to achieve that goal. This three step approach requires a large range of skills and knowledge that helps define a distinguished Business Analyst. The presentation will explore:

Context Matters: What is the Delivery method that is being used to deliver value? What do we currently know and what are our most significant uncertainties? This step is a critical evaluation on WHERE ARE WE AT?
What is the most important goal to help the team deliver value to the team? This is using a Rolling Wave planning approach to determine WHAT ACTION IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE at this time to help the team.
Referring to a tool box of process flows, methods, approaches and tools, the BA CHOOSES THE BEST APPROACH? What is the proper criteria to make this decision and how to we execute on delivering?

Learning Objectives:

The participant will be able to compare and contrast the three project types of: Predictive, Iterative, and Incrementation.
The participant will be able to demonstrate how to define a goal for delivering value in the next iteration of the project and how to evaluate choices against the goal.
The participant will be able to select the appropriate approach based on choices and the goal and guide the team to accomplishing the goal.