Agile Guide to Business Analysis and Planning, The

Foreword xxvii<br>Preface xxxi<br>About the Author xlvii <br> <br> Chapter 1: The Art of Agile Analysis and Planning 1 <br>1.1 Objectives 1 <br>1.2 On Art and Agile Analysis 1 <br>1.3 I Work for a Mainstream Company! What’s This Got to Do with Me? 5 <br>1.4 Story 1: It’s Not My Problem 8 <br>1.5 Story 2: The Cantankerous Customer 10 <br>1.6 Chapter Summary 11 <br>1.7 What’s Next? 11 <br> <br> Chapter 2: Agile Analysis and Planning: The Value Proposition 13 <br>2.1 Objectives 13 <br>2.2 What Is Agile Analysis and Planning? 13 <br>2.3 Who Is a Business Analyst? 14 <br>2.4 Why Agile Analysis and Planning? 15 <br>2.5 The Parallel Histories of Agile and Business Analysis 16 <br>2.6 Two Diagnoses for the Same Problem 18 <br>2.7 The Business Analysis Diagnosis 19 <br>2.8 The Business Analysis Track Record 19 <br>2.9 The Agile Diagnosis 22 <br>2.10 The Agile Track Record 22 <br>2.11 Why Agile Teams Should Include an Effective BA Competency 24 <br>2.12 Chapter Summary 25 <br>2.13 What’s Next? 25 <br> <br> Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Agile Analysis and Planning 27 <br>3.1 Objectives 27 <br>3.2 What the Agile Manifesto Means for Business Analysis 28 <br>3.3 What the Twelve Principles Mean for Business Analysis 29 <br>3.4 Practices, Standards, and Frameworks 31 <br>3.5 Overview of Agile Roles and the Business Analyst 58 <br>3.6 Soft Skills of the Agile Business Analyst 63 <br>3.7 13 Key Practices of Agile Analysis and How They Differ from Waterfall 65 <br>3.8 Agile Business Analysis Rules of Thumb 68 <br>3.9 Chapter Summary 68 <br>3.10 What’s Next? 68 <br> <br> Chapter 4: Analysis and Planning Activities across the Agile Development Lifecycle 69 <br>4.1 Objectives 69 <br>4.2 Overview of the Agile Analysis and Planning Map 72 <br>4.3 The Zones 72 <br>4.4 The Lanes 73 <br>4.5 A Story in Three Acts 74 <br>4.6 Act 1: The Short Lane 74 <br>4.7 Act 2: The Long Lane 79 <br>4.8 Act 3: The Grand Lane 79 <br>4.9 Chapter Summary 81 <br>4.10 What’s Next? 81 <br> <br> Chapter 5: Preparing the Organization 83 <br>5.1 Objectives 83 <br>5.2 This Chapter on the Map 86 <br>5.3 What Is Initiation and Planning? 86 <br>5.4 How Long Should You Spend Up Front on Initiation and Planning? 87 <br>5.5 The Purpose Alignment Model 88 <br>5.6 Preparing the Infrastructure 90 <br>5.7 Organizing Development Teams 93 <br>5.8 Managing Stakeholder Expectations about Agile Development 99 <br>5.9 Preparing the Customer–Developer Relationship 101 <br>5.10 Agile Financial Planning 102 <br>5.11 Preparing the Marketing and Distribution Teams 103 <br>5.12 Preparing Channels and Supply Chains 104 <br>5.13 Preparing Governance and Compliance 104 <br>5.14 Preparing for Increased Demand on Resources 106 <br>5.15 Preparing an Enterprise for Agile Development 107 <br>5.16 Determine Organizational Readiness 112 <br>5.17 Chapter Summary 113 <br>5.18 What’s Next? 114 <br> <br> Chapter 6: Preparing the Process 115 <br>6.1 Objectives 115 <br>6.2 This Chapter on the Map 115 <br>6.3 Process Preparation 118 <br>6.4 Tailoring the Agile Practice to the Context 118 <br>6.5 Tuning the Process 122 <br>6.6 Optimizing the Process Using Value Stream Mapping 145 <br>6.7 Determining Process Readiness 145 <br>6.8 Chapter Summary 146 <br>6.9 What’s Next? 146 <br> <br> Chapter 7: Visioning 147 <br>7.1 Objectives 150 <br>7.2 This Chapter on the Map 150 <br>7.3 Overview of Product Visioning and Epic Preparation 150 <br>7.4 Root-Cause Analysis 152 <br>7.5 Specifying a Product or Epic 166 <br>7.6 The Problem or Opportunity Statement 167 <br>7.7 The Product Portrait 169 <br>7.8 Crafting the Product and Epic Vision Statements 172 <br>7.9 Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement 175 <br>7.10 Analyzing Goals and Objectives 182 <br>7.11 Analyze Leap of Faith Hypotheses 185 <br>7.12 Chapter Summary 192 <br>7.13 What’s Next? 192 <br> <br> Chapter 8: Seeding the Backlog—Discovering and Grading Features 193 <br>8.1 Objectives 193 <br>8.2 This Chapter on the Map 196 <br>8.3 Overview: Seeding the Backlog 196 <br>8.4 Circumstance-Based Market Segmentation for Feature Discovery 198 <br>8.5 Other Ways to Discover Initial Features 198 <br>8.6 Feature Independence 199 <br>8.7 Using the Role-Feature-Reason Template to Represent Epics and Features 199 <br>8.8 Specifying Emergent Features 200 <br>8.9 Physical Representation of Features 200 <br>8.10 Feature Attributes 201 <br>8.11 Determining Customer and User Value with Kano Analysis 202 <br>8.12 Sequencing Epics and Features in the Backlog 212 <br>8.13 Writing Feature Acceptance Criteria 215 <br>8.14 Analyzing Nonfunctional Requirements and Constraints 216 <br>8.15 Chapter Summary 220 <br>8.16 What’s Next? 220 <br> <br> Chapter 9: Long-Term Agile Planning 221 <br>9.1 Objectives 221 <br>9.2 This Chapter on the Map 224 <br>9.3 Overview of Long-Term Planning, Epic Planning, and MVP 224 <br>9.4 The Full-Potential Plan 225 <br>9.5 Using MVPs to Validate the Assumptions behind the Plan 228 <br>9.6 Capabilities for Effective MVP Implementation 231 <br>9.7 Overview of the Product Roadmap 240 <br>9.8 Planning the Interim Periods 241 <br>9.9 Using the Product Roadmap for Shorter Planning Horizons 248 <br>9.10 Chapter Summary 248 <br>9.11 What’s Next? 249 <br> <br> Chapter 10: Quarterly and Feature Preparation 251 <br>10.1 Objectives 251 <br>10.2 This Chapter on the Map 254 <br>10.3 Overview of Features 254 <br>10.4 Benefits of Feature Preparation 256 <br>10.5 Feature Preparation Activities 256 <br>10.6 Timing of Feature Preparation 257 <br>10.7 Assessing Readiness 258 <br>10.8 Accounting for Preparation Work: Tasks and Spikes 258 <br>10.9 Specifying Features and Their Acceptance Criteria 259 <br>10.10 Context Analysis 263 <br>10.11 Stakeholder Analysis 264 <br>10.12 Persona Analysis 264 <br>10.13 Overview of Journey, Process, and Value Stream Maps 272 <br>10.14 Journey Mapping 272 <br>10.15 Value Stream Mapping 283 <br>10.16 Business Process Modeling 285 <br>10.17 Use-Case Modeling 298 <br>10.18 User-Role Modeling Workshops 300 <br>10.19 Review the Architecture 307 <br>10.20 Chapter Summary 312 <br>10.21 What’s Next? 313 <br> <br> Chapter 11: Quarterly and Feature Planning 315 <br>11.1 Objectives 315 <br>11.2 This Chapter on the Map 318 <br>11.3 Overview of Quarterly Planning 318 <br>11.4 Overview of Flow-Based Feature Planning 318 <br>11.5 When Is Planning at This Level Advised and Not Advised? 319 <br>11.6 When to Use Quarterly Planning versus Flow-Based Feature Planning 319 <br>11.7 How to Conduct Quarterly Planning with Agility 320 <br>11.8 XP’s Planning Game Guidelines 322 <br>11.9 Quarterly Planning: Timing Considerations 325 <br>11.10 Preparing for the Planning Event 325 <br>11.11 Planning Topics (Agenda) 328 <br>11.12 Reviewing the Quarterly Plan, Once the Quarter Is Underway 351 <br>11.13 Chapter Summary 352 <br>11.14 What’s Next? 352 <br> <br> Chapter 12: MVPs and Story Maps 353 <br>12.1 Objectives 353 <br>12.2 This Chapter on the Map 356 <br>12.3 MVPs and Story Mapping: How the Tools Complement Each Other 356 <br>12.4 MVP Planning 356 <br>12.5 Story Mapping 366 <br>12.6 Chapter Summary 388 <br>12.7 What’s Next? 388 <br> <br> Chapter 13: Story Preparation 391 <br>13.1 Objectives 391 <br>13.2 This Chapter on the Map 394 <br>13.3 Overview of Story Preparation 394 <br>13.4 Story Fundamentals 394 <br>13.5 The Three Cs of Stories 397 <br>13.6 Who Is Responsible for User Stories? 398 <br>13.7 Physical versus Electronic Stories 403 <br>13.8 Specifying Values for Story Attributes 404 <br>13.9 Writing the Story Description 404 <br>13.10 Specifying Story Acceptance Criteria 407 <br>13.11 Stories That Aren’t User Stories 414 <br>13.12 Guidelines for Writing High-Quality Stories 420 <br>13.13 Patterns for Splitting Stories 422 <br>13.14 Analyzing Business Rules and AC with Decision Tables 433 <br>13.15 Chapter Summary 440 <br>13.16 What’s Next? 440 <br> <br> Chapter 14: Iteration and Story Planning 441 <br>14.1 Objectives 441 <br>14.2 This Chapter on the Map 444 <br>14.3 Overview of Iteration and Story Planning 444 <br>14.4 Attendees 445 <br>14.5 Duration 445 <br>14.6 Inputs for Iteration Planning 445 <br>14.7 Deliverables of Iteration Planning 446 <br>14.8 Planning Rules 447 <br>14.9 Part 1: Forecast What Will Be Accomplished 447 <br>14.10 Part 2: Plan the Implementation 451 <br>14.11 Setting Up the Kanban Board 458 <br>14.12 Scaling Iteration Planning 462 <br>14.13 Feature Preview Meeting 462 <br>14.14 Chapter Summary 463 <br>14.15 What’s Next? 463 <br> <br> Chapter 15: Rolling Analysis and Preparation—Day-to-Day Activities 465 <br>15.1 Objectives 465 <br>15.2 This Chapter on the Map 468 <br>15.3 Overview of Rolling Analysis 468 <br>15.4 Updating Task Progress 470 <br>15.5 Triad Guideline 470 <br>15.6 Actions That May Be Taken against a Developer Task 471 <br>15.7 Monitoring Progress 471 <br>15.8 Story Testing and Inspection (Analyze-Code-Build-Test) 490 <br>15.9 Managing Scope Change during the Iteration 495 <br>15.10 Updating Business Analysis Documentation 496 <br>15.11 Ongoing Analysis of Upcoming Epics, Features, and Stories 509 <br>15.12 Accounting for Progress at the End of the Iteration 513 <br>15.13 The Iteration Review 514 <br>15.14 The Iteration Retrospective 517 <br>15.15 Chapter Summary 524 <br>15.16 What’s Next? 525 <br> <br> Chapter 16: Releasing the Product 527 <br>16.1 Objectives 527 <br>16.2 This Chapter on the Map 530 <br>16.3 Getting Stories to Done 530 <br>16.4 Releasing to the Market: Timing Considerations 530 <br>16.5 Staging the Release 532 <br>16.6 Quarterly (Release) Retrospective 539 <br>16.7 Pivot-or-Persevere Meeting 544 <br>16.8 Chapter Summary 547 <br>16.9 What’s Next? 548 <br> <br> Chapter 17: Scaling Agility 549 <br>17.1 Objectives 552 <br>17.2 This Chapter on the Map 552 <br>17.3 Why Do We Need a Scaled Agile Approach? 552 <br>17.4 Planning: Choosing an Approach That Supports Inter-team Collaboration 554 <br>17.5 Continuous Delivery: Delivering Software Continuously, Safely, and Sustainably at Scale 558 <br>17.6 Scaled Agile Culture: Creating a Culture That Supports Innovation at Scale 564 <br>17.7 Scaling the Backlog 566 <br>17.8 Scaling the Agile Organization 570 <br>17.9 Scaling the Agile Process 581 <br>17.10 Agile Requirements Management Software Tools 615 <br>17.11 Lightweight Tools for Supporting Inter-team Collaboration 615 <br>17.12 Potential Issues and Challenges in Scaling Agility 617 <br>17.13 Chapter Summary 622 <br>17.14 What’s Next? 622 <br> <br> Chapter 18: Achieving Enterprise Agility 623 <br>18.1 Objectives 623 <br>18.2 This Chapter on the Map 626 <br>18.3 Overview of Enterprise Agility 627 <br>18.4 Foundational Practices 629 <br>18.5 Overview of the Agile Process for Developing Innovative Products 631 <br>18.6 Agile Corporate Culture 632 <br>18.7 Overview of Principles and Practices for an Agile Corporate Culture 634 <br>18.8 Three Principles for Applying Agile Practices 635 <br>18.9 The Thirteen Practices for an Agile Corporate Culture 650 <br>18.10 Agile Financial Planning 675 <br>18.11 Chapter Summary 676 <br> <br> Appendix A: Additional Resources and Checklists 677 <br>A.1 Mapping of Book Chapters to IIBA and PMI Guides 677 <br>A.2 Rules of Thumb in Agile Analysis and Planning 682 <br>A.3 Facilitation Tips 684 <br>A.4 Visioning Checklist 686 <br>A.5 Stakeholder Checklist 687 <br>A.6 NFRs and Constraints Checklist 689 <br>A.7 Readiness Checklist for Quarterly Planning 690 <br>A.8 Checklist of Invitees for Quarterly Planning 692 <br>A.9 Checklist of Quarterly and Feature Planning Inputs 693 <br>A.10 Checklist of Quarterly and Feature Planning Deliverables 694 <br>A.11 Checklist of Quarterly (Release) Retrospective Questions 695 <br>A.12 Checklist of Invitees for Scaled Quarterly and Feature Planning 698 <br>A.13 Overview of Agile Requirements Management Tools 699 <br> <br> Appendix B: Discovery-Driven Planning Case Study: BestBots 701 <br>B.1 Background: BestBots Case Study 701 <br>B.2 Initial Market Analysis 702 <br>B.3 Determine Constraints (Required Outcomes) 703 <br>B.4 Create Draft of Reverse Income Statement 705 <br>B.5 Create Pro Forma Operations Specifications 706 <br>B.6 Create Assumptions Checklist 708 <br>B.7 Revise Reverse Income Statement 709 <br>B.8 Create Milestone Planning Chart 710 <br> <br> Bibliography 713<br>Index 715