F O C U S Q U A L I T Y E X P E R I E N C E

Presented byJacqueline Sanders,

PMP, CBAP

The Lessons Learned of a BA on an Agile Project

What Agile is NOT Key Components of Agile The Conversion to Agile The New Development Project using Agile The Maintenance Releases using Agile The Future of BA’s on Agile Projects

Outline

What Agile is NOT

Big “A”: Formal Agile – a disciplined methodology (i.e. stand up meetings, co-located, iterations)

Little “a”: Informal agile – teams just trying to do things quickly, haphazard and chaotic

Agile Manifesto

Agile Values:

Individuals and interactions Over Process and tools

Working Software Over Comprehensive documentation

Customer Collaboration Over Contract negotiation

Responding to change Over Following a plan

Key Components of Agile

Short Iterations Small Dedicated

Project Teams Co-located Teams Pairings Assigned SME Weekly Sprints Daily Standup

Meetings

Design/Build/Test as you go

Highly Functioning and Self-managed Team

Task Board and Burn down Chart

Retrospectives

Converting to Agile

Brought in Agile Coaches Gave Exit Packages to Non-Agile Resources Brought in New Agile-minded Resources Sent the Team to Agile Boot Camp Co-Located the Team Conducted Team Building Exercises Created a Fun Environment Made “Most” Resources 100% Dedicated

New Development Project using Agile

Iteration 0Scoping ofThe Project

InitialBacklog

Decomposition Sprint

Daily ScrumTeam

Meetings

Semi Weekly Sprint Planning

Meetings

WeeklyStakeholder

Demos

Semi- WeeklyDeploy

&Retrospectives

The Project Parameters

Government Regulation Hard Deadline Existing Application New Data Fields Significant Changes to Business Rules & Process Impact to 12 Different Departments Impact to Entire Customer Base Coincided with Media & Marketing Campaigns Two Executive Sponsors The #1 Priority for the 4th Quarter

The BA’s Project Initiation Tasks

Iteration (0) Zero Sponsor Consensus on Approach Assist with High Level Technical Design Interviews and Facilitated Sessions 1 or more Iterations Ahead of Development Wiki Set Up Artifacts:

• User List• User Stories

The User Story List

User Stories

The BA’s On-going Activities

Daily Stand Up & Follow Up Spontaneous and As Needed

• Meetings with Stakeholders• Monitor Development Work• Respond to QA

Multi-Tasking• Working The Open Issues• UAT Preparation• Weekly Demo Prep• Research User Stories for Next Iterations• Maintain Project Wiki

The Backlog Story/Task Board

User Story Cards

Behind The Scenes Activities

Manage Multiple Viewpoints Modeling and Diagrams during Design Discussions SME Intimidated by Developers Backend Process Requirements Rework was Necessary Document Needed During Implementation Compensated for Lack of BA Skills Focus on Exceptions and Alternatives Issue Log (In Scope and Out of Scope Negotiation)

New Development – Retrospect

What Worked Well Access to Software Designers/Architect Iteration Zero Having Agile Coaches Incorporating Lessons Learned Quickly Sponsor Accepted Risk

New Development – Retrospect

What We Could Do Differently Underestimating the Rework Underestimating Backend Processes Managing Unrealistic, Hard Deadlines Addressing People not embracing Agile Handling Process Development Differently Upfront Database schema changes

Maintenance Projects using Agile

Iteration 0Not

Applicable

InitialBacklog

SprintNot Applicable

Daily ScrumTeam

Meetings

Semi Weekly Sprint Planning

Meetings

WeeklyStakeholder

Demos

Semi- WeeklyDeploy

&Retrospectives

The Maintenance Project Parameters

Developer Initiative 2 Week Iterations As Needed Requirements or Just In Time Not Co-located Semi-Weekly Demos Semi-Weekly Planning Sessions Business was not Agile PM tolerated Agile but was not Agile No executive sponsor for Agile

The BA’s Activities

2 Week Iterations As-Needed / Just-In-Time Requirements Semi-Weekly Demos Semi-Weekly Planning Sessions Provided Documentation to the Business Facilitated Demos Unofficially attended stand ups Unofficially attended sprints

Maintenance Project - Retrospect

What Worked Well: Developers Fully Engaged User Involvement Early and Often Cohesive Team

Maintenance Project - Retrospect

What Could Have Been Done Different: Executive Sponsor Buy In Realistic Dates Appreciations of Burn down and Velocity Dysfunctional Organization Developers Input Respected

Conclusion