Excerpts of this blog have been extracted from The Power of the Agile Business Analyst, Second edition by Jamie Lynn Cooke, currently available to pre-order from IT Governance.
Agile project management demonstrates a dramatically enhanced level of communication and pragmatic collaboration between business users and software developers.
Favoured by the Association of Project Management (APM), this methodology equips software developers with practices and tools designed to increase the quality, relevance and extensibility of the software they deliver.
What is an Agile business analyst?
A traditional project team is generally comprised of six distinctive roles:
- Developer
- Tester
- Systems architect
- Business analyst
- Technical writer
- Team leader
Jamie Lynn Cooke, experienced senior business analyst and author of The Power of the Agile Business Analyst, introduces the role of the Agile business analyst in her book and, in an interview with IT Governance says that “including a dedicated business analyst on an Agile team is a remarkable way to increase the quality, relevance and user acceptance of delivered solutions”.
The role is similar to that of the traditional IT business analyst. The key difference is that the gathered and prioritised requirements are conveyed to the development team in user stories and face-to-face documentation, rather than in reams of documentation.
Jamie goes on to say, “In my experience, Agile business analysts not only provide development teams with an ongoing source of business knowledge, they can equally provide valuable assistance to time-crunched Product Owners in gathering, analysing, valuating and prioritising the functionality that is required for the solution. Also, as many business analysts are experienced testers, technical writers and trainers, this gives the Agile team greater flexibility in allocating the work that is required to deliver the complete solution.”
Inclusion of an Agile business analyst on the Agile team means the business user has someone to pair with, giving them all the knowledge sharing and quality control benefits that pairing provides to Agile developers.
Get better project outcomes
The Power of the Agile Business Analyst details 30 ways that the Agile business analyst can increase project relevance, quality and overall business value, and provide business users with crucial support.
The second edition of this essential guide includes new Agile methods that have emerged or gained prominence over the past five years.
Pre-order The Power of the Agile Business Analyst and save 10% >>
