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

How Product Owners and Business Analysts can maximize the value delivered to stakeholders by integrating BA competencies with agile methodologies

"This book will become a staple reference that both product owners and business analysis practitioners should have
by their side."
-- From the Foreword by Alain Arseneault, former IIBA Acting President & CEO

"[This book] is well organized in bite-sized chunks and structured for ready access to the essential concepts, terms, and practices that can help any agile team be more successful."
-- Karl Wiegers

The Agile Guide to Business Analysis and Planning  provides practical guidance for eliminating unnecessary errors and delays in agile product development through effective planning, backlog refinement and acceptance criteria specification ---with hard-to-find advice on how and when to analyze the context for complex changes within an agile approach---including when to use Journey Maps, Value Stream Mapping, Personas, Story Maps, BPMN, Use Cases and other UML models. Renowned author and consultant Howard Podeswa teaches best practices drawn from agile and agile-adjacent frameworks, including ATDD, BDD, DevOps, CI/CD, Kanban, Scrum, SAFe, XP, Lean Thinking, Lean Startup, Circumstance-Based Market Segmentation, and theories of disruptive innovation. He offers a comprehensive agile roadmap for analyzing customer needs and planning product development, including discussion of legacy business analysis tools that still offer immense value to agile teams.

Using a running case study, Podeswa walks through the full agile product lifecycle, from visioning through release and continuous value delivery. You learn how to carry out agile analysis and planning responsibilities more effectively, using tools such as Kano analysis, minimum viable products (MVPs), minimum marketable features (MMFs), story maps, product roadmaps, customer journey mapping, value stream mapping, spikes, and the definition of ready (DoR). Podeswa presents each technique in context: what you need to know and when to apply each tool. Read this book to

• Master principles, frameworks, concepts, and practices of agile analysis and planning in order to maximize value delivery throughout the product's lifecycle
• Explore planning and analysis for short-term, long-term, and scaled agile initiatives using MVPs and data-informed learning to test hypotheses and find high-value features
• Split features into MMFs and small stories that deliver significant value and enable quick wins
• Refine, estimate, and specify features, stories, and their acceptance criteria, following ATDD/BDD guidance
• Address the unique analysis and planning challenges of scaled agile organizations
• Implement 13 practices for optimizing enterprise agility

Supported by 175+ tools, techniques, examples, diagrams, templates, checklists, and other job aids, this book is a complete toolkit for every practitioner. Whatever your role, you'll find indispensable guidance on agile planning and analysis responsibilities so you can help your organization respond more nimbly to a fast-changing environment.

Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.

Foreword xxvii
Preface xxxi
About the Author xlvii

Chapter 1: The Art of Agile Analysis and Planning 1
1.1 Objectives 1
1.2 On Art and Agile Analysis 1
1.3 I Work for a Mainstream Company! What’s This Got to Do with Me? 5
1.4 Story 1: It’s Not My Problem 8
1.5 Story 2: The Cantankerous Customer 10
1.6 Chapter Summary 11
1.7 What’s Next? 11

Chapter 2: Agile Analysis and Planning: The Value Proposition 13
2.1 Objectives 13
2.2 What Is Agile Analysis and Planning? 13
2.3 Who Is a Business Analyst? 14
2.4 Why Agile Analysis and Planning? 15
2.5 The Parallel Histories of Agile and Business Analysis 16
2.6 Two Diagnoses for the Same Problem 18
2.7 The Business Analysis Diagnosis 19
2.8 The Business Analysis Track Record 19
2.9 The Agile Diagnosis 22
2.10 The Agile Track Record 22
2.11 Why Agile Teams Should Include an Effective BA Competency 24
2.12 Chapter Summary 25
2.13 What’s Next? 25

Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Agile Analysis and Planning 27
3.1 Objectives 27
3.2 What the Agile Manifesto Means for Business Analysis 28
3.3 What the Twelve Principles Mean for Business Analysis 29
3.4 Practices, Standards, and Frameworks 31
3.5 Overview of Agile Roles and the Business Analyst 58
3.6 Soft Skills of the Agile Business Analyst 63
3.7 13 Key Practices of Agile Analysis and How They Differ from Waterfall 65
3.8 Agile Business Analysis Rules of Thumb 68
3.9 Chapter Summary 68
3.10 What’s Next? 68

Chapter 4: Analysis and Planning Activities across the Agile Development Lifecycle 69
4.1 Objectives 69
4.2 Overview of the Agile Analysis and Planning Map 72
4.3 The Zones 72
4.4 The Lanes 73
4.5 A Story in Three Acts 74
4.6 Act 1: The Short Lane 74
4.7 Act 2: The Long Lane 79
4.8 Act 3: The Grand Lane 79
4.9 Chapter Summary 81
4.10 What’s Next? 81

Chapter 5: Preparing the Organization 83
5.1 Objectives 83
5.2 This Chapter on the Map 86
5.3 What Is Initiation and Planning? 86
5.4 How Long Should You Spend Up Front on Initiation and Planning? 87
5.5 The Purpose Alignment Model 88
5.6 Preparing the Infrastructure 90
5.7 Organizing Development Teams 93
5.8 Managing Stakeholder Expectations about Agile Development 99
5.9 Preparing the Customer–Developer Relationship 101
5.10 Agile Financial Planning 102
5.11 Preparing the Marketing and Distribution Teams 103
5.12 Preparing Channels and Supply Chains 104
5.13 Preparing Governance and Compliance 104
5.14 Preparing for Increased Demand on Resources 106
5.15 Preparing an Enterprise for Agile Development 107
5.16 Determine Organizational Readiness 112
5.17 Chapter Summary 113
5.18 What’s Next? 114

Chapter 6: Preparing the Process 115
6.1 Objectives 115
6.2 This Chapter on the Map 115
6.3 Process Preparation 118
6.4 Tailoring the Agile Practice to the Context 118
6.5 Tuning the Process 122
6.6 Optimizing the Process Using Value Stream Mapping 145
6.7 Determining Process Readiness 145
6.8 Chapter Summary 146
6.9 What’s Next? 146

Chapter 7: Visioning 147
7.1 Objectives 150
7.2 This Chapter on the Map 150
7.3 Overview of Product Visioning and Epic Preparation 150
7.4 Root-Cause Analysis 152
7.5 Specifying a Product or Epic 166
7.6 The Problem or Opportunity Statement 167
7.7 The Product Portrait 169
7.8 Crafting the Product and Epic Vision Statements 172
7.9 Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement 175
7.10 Analyzing Goals and Objectives 182
7.11 Analyze Leap of Faith Hypotheses 185
7.12 Chapter Summary 192
7.13 What’s Next? 192

Chapter 8: Seeding the Backlog—Discovering and Grading Features 193
8.1 Objectives 193
8.2 This Chapter on the Map 196
8.3 Overview: Seeding the Backlog 196
8.4 Circumstance-Based Market Segmentation for Feature Discovery 198
8.5 Other Ways to Discover Initial Features 198
8.6 Feature Independence 199
8.7 Using the Role-Feature-Reason Template to Represent Epics and Features 199
8.8 Specifying Emergent Features 200
8.9 Physical Representation of Features 200
8.10 Feature Attributes 201
8.11 Determining Customer and User Value with Kano Analysis 202
8.12 Sequencing Epics and Features in the Backlog 212
8.13 Writing Feature Acceptance Criteria 215
8.14 Analyzing Nonfunctional Requirements and Constraints 216
8.15 Chapter Summary 220
8.16 What’s Next? 220

Chapter 9: Long-Term Agile Planning 221
9.1 Objectives 221
9.2 This Chapter on the Map 224
9.3 Overview of Long-Term Planning, Epic Planning, and MVP 224
9.4 The Full-Potential Plan 225
9.5 Using MVPs to Validate the Assumptions behind the Plan 228
9.6 Capabilities for Effective MVP Implementation 231
9.7 Overview of the Product Roadmap 240
9.8 Planning the Interim Periods 241
9.9 Using the Product Roadmap for Shorter Planning Horizons 248
9.10 Chapter Summary 248
9.11 What’s Next? 249

Chapter 10: Quarterly and Feature Preparation 251
10.1 Objectives 251
10.2 This Chapter on the Map 254
10.3 Overview of Features 254
10.4 Benefits of Feature Preparation 256
10.5 Feature Preparation Activities 256
10.6 Timing of Feature Preparation 257
10.7 Assessing Readiness 258
10.8 Accounting for Preparation Work: Tasks and Spikes 258
10.9 Specifying Features and Their Acceptance Criteria 259
10.10 Context Analysis 263
10.11 Stakeholder Analysis 264
10.12 Persona Analysis 264
10.13 Overview of Journey, Process, and Value Stream Maps 272
10.14 Journey Mapping 272
10.15 Value Stream Mapping 283
10.16 Business Process Modeling 285
10.17 Use-Case Modeling 298
10.18 User-Role Modeling Workshops 300
10.19 Review the Architecture 307
10.20 Chapter Summary 312
10.21 What’s Next? 313

Chapter 11: Quarterly and Feature Planning 315
11.1 Objectives 315
11.2 This Chapter on the Map 318
11.3 Overview of Quarterly Planning 318
11.4 Overview of Flow-Based Feature Planning 318
11.5 When Is Planning at This Level Advised and Not Advised? 319
11.6 When to Use Quarterly Planning versus Flow-Based Feature Planning 319
11.7 How to Conduct Quarterly Planning with Agility 320
11.8 XP’s Planning Game Guidelines 322
11.9 Quarterly Planning: Timing Considerations 325
11.10 Preparing for the Planning Event 325
11.11 Planning Topics (Agenda) 328
11.12 Reviewing the Quarterly Plan, Once the Quarter Is Underway 351
11.13 Chapter Summary 352
11.14 What’s Next? 352

Chapter 12: MVPs and Story Maps 353
12.1 Objectives 353
12.2 This Chapter on the Map 356
12.3 MVPs and Story Mapping: How the Tools Complement Each Other 356
12.4 MVP Planning 356
12.5 Story Mapping 366
12.6 Chapter Summary 388
12.7 What’s Next? 388

Chapter 13: Story Preparation 391
13.1 Objectives 391
13.2 This Chapter on the Map 394
13.3 Overview of Story Preparation 394
13.4 Story Fundamentals 394
13.5 The Three Cs of Stories 397
13.6 Who Is Responsible for User Stories? 398
13.7 Physical versus Electronic Stories 403
13.8 Specifying Values for Story Attributes 404
13.9 Writing the Story Description 404
13.10 Specifying Story Acceptance Criteria 407
13.11 Stories That Aren’t User Stories 414
13.12 Guidelines for Writing High-Quality Stories 420
13.13 Patterns for Splitting Stories 422
13.14 Analyzing Business Rules and AC with Decision Tables 433
13.15 Chapter Summary 440
13.16 What’s Next? 440

Chapter 14: Iteration and Story Planning 441
14.1 Objectives 441
14.2 This Chapter on the Map 444
14.3 Overview of Iteration and Story Planning 444
14.4 Attendees 445
14.5 Duration 445
14.6 Inputs for Iteration Planning 445
14.7 Deliverables of Iteration Planning 446
14.8 Planning Rules 447
14.9 Part 1: Forecast What Will Be Accomplished 447
14.10 Part 2: Plan the Implementation 451
14.11 Setting Up the Kanban Board 458
14.12 Scaling Iteration Planning 462
14.13 Feature Preview Meeting 462
14.14 Chapter Summary 463
14.15 What’s Next? 463

Chapter 15: Rolling Analysis and Preparation—Day-to-Day Activities 465
15.1 Objectives 465
15.2 This Chapter on the Map 468
15.3 Overview of Rolling Analysis 468
15.4 Updating Task Progress 470
15.5 Triad Guideline 470
15.6 Actions That May Be Taken against a Developer Task 471
15.7 Monitoring Progress 471
15.8 Story Testing and Inspection (Analyze-Code-Build-Test) 490
15.9 Managing Scope Change during the Iteration 495
15.10 Updating Business Analysis Documentation 496
15.11 Ongoing Analysis of Upcoming Epics, Features, and Stories 509
15.12 Accounting for Progress at the End of the Iteration 513
15.13 The Iteration Review 514
15.14 The Iteration Retrospective 517
15.15 Chapter Summary 524
15.16 What’s Next? 525

Chapter 16: Releasing the Product 527
16.1 Objectives 527
16.2 This Chapter on the Map 530
16.3 Getting Stories to Done 530
16.4 Releasing to the Market: Timing Considerations 530
16.5 Staging the Release 532
16.6 Quarterly (Release) Retrospective 539
16.7 Pivot-or-Persevere Meeting 544
16.8 Chapter Summary 547
16.9 What’s Next? 548

Chapter 17: Scaling Agility 549
17.1 Objectives 552
17.2 This Chapter on the Map 552
17.3 Why Do We Need a Scaled Agile Approach? 552
17.4 Planning: Choosing an Approach That Supports Inter-team Collaboration 554
17.5 Continuous Delivery: Delivering Software Continuously, Safely, and Sustainably at Scale 558
17.6 Scaled Agile Culture: Creating a Culture That Supports Innovation at Scale 564
17.7 Scaling the Backlog 566
17.8 Scaling the Agile Organization 570
17.9 Scaling the Agile Process 581
17.10 Agile Requirements Management Software Tools 615
17.11 Lightweight Tools for Supporting Inter-team Collaboration 615
17.12 Potential Issues and Challenges in Scaling Agility 617
17.13 Chapter Summary 622
17.14 What’s Next? 622

Chapter 18: Achieving Enterprise Agility 623
18.1 Objectives 623
18.2 This Chapter on the Map 626
18.3 Overview of Enterprise Agility 627
18.4 Foundational Practices 629
18.5 Overview of the Agile Process for Developing Innovative Products 631
18.6 Agile Corporate Culture 632
18.7 Overview of Principles and Practices for an Agile Corporate Culture 634
18.8 Three Principles for Applying Agile Practices 635
18.9 The Thirteen Practices for an Agile Corporate Culture 650
18.10 Agile Financial Planning 675
18.11 Chapter Summary 676

Appendix A: Additional Resources and Checklists 677
A.1 Mapping of Book Chapters to IIBA and PMI Guides 677
A.2 Rules of Thumb in Agile Analysis and Planning 682
A.3 Facilitation Tips 684
A.4 Visioning Checklist 686
A.5 Stakeholder Checklist 687
A.6 NFRs and Constraints Checklist 689
A.7 Readiness Checklist for Quarterly Planning 690
A.8 Checklist of Invitees for Quarterly Planning 692
A.9 Checklist of Quarterly and Feature Planning Inputs 693
A.10 Checklist of Quarterly and Feature Planning Deliverables 694
A.11 Checklist of Quarterly (Release) Retrospective Questions 695
A.12 Checklist of Invitees for Scaled Quarterly and Feature Planning 698
A.13 Overview of Agile Requirements Management Tools 699

Appendix B: Discovery-Driven Planning Case Study: BestBots 701
B.1 Background: BestBots Case Study 701
B.2 Initial Market Analysis 702
B.3 Determine Constraints (Required Outcomes) 703
B.4 Create Draft of Reverse Income Statement 705
B.5 Create Pro Forma Operations Specifications 706
B.6 Create Assumptions Checklist 708
B.7 Revise Reverse Income Statement 709
B.8 Create Milestone Planning Chart 710

Bibliography 713
Index 715

Howard Podeswa is Director for Noble Inc. and is an established author, professional artist, and sought-after speaker at international conferences. Podeswa's career in software development began with an academic background in nuclear physics, which led to him work on a nuclear-accident simulation program for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. From the 1990s on, he has been helping large organizations transition their planning, analysis, and requirements engineering (RE) processes to agile practices across a broad range of sectors, including telecommunications, banking, government services, insurance, and healthcare. He plays a leading role in the industry as a designer of agile and business analysis (BA) training programs for companies and higher education institutions, including Boston University Corporate Education Center and Humber College; as a reviewer of the BA profession's standard books of best practices ( BABOK (IIBA) and Business Analysis for Practitioners—A Practice Guide (PMI)); and as an author whose books have become staples in many BA libraries: The Business Analyst's Handbook and UML for the IT Business Analyst.