Success with Requirements

Volume 3 :: Number 10 :: 2009
ISSN: 1936-3583

I've recently returned from a whirlwind trip to Japan, which included client training and seminar events, a book tour, a conference keynote, and an IIBA-Japan chapter presentation. Wow! Everywhere I went, I was impressed by the eagerness of everyone to learn and deepen their requirements practices and their keen interest in collaborative techniques and agile practices.

I am grateful to all who made this trip a rewarding and fulfilling experience. Dōmo arigatō!

This month, Mary Gorman and I took time out from our client work to present webinars on two important topics: understanding the IIBA® BABOK®, and integrating requirements-driven planning workshops into your agile project. Please read on to learn more.

~ ellen

Ellen Gottesdiener,
President and Principal Consultant
EBG Consulting, Inc.
http://www.ebgconsulting.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/ellengott

In this issue:

IIBA® BABOK® Navigation Tips: Eating Our Own Dog Food

Studying the IIBA® BABOK® or preparing for your (CBAP®) exam?

(Agile) Requirements by Collaboration

Agile Requirements Public Training Offering

Upcoming Events

IIBA® BABOK® Navigation Tips: Eating Our Own Dog Food

On October 7, EBG Senior Associate Mary Gorman presented a webinar titled "Navigation Tips for Exploring the BABOK®." Hundreds of folks (including many of our loyal eNewsletter subscribers) joined in.

We've gotten lots of positive feedback about the webinar, along with requests for the rich materials Mary developed. Your wish is our command - see the links that follow. We think these assets can help you extend your skills across the BABOK® Knowledge Areas (KAs) and even help prepare for the Certified Business Analysis Professional® (CBAP®) exam.

One of the things I really like about how Mary analyzed and presented this information is that she used business analysis techniques! She shows you the BABOK® structure as represented in a data model, a context diagram, a CRUD matrix, user stories, and a state diagram. Wow!

That's known as "eating your own dog food" - we're using our own analysis techniques to analyze and understand our own body of knowledge. (Learn where that expression came from for a smile).

Here are links to these powerful resources:

"Navigation Tips" webinar (via our Media Page - hear some intriguing questions and answers at the end Mary's
presentation!)

"Navigation Tips" webinar slides (especially check out the state diagram of a requirement)

Four BABOK® Navigation Listings Mary created to help you navigate the BABOK®. Use them to

quickly identify the 15 "embedded" techniques

quickly reference which tasks use a technique e.g., Decision Analysis is referenced by 8 tasks

quickly find "how to" links for tasks and techniques

We are keen to get your feedback on these navigation tools. As a business analysis community, we would like to work together with you so we can all leverage the BABOK®and be successful with requirements! Please send your comments and suggestions to Mary.

Studying the IIBA® BABOK®? Preparing for your CBAP® exam?

Our clients have told us that EBG's rich Requirements Foundation curriculum, offered in an eLearning mode, is a useful resource for learning and understanding the key concepts that ground the knowledge areas in the IIBA® BABOK®. And the Foundation curriculum, along with The Software Requirements Memory Jogger, are valuable study tools when preparing for the Certified Business Analysis Professional® (CBAP®) exam.

You can get a sneak preview of the curriculum by viewing the video tour. You'll see how the curriculum is aligned with the BABOK® and you can link to our Reference Guide - a cross reference of the eLearning curriculum, BABOK® and the Jogger.

Add that Reference Guide to the Navigation Listings Mary created and shared in her webinar (discussed above), and you have a powerful set of tools to deepen your business analysis competencies.

Success with Requirements subscribers get a discount (10%) on our 8-course self-paced eLearning training curriculum, Foundation for Requirements Development and Management. Use code FRSWR04 when you register here. This IIBA endorsed curriculum earns 24 CDUs.

(Agile) Requirements by Collaboration

I presented a webinar on October 9 "Requirements by Collaboration: Defining Product Needs on Large Agile Projects." We had a great turnout for the webinar and received many intriguing questions about agile, product roadmapping techniques, building facilitation skills, and more.

IT Metrics and Productivity Institute, my partner in providing this webinar, recorded it and now has it available in its webinar library. There is a small fee ($29.99) for viewing the webinar. Use this link.

In the webinar, I discuss how two critical project tasks - planning agile projects and developing requirements - converge. I outline the types of agile planning workshops that integrate requirements exploration: product roadmap, release plan, and iteration plan.

Want to learn more? You can read an article I recently published to coincide with the Agile 2009 Conference, which discusses this further: "Agile Requirements by Collaboration: Making Smart Choices about What and When to Build."

Here at EBG Consulting, we continue to evolve our practices around agile requirements. These practices incorporate agile planning, evolutionary requirements development, prioritization, collaboration, and effective facilitation.

I look forward to continuing to share our experiences and practices with you. I need your feedback on the webinar, the "Agile Requirements By Collaboration" article, and other topics, along with your suggestions for topics you want covered. Please email me with your comments and suggestions.

Agile Requirements Public Training Offering

We are pleased to present a public training course, Agile Requirements: Collaborating to Define and Confirm Needs (December 2-3, 2009, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA).

These two days cover the essential principles and practices of requirements development and management in an agile context, focusing on the "now view" ("now view") of requirements within the context of the overall product ("big view") and product releases ("pre-view").

If you're on an agile team - whether you're a customer/product owner, business analyst, tester, developer, architect, delivery or architecture manager, team facilitator/ScrumMaster, etc., - this training will give you practical skills and valuable insights on defining, exploring, and delivering value on your agile team.

If you're interested in this course, please register right away; our June offering was sold out. If you can't attend, I hope you'll kindly forward this announcement. And if you've passed the word already, thanks!

Course overview, objectives, and outline (IIBA Endorsed, 14 CDUs)

Registration via Maxtrain

Group discount info and registration questions: contact Patricia Miller, patricia@maxtrain.com or +1.513.322.8888 x105

Upcoming Events

Ellen will conduct a one-day workshop on agile requirements and a presentation on agile analysis at Project Summit/Business Analyst World in Boston the week of October 19.

Ellen will present a keynote on agile analysis at the Wisconsin Business Analyst Development Day (WIBADD) in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 20.

Ellen and Mary will be conducting workshop sessions and symposium talks at Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts in Anaheim, California, November 16-18, 2009. You can get a discount by using priority code PWNOV09EG when registering.

Ellen will deliver EBG's Agile Requirements: Collaborating to Define and Confirm Needs at Max Train, Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 2-3, 2009.

Archive Issues

Visit our archives to read our prior issues. Example topics include: Building Trust with Good Requirements Practices, Decisions, Decisions; Guerilla Facilitation; and more.

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Please send us copy of the publication that includes our reprint, along with a cover note referencing that it is a reprint.

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