{"id":7693,"date":"2020-06-25T13:20:24","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T12:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trainingbytesize.com.au\/?p=7693"},"modified":"2020-06-25T13:20:24","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T12:20:24","slug":"agile-business-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trainingbytesize.com\/nz\/blog\/agile-business-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Agile Business Analysis, an introduction to APMG’s certification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we\u2019re exploring Agile Business Analysis <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Agile Business Analysis an increasingly popular subject and the APMG<\/a> course, the Agile BA<\/a>, complements other agile management disciplines such as Agile PM and Scrum. <\/strong><\/p>\n

To get a thorough, in-depth and accurate view, we spoke to experienced trainer John Humphries; he tells us why he chose this certification, what he loves about the content of the course, how it differs from APMG’s Agile Project Management certification<\/a>, and why he wishes this qualification was around when he was starting his project management career!<\/p>\n

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John, can you begin by outlining your experience in Business Analysis?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a technical project manager, it usually fell to me to understand the real customer needs after a project idea had been sold to a customer. It helped when I was invited to work with the sales team in the early stages. We could then discuss what was possible and not possible within the scope of our products, our capabilities and capacity.<\/p>\n

The Agile Business Analysis course would have been extremely useful early on in my career for its ideas in getting closer to user\u2019s real needs and help speed up the way I engaged with end-users and customers.<\/p>\n

So, in your view, is the Agile Business Analysis course useful?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Very useful indeed. And offers a holistic approach to requirements analysis. By that I mean it looks at the bigger picture from an organisational perspective.<\/p>\n

It starts by covering how to make and assessment of the wider business environment and understanding objectives and value in the context of the proposed project.<\/p>\n

An Agile refresher to ensure everyone is on the same page in terms of understanding the principles, process, roles and products. This section is only as detailed as needed for the particular class.<\/p>\n

The course then encourages a useful discussion on stakeholder engagement and roles and responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Followed by practical work using techniques or practices to understand and develop customer journeys, methods of eliciting and drawing out requirements and working with business representatives to prioritise those requirements.<\/p>\n

Part of the Agile BA\u2019s role is likely to involve facilitating workshops and there is a module devoted to this.<\/p>\n

Who would benefit from the Agile Business Analysis certification?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The course has been devised for several audiences. For example, business analysts from traditional business backgrounds who wish to gain an agile perspective. It will definitely be beneficial to members of agile teams as it will broaden their knowledge on gathering and formulating requirements. I\u2019m talking in particular of roles such as business visionaries and product owners, agile project managers, team leaders, scrum masters, business ambassadors and testers.<\/p>\n

And of course, it\u2019s squarely aimed at anyone wishing to gain a recognized certification in Agile Business Analysis. This would be a great course for them.<\/p>\n

What can you say about the Agile BA handbook?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The course text, the AgileBA Handbook<\/a>, was developed with the Agile Business Consortium, who have been thought leaders in Agile for over 20 years. It gives really superb practical and comprehensive guidance for the role of the Business Analyst who needs to work in working in an Agile way and gives context to the role beyond project boundaries into the organization\u2019s mission, strategy and objectives.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s lead author, Dot Tudor<\/a>, is well known in the agile world as a coach, an instructor, and practitioner with many successful agile transformation projects to her credit. It really comes through in the book.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an excellent reference book for any agile team, even if they don\u2019t plan on taking the course.<\/p>\n

What prompted you to take the Agile BA course and when did you take it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the recurring questions on courses such as PRINCE2<\/a>, Agile Project Management<\/a>, and Better Business Cases<\/a> has been \u2018how to get better at capturing the requirements?\u2019 And while I have my own experiences to relate to and took an online course with the IIBA<\/a>, that\u2019s the International Institute of Business Analysis, several years ago, I wanted something for today\u2019s agile world.<\/p>\n

I felt that as the APMG\u2019s Agile BA course, uses the same terminology as their Agile PM course it would supplement my overall knowledge to better inform students in those other project management classes.<\/p>\n

As a trainer I was looking for more \u2018filling for the sandwich\u2019 so to speak. It\u2019s having the ability to talk in-depth with delegates about an associated subject. Also, as a consultant it I wanted to ensure I was using appropriate up to date techniques. As Stephen Covey would say: \u2018sharpening the saw\u2019.<\/p>\n

I took the course in September 2019. The course was delivered over two consecutive weekends. We did the Foundation exam on the second Saturday and the Practitioner exam at the end of the Sunday presentation. It was quite intensive and our instructor, Dawn Kidd, kept us enthused and busy, ensuring that we understood everything at every step along the way.<\/p>\n

Are there any pre-requisites for this course?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A little knowledge of planning techniques, agile and change management could be useful, but certainly not essential. If you are already familiar with those areas there\u2019s still new things to learn. I thought it was going to be an easy course with my background and instead I found it both interesting and challenging (in a good way) in learning about ideas from the business analyst\u2019s viewpoint and practicing applying the learning to different case studies.<\/p>\n

What is it you like about this course and how is it different from the Agile PM course?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a trainer I like to get back in the classroom as a learner. It\u2019s great seeing how different trainers approach a subject and to experience their style of delivery and facilitation. It\u2019s also fun being a participant, getting to work with the others and discussing practicalities from a learners perspective.<\/p>\n

What I like about the Agile BA course is that it encourages focus on the wider business environment and strategic objectives. This is to ensure alignment of the underlying requirements and benefits.<\/p>\n

The Agile PM course on the other hand focuses on the project environment in which the agile deliverables are produced.<\/p>\n

The Agile BA course describes stakeholder identification and engagement with a range of people external to a project and highlights specific interactions with other members of the agile project level roles and solution development team. The Agile PM course is almost exclusively concerned with the latter.<\/p>\n

The DSDM Agile Principles, Process, Roles and Practices\u00a0are described to an appropriate level from the Agile BA’s perspective in contrast to\u00a0the\u00a0Agile PM’s viewpoint. I think that a fair summary of the main differences.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s great that it\u2019s been written based on real experiences. So, how do delegates learn to apply the learning?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s essential to apply the learning quickly as we learn by doing. Applying the ideas quickly will help participants better remember when and how to apply the various techniques and methods.<\/p>\n

In real situations, customers don\u2019t always know exactly what they need or what is even possible. \u201cShow me something and I\u2019ll tell you if it\u2019s what I want\u201d is the kind of reply I sometimes get. It\u2019s fair enough really, because customers and users are sometimes looking for prompts to help them verbalise and articulate what they want. They know in their heads, but it\u2019s getting the right words out! This is when working with a Business Analyst can be invaluable.<\/p>\n

So with that in mind John, let\u2019s say I\u2019m already certified in project management and agile, and I\u2019ve been gathering and analysing requirements on many client projects and I think I\u2019m pretty good at it, is there any benefit in getting certified as an Agile Business Analyst?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As project managers, we develop a sense of how to discuss requirements, and get experienced in asking the right kinds of questions, in testing our assumptions and not second guessing what it is the customer actually needs. This course helps us build on our foundation knowledge and experience.<\/p>\n

The number one reason for me was to learn about business analysis techniques geared to an agile environment.\u00a0 The Agile BA Foundation and Practitioner certifications are a real bonus.<\/p>\n

The great thing about the course is that by the end, you\u2019ll have tried out many practical examples where you\u2019ve applied the techniques. This means you\u2019re \u2018ready to run\u2019 as soon as you get back to your workplace.<\/p>\n

It can be a career enhancing qualification as many organisations are now using Agile techniques to help deliver business change and agile focused certifications are considered favourably by recruiters and employers as job searches will show.<\/p>\n

Personally, it has led to contract assignments and I recently became a certified Agile BA trainer.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So from what we\u2019ve heard, the certification shares many of concepts with DSDM\u2019s (dynamic systems development method) Agile Project Framework. \u00a0It makes the Business Analyst role extremely clear so you\u2019ll be able to fall right into the role in a real Agile team acting as that person with one foot in the project level team and the other in the Solution Development Team. You\u2019ll certainly be instrumental help in achieving outcomes that meet the real business needs.<\/p>\n

Plus, as an added bonus, when you get the certification you become eligible for a year\u2019s free membership with the Agile Business Consortium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Studying for your Agile Business Analysis certification with Training ByteSize<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At Training ByteSize we offer an excellent standard of training and a variety of options in which to learn, however our online course is by far the most popular. This option is flexible so you can fit your learning around your busy schedule, with minimal disruption to your day job.<\/p>\n

For just $749 you can get access to our interactive and engaging online learning management system for three months, featuring films, activities and an extensive mock exam simulator, plus the online exam. Discover more about our training options here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Try before you buy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Knowing what the course looks like before you buy anything is a service we\u2019re really proud to offer. Click here to see our Agile Business Analysis online course demo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Look out for offers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We\u2019re always supporting our customers with fantastic offers to help ensure you can afford to train, so make sure you check out our offers page<\/a> before you buy. At the moment we are offering Agile Business Analysis online learning plus the online exam for incredible value.<\/p>\n

Talk to us<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We\u2019re here for you at every stage of your project management career, so please take the opportunity to talk to us. You can use the chat function in the bottom right of your screen, email us at learning@trainingbytesize.com<\/a>, or call us on +61 (02)8072 0653.<\/p>\n

If you are looking to train a team of people in Agile Business Analysis, you\u2019ll find that our onsite training is a viable and cost-effective option for you. If you would like to find out more about this option or any other aspect of the course, please do get in touch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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