Who is an Agile Business Analyst? - Understanding Skills, Roles and Responsibilities

Requirement Gathering Phase

In this phase, the agile business analyst plays a crucial role in gathering requirements from stakeholders, analyzing them, and creating a clear understanding of what the software needs to accomplish.

The role of agile business analyst in the requirement gathering phase is as follows:

• Agile BA gathers all the high-level requirements and breaks them down to fit in time-boxed delivery cycles.
• Refining the next few weeks’ worth of requirements into details for the developers to start.
• Lower priority requirements will remain on the list as options until they are the next priority.

Documentation

Documentation is a critical part of software development, and the agile BA is responsible for creating and maintaining documentation related to requirements, workflows, and processes. The role of business analyst in agile is to create the following documents during the documentation phase.

• Epics, user stories, acceptance criteria
• Backlog features/epics/user stories and use cases, Backlogs.

Note- The epics, user stories, and acceptance criteria are followed while developing the project.

Requirement Confirmation & Change Request

After the requirements are gathered, the BA must confirm them with stakeholders to ensure accuracy and completeness. A business analyst in agile performs the following role for the requirement confirmation and change request phase.

• Change requests are anticipated and considered anytime during the development cycle. On every iteration, the feedback is taken by the agile business analysts during every time-boxed delivery cycle so that further changes can be accommodated.

Iteration

An Agile software development methodology involves multiple iterations or sprints, each focusing on delivering a specific set of requirements.

In the iteration phase, the business analyst performs the following role:

• An agile business analyst will regularly be connected with the development team in every iteration cycle.
• An agile BA will communicate/demo developed functionality in front of a client to obtain their feedback.

Progress Update & Delivery Cycle

Throughout the development cycle, the BA must provide progress updates to stakeholders and ensure that the project remains on track.

The role of an agile BA in progress update and the delivery cycle is as follows:

• Visibility is high as BA will demo functionality in regular iteration intervals.
• After client approval, projects get delivered in small functional slices in every iteration.

Improvement Aspect

The Agile BA is responsible for identifying areas of improvement in the software development cycle and working with the team to implement these improvements.

• An Agile BA is responsible for ongoing feedback at the end of each iteration.
• The feedback is leveraged in the next iteration.

2. Agile Business Analyst Role as a Product Owner

The role of an agile business analyst as a product owner becomes a blend of both domains. Here are some of the roles of an agile BA as a product owner.

• The BA is responsible for being in charge of everything related to the business, product, and documentation.
• The BA constantly acts as a pilot for the agile team and the stakeholders.
• The BA is responsible for interacting with the customers, understanding the requirements, and then documenting them.
• The BA creates the user stories followed by prioritization.
• The BA is also responsible for interacting with the entire agile team and educating them on where and how to start, among other information.

In a nutshell, an agile business analyst must have an in-depth knowledge of the product to ultimately lead to the successful development and delivery of the respective product.

3. Agile Business Analyst Role as a Scrum Team Member

In SCRUM, the product backlog captures the requirements for the entire product/project. A set of requirements taken up to be completed in a particular SPRINT are listed in the sprint backlog. The product owner is responsible for managing the product & sprint backlog.

At the start of the project, product owners work with the customer and the stakeholders to come up with the broad level requirements (EPICs, Themes, and user stories). Based on the prioritization of requirements, user stories are detailed out to create detailed user story cards.The team estimates and discusses the user stories (prioritized for this sprint) in the presence of the product owner. The product owner answers the queries relating to the requirements.

During the development, the Scrum team collaborates with the product owner to validate the solution (read individual screens or functionalities).The product owner also manages the backlogs and keeps them up-to-date. This includes – adding new user stories, deleting or modifying user stories based on the interactions with the customer.

To conclude, the product owner’s role aligns with the business analyst role in any other project, however, the nuisances of Agile methodologies make it challenging. Agile methodologies are not easy to implement in the true spirit as it requires not only a team’s alignment, it requires changes across the group or even organization.

You may also like our latest blog related to “Product Owner vs Business Analyst vs Scrum Master?”, click on the link, and explore other areas of Business Analyst.

4. Agile Business Analyst Role as a Business Advisor

In an Agile environment, a Business Analyst (BA) plays the role of a business advisor. The Agile BA helps the development team understand the business domain and ensures that the final product meets the needs of the customer.

I. Agile BA Role to Analyze the Business Domain:

The Agile BA analyzes the business domain by identifying and documenting business requirements, conducting stakeholder interviews, and understanding the customer's needs. By doing so, the BA ensures that the final product meets the business objectives and aligns with the overall strategy of the organization.

II. Agile BA Role to Stock the Product Backlog:

The Agile BA stocks the product backlog by identifying and prioritizing user stories based on business value. They work closely with stakeholders and the development team to ensure that the product backlog contains all the necessary features and requirements needed to meet the customer's needs.

III. Agile BA Role to Groom the Product Backlog:

The BA grooms the product backlog by refining user stories, adding acceptance criteria, and removing redundant or unnecessary items. They collaborate with the development team to ensure that the backlog is properly structured, and the items are appropriately estimated.

5. Agile Business Analyst Role as a Business Coach

As an Agile Business Analyst (BA), one of the critical roles in an Agile project is that of a Business Coach. A BA's primary responsibility is to bridge the gap between the business and the development team, ensure that the requirements are understood, and facilitate collaboration between stakeholders. Let's look at the different ways a BA can act as a Business Coach.

I. Role of Agile BA to Facilitate Collaboration:

A BA facilitates collaboration by bringing together stakeholders from different areas of the business and the development team. They act as a mediator, guiding the team in identifying solutions that meet both business and technical requirements. A BA fosters a culture of collaboration by encouraging open communication and collaboration, leading to better team performance and project outcomes.

II. Role of Agile BA to Generate Examples:

One of the most important tasks of an agile BA is to generate examples that explain business requirements and help the development team in understanding how to meet them. By creating user stories, workflows, and other documentation, a BA provides the team with a clear understanding of what they are building and how it will be used. This helps the team to build better solutions that meet the needs of the business.

III. Role of Agile BA to Transfer Knowledge:

An Agile BA must transfer knowledge to the development team, which includes technical information, business requirements, and domain knowledge. They are responsible for ensuring that the team has a clear understanding of what they are building and why. By sharing knowledge, a BA empowers the team to make informed decisions that contribute to project success.

IV. Role of Agile BA to be a Good Team Member:

Finally, an agile BA must be a good team member. This means actively listening, providing feedback, and working collaboratively with the development team. A BA should be open to suggestions and willing to adapt to changes, keeping the project's goals in mind. They should be approachable and available to team members, fostering a positive team dynamic that contributes to overall project success.