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by Alan Bustamante

February Meeting Epilogue: The Evolving Role of the Agile BA

February 12, 2012 in Event Summary, Monthly Meetings

Thanks to all who came out to our meeting last week!  We had over 50 registered for the meeting and about 42 show up, both records, so thank you!.  We also saw plenty of new faces and added over 25 new members.  Lastly, this month was the first month we started charging a few dollars for the pizza.  Previously we had been providing it free of charge.  Thanks for working with us during this transition.  The money we save will be used to provide even better programming for you by allowing us to bring in more speakers from out of town. Stay tuned!

Like every meeting we kicked off the night with networking.  We hope those attending got to make some long lasting connections.

NetworkingMore Networking

 At the beginning of the meeting, we announced Rally Software as our newest Silver sponsor.  Thank you Rally Software!

Rally SoftwareAlston kicked off the meeting by taking a quick survey of how our member’s use Business Analysts (if at all) and what has happened during transitions to Agile development.

Alston Taking QuestionsThen Alston turned to a history of Business Analysts in the corporate world and contrasted with the core responsibilities of the Product Owner on an Agile project.

The History of the BA

Alston highlighted the four (4) traditional BA techniques that become even more important with Agile projects.  They include:

  1. Liaison between Business and IT
  2. Detailed Requirements Gathering/Definition
  3. Stakeholder Analysis
  4. Constant process re-engineering

Alston led us through a case study from one of his previous consulting engagements which gave the members some context.

Case Study

Finally Alston wrapped up with some “misuses” of the Agile BA (ABA) role and some recommendations for becoming a great ABA.

ABA anti-patterns include:

  1. The un-empowered BA serving as Proxy PO: Lack power to make decisions
  2. The un-supported BA serving as Proxy PO: Lack experience with complex projects
  3. The un-trained BA: Lack Agile training and/or experience

Recommendations for becoming a great ABA:

  1. Focus on delivering maximum business value
  2. Business knowledge (of course)
  3. Facilitation skills
  4. Business Analyst skills: Story Mapping, Personas, Business Modeling, Detail-oriented

Lots of great questions from the audience helped close out a great session!

Alston Takes QuestionsMembers Ask Questions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly Adams took home Agile Product Management with Scrum (the book recommended by Alston) and Jeanette Rosing took home an Atlassian Tshirt from our door prize drawing. Thanks Pearson and Atlassian for your contributions to Agile Cincinnati success!

Jeanette Rosing

Congrats Jeanette!

Kelly Adams

Congrats Kelly!

 

 

 

 

 

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

February Meeting: The Evolving Role of the Agile BA

January 22, 2012 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Alston will lead us in a discussion of the evolving role of the business analyst and how it has changed with the introduction of Agile.  He will share how different clients have utilized them successfully (and not so successfully) in the past few years, and what the future possibly holds for this important role. We will review highlights from the recent Agile extension to the BA Body of Knowledge Guide, scheduled to be published later this year.

AlstonAlston is the enterprise Agile Coach for Humana in Louisville, KY.  He is a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) with over 10 years of Agile experience as a Scrum Coach, ScrumMaster, Product Owner and Agile Project Manager.  During his career Alston has worked with over 20 companies at varying levels of Agile maturity.  He enjoys sharing stories of success and challenges in implementing Agile techniques and approaches.

 

When: February 9, 2012  (Second Thursday).
Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm.
Program: 6-7:30pm.
Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

Register through Eventbrite: http://agilecincinnati20120209.eventbrite.com

 Gold Sponsors:

MaxTrain

Silver Sponsor:

Cohesion

Bronze Sponsors:

Strategic Data SystemsInfoTrust

Door Prize Sponsors:

Pearson

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

January Meeting: Planning an Agile Project

December 12, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Most agile approaches focus on collecting requirements in a backlog then delivering iteratively.  Yet, how do you get that point?  The traditional path to turn a vision into an approved project is usually a ‘not so agile process.’  Agile challenges the status quo.  This session will look at applying an agile approach to the inception phase (before iteration 0) where you take a vision/roadmap and turn it into an agile project.

Our speaker, Troy Bitter, is the Director of Agile Services at Cohesion.  Over the last four years, he has focused on agile with training, coaching, delivering, and attaining the successes that agile has to offer.  He is also involved with the local PMI chapter as a trainer and the Director of the new PMI Agile certification (ACP) training.

When: January 12  (Second Thursday).
Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm.
Program: 6-7:30pm.
Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

 Gold Sponsors:

MaxTrainSeapine Software

Silver Sponsor:

Want to sponsor AC? Put your name here!

Bronze Sponsors: InfoTrust

Door Prize Sponsors:

Pearson

 

 

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

December Holiday Mixer

November 14, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Two Great Organizations, One Great Event!

Come join the Agile Cincinnati and Agile Roundtable leadership for an evening of food, fun, and comradarie as we ring in the holiday season!

Agile Cincinnati

Agile RoundtableFood and drinks are not covered for this event, so each attendee is responsible for purchasing their own meals and beverages. If you belong to an organization that would like to sponsor this event, please contact the Agile Cincinnati leadership at info@agilecincinnati.org

When: Tuesday, December 6

Time: 6:30-8:30pm.

Where: Bucca di Beppo (Rookwood), 2635 Edmondson Road, Norwood, OH 45209

 Gold Sponsors:

MaxTrain

Silver Sponsor:

Want to sponsor AC? Put your name here!

Bronze Sponsors:

InfoTrust

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Avatar of juthika

by juthika

*UPDATE – NEW TOPIC* November Meeting: Understanding the PMI-ACP exam

October 26, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Note: We apologize for the late update. Unfortunately, Brian will not be able to be with us due to his business needs next week. If you pre-registered for Brian’s topic and will not be able to make the meeting please let us know by emailing us at info@agilecincinnati.com.

Abstract:

Last year the Project Management Institute (PMI) created a buzz among Agilists everywhere when it announced it was releasing an Agile certification.  Since then, PMI has released more details about what it is calling the Agile Certified Practitioner or PMI-ACP exam, including reference materials and a road map for successfully passing the exam.  In October of this year, a pilot group was given the exam with the intent of further refining the exam and issuing the first certifications in December 2011.

So, what are the pre-requisites for the exam? What exactly does the exam cover?  How is it different from other certifications on the market?  What value does having the certification provide? Does it replace the PMP (project management professional) certification or is it a complement to the PMP?   Come prepared with these questions and more!  Sean Heuer has sat for the PMI-ACP exam as part of the original pilot group.  Alan Bustamante was on the exam writing team that generated the questions for the exam and is part of the standards committee which will determine the passing points for the exam.

We plan to have around 30 minutes of lecture and use the remaing time for Q&A, where Sean and Alan will take questions from the audience.

Bios:

Sean HeuerSean Heuer, CSM, CSP is currently a Senior Consultant with Sogeti.  Previously he was an Agile Coach/Evangelist for the Kroger Co., at its technical center in Blue Ash, Ohio where he helped lead the company’s Agile adoption and community of Agile practitioners.

 

 

Alan Bustamante

Alan Bustamante, PMP, CSP, leads Seapine Software’s Agile Services practice. Alan has worked with software development teams for more than 11 years in tester, software engineer, business analyst, and project manager roles. He has worked on projects in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, and in multiple industries, including energy, insurance, IT, manufacturing, non-profit, and telecom. Alan has spent the last four years leading Agile teams, and is passionate about promoting Agile values through his involvement in the Agile community.

 

When: November 10 (Second Thursday).

Networking: 5:30-6pm.

Program: 6-7:30pm.

Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

 Gold Sponsors:

MaxTrain

Silver Sponsor:

Want to sponsor AC? Put your name here!

Bronze Sponsors:

 InfoTrust

Food and Door Prize Sponsors:

 

Pearson

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

October Meeting: Influencing Agile teams through psychology

September 17, 2011 in Events

Abstract: Agile development teams are self directed, but you still need to influence the teams. This talk is targeted toward using psychology to influence teams. Coaches, scrum masters, thought leaders, and others will benefit from these six psychological tools that you can use to influence people on your team.

Bio:

Chuck SuscheckDr. Charles Suscheck is a nationally recognized agile thought leader who specializes in agile software development adoption at the enterprise level. With over 25 years of professional experience, Dr. Suscheck has held positions of Process Architect, Director of Research, Principle Consultant, Professor, and Professional Trainer at some of the most recognized companies in America. He has spoken at national and international conferences and has over 30 publications to his credit. Dr. Suscheck is also one of the organizers of the Agile Coach Camp.

When: October 13 (Second Thursday).
Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm.
Program: 6-7:30pm.
Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

 

Food and Door Prize Sponsors: Pearson

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Avatar of juthika

by juthika

September Meeting – Retrospective: Cincinnati Children’s Agile Journey

September 8, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Abstract:

We had been facing challenges using the traditional waterfall method and needed to improve project outcomes. After attending several Agile presentations we decided to give the Agile process a try. Join us as we share our experiences over the last two years of using the Agile framework.  We’ll discuss how we introduced it, what type of projects we have implemented using this process and how we keep spreading the word and moving forward.  We’ll be talking about what went well; the positive impacts we have made delivering projects at CCHMC and, of course, what can be improved!

Bio:

MarjorieMarjorie is a member of the Project Management Office at CCHMC. She has over 25 years of IT experience in a number of verticals including insurance, manufacturing and telecommunications.  Various roles have been programmer, resource manager, project manager and Agile evangelist.

 

RobinRobin manages the PeopleSoft HCM/ELM and Kronos development teams at CCHMC. She has over 25 years of IT experience in a number of verticals supporting human resources information systems.  Her roles have included: programmer, resource manager, project manager and Agile advocate.

 

When: September 08 (Second Thursday).  Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm. Program: 6-7:30pm.

Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

Food sponsor: TBD

This event qualifies for 1 PDU. Attendees must pre-register through Eventbrite and sign in at the door to qualify.

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by Levent Gorur

August Meeting Epilogue: Applying Lean Principles to Marketing: An Overview

August 12, 2011 in Event Summary, Monthly Meetings

This is our second Lean presentation out of software/IS realm. We believe it’s important to open our eyes to other Agile/Lean practicing domains of other business functions. Mutually, we are all working for the same boss “Customer”

We started our night with pizza sponsored by Infotrust LLC.

Joe carried his presentation from manufacturing to marketing while he’s describing how marketing and sales organizations can utilize Lean principles and tools. Here are some highlights from his presentation.

Process is missing in Sales and Marketing.  No continuous improvement is possible without a methodology. You have to understand the metrics to understand the degree of improvement.

We’re not living in a supply driven world anymore, we’re now in a demand driven world. We really don’t have sales channel, we have touch points with customer.

We need to apply more Lean Thinking to our actions;

  • Appreciation of a system (embrace a system)
  • Theory of knowledge
  • The psychology of change
  • Knowledge about variation

Continuous Improvement is a necessity. Metrics are required to judge the rate and degree of improvement. There are also barriers to change; commission structures, understanding metrics and measurements.

Knowledge and Sales PDCA cycle is key part winning the customer.

You have to understand customer’s decision making process. Some of the tools that can be used in Sales and Marketing process are; Business Model Canvas, Customer Journey Canvas, Value co-creation canvas and A3.

Here are some of the links that Joe referred in his presentation, he also announced that he’s going to make his presentation available in Slideshare.

http://www.business901.com

http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com

Again, we’d like to thank Joe Dagger on behalf of Agile Cincinnati Community to share his knowledge and experience with us. You can reach him via email at jtdager using the first domain above.

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

August Meeting – Applying Lean Principles to Marketing: An Overview

July 25, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Abstract:

When one first hears the terms Lean and value stream, most think about manufacturing processes and waste. Putting the word marketing behind both of them is hardly creative or effective. Whether marketing meets Lean under this name or another, it will be very close to the Lean methodologies developed in software primarily under the Agile connotation. This presentation is about bridging that gap. It may not bring all the pieces into place, but it is a starting point for creating true iterative marketing cycles based on not only Lean principles but more importantly on customer value. It scares many. It is not about being in a cozy facility or going to Gemba on the factory floor. It is about starting with collaboration with your customer and not ending there. It is about creating sales teams that are made up of different departments, not other sales people.

Bio:

Joe DagerJoe Dager’s career had been primarily in the manufacturing of construction equipment. He started as a welder at Asphalt Drum Mixers (ADM) in 1977 advancing to President with a minority ownership. He sold his ownership position and left there in 1994 to start another business. He purchased Asphalt Machinery Corporation the following year and Burke Heating Systems Company in 1997. He implemented Lean manufacturing principles in each company then sold these two companies several years ago and have been consulting since that time.

His consulting has centered on training and coaching individuals and organizations in Lean marketing principles. In recent years, he has developed another set of programs, Achieving Expert Status, Marketing your Black Belt and Building the Lean Marketing House that he delivers as a program to quality consultants, leaders and organizations. He is well acquainted with the use of marketing plans on an individual and organizational level. However, his  experience is in using them as active documents that are constantly updated through continuous improvement.

More information is available through Joe’s Linkedin Profile, Joseph T. Dager or website: http://business901.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @business901

When: August 11 (Second Thursday of August).  Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm. Program: 6-7:30pm.

Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

Food sponsor: InfoTrust, LLC

This event qualifies for 1 PDU. Attendees must pre-register through Eventbrite and sign in at the door to qualify.

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

July Meeting Epilogue: Risk Based Compliance – Negotiating Pathways to Innovation

July 17, 2011 in Monthly Meetings

Are you a Ship or a Castle? Do you have a flexible process? Do you fail fast? Are you ensuring that you deliver customer value?  Many thanks to Teresa O’shea for asking these important questions during her presentation on Lean in Medical Devices. We saw first hand how J&J using smaller business units to maintain an innovative, Lean environment, then transfers successful products to the Castle.

Teresa talks about Ships and Castles

Teresa talks about Ships and Castles

Teresa talks about risk profiles

Teresa talks about risk profiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’d like to extend a special thanks to our members who came out in support of a non-software topic.  Many of you commented on the relevance to creating the Lean organization which includes areas outside of software.  Indeed we have a forward thinking group!

Lastly, thanks to Seapine Software for proving the food!

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