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MBA021: Is the Business Analyst Role Just Overhead? Interview with John Sextro
“Let’s get rid of Business Analysts and ScrumMasters.” In this episode, we’re joined by John Sextro. John recently gave a provocative lightening talk at a conference about removing Business Analysts and ScrumMasters from agile teams. We’ll discuss what this would mean for the BA role.
John Sextro has been in the software industry for 21 years and coaches agile teams. John is also the host of This Agile Life – a podcast that has a group of developers and agile coaches discuss real world issues they’re seeing in agile software development. He is a frequent speaker at agile conferences.
After listening to this episode, you will understand:
Key Takeaways
Are Business Analysts and ScrumMasters mostly overhead to the company?
The skills are sometimes seen as something anyone on the team can have and do. When you have a highly efficient and effective team, then may be able to move away from having a dedicated Business Analyst or ScrumMaster.
The ScrumMaster may shift from having one team to having two or three teams as the teams mature. Business Analysts may be moved off agile teams to other roles.
What does an agile Business Analyst do?
Business Analysts help teams avoid the mistake of working on lower priority items by helping them to understand priorities and the value of their backlog items.
Once teams are mature, they may begin shifting the need for a dedicated Business Analyst and adopt a whole team approach. This means that the team takes the tasks and responsibilities of the Business Analyst and spreads them throughout the team so that everyone is capable of speaking with users, writing user stories, understanding value, etc.
Why would an organization want to move Business Analysts off of agile teams?
Perhaps it would be more efficient for developers to speak directly with business representatives instead of going through someone like a Business Analyst. Have developers and the Product Owner work directly with users without working to translate those interactions and collaboration into documentation.
This would remove some cost overhead for operating the team. The organization can also add more developers to the team based on the openings created by removing the ScrumMaster and Business Analyst to increase throughput.
Business Analysts may be able to move to a higher role on the organization such as at a PMO level to provide value for more strategic or enterprise initiatives while still being available to coach and support teams when needed.
Bonus Tip: For effective stand-up meetings, focus on the value you delivered and not the tasks in which you’ve participated. Use the same approach for your meetings. Make sure there’s an agenda for any meeting to which you’re invited. Also, find out why you’re invited and the value you’re expected to bring to the meeting.
Links mentioned in this episode
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
The post MBA021: Is the Business Analyst Role Just Overhead? Interview with John Sextro appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
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By Dave Saboe, CBAP, PMP, CSM | Certified Business Analysis Professional | Agile Coach
4.7
8282 ratings
“Let’s get rid of Business Analysts and ScrumMasters.” In this episode, we’re joined by John Sextro. John recently gave a provocative lightening talk at a conference about removing Business Analysts and ScrumMasters from agile teams. We’ll discuss what this would mean for the BA role.
John Sextro has been in the software industry for 21 years and coaches agile teams. John is also the host of This Agile Life – a podcast that has a group of developers and agile coaches discuss real world issues they’re seeing in agile software development. He is a frequent speaker at agile conferences.
After listening to this episode, you will understand:
Key Takeaways
Are Business Analysts and ScrumMasters mostly overhead to the company?
The skills are sometimes seen as something anyone on the team can have and do. When you have a highly efficient and effective team, then may be able to move away from having a dedicated Business Analyst or ScrumMaster.
The ScrumMaster may shift from having one team to having two or three teams as the teams mature. Business Analysts may be moved off agile teams to other roles.
What does an agile Business Analyst do?
Business Analysts help teams avoid the mistake of working on lower priority items by helping them to understand priorities and the value of their backlog items.
Once teams are mature, they may begin shifting the need for a dedicated Business Analyst and adopt a whole team approach. This means that the team takes the tasks and responsibilities of the Business Analyst and spreads them throughout the team so that everyone is capable of speaking with users, writing user stories, understanding value, etc.
Why would an organization want to move Business Analysts off of agile teams?
Perhaps it would be more efficient for developers to speak directly with business representatives instead of going through someone like a Business Analyst. Have developers and the Product Owner work directly with users without working to translate those interactions and collaboration into documentation.
This would remove some cost overhead for operating the team. The organization can also add more developers to the team based on the openings created by removing the ScrumMaster and Business Analyst to increase throughput.
Business Analysts may be able to move to a higher role on the organization such as at a PMO level to provide value for more strategic or enterprise initiatives while still being available to coach and support teams when needed.
Bonus Tip: For effective stand-up meetings, focus on the value you delivered and not the tasks in which you’ve participated. Use the same approach for your meetings. Make sure there’s an agenda for any meeting to which you’re invited. Also, find out why you’re invited and the value you’re expected to bring to the meeting.
Links mentioned in this episode
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
The post MBA021: Is the Business Analyst Role Just Overhead? Interview with John Sextro appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
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