The Burn Up - Agile Software Delivery

Most software delivery use a story backlog to manage delivery: effectively a list of things to delivery. But often the backlog is at best a mess, at worst confusing and misleading. A good backlog provides structure and facilitates delivery, a bad one adds confusion and inefficiencies. Here is our 5 minute fix to help you optimise your backlog. Find detailed show notes on this episode page: https://burnupmedia.com/2019/04/01/ep10-tldr-backlogs/ Related reading: https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/keep-your-backlog-lean-and-clean-4f66652b2cc2 https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/is-backlog-a-dirty-word-cdcb89570b2f https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/epics-stories-themes-and-features-4637712cff5c https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/we-should-really-visualise-requirements-8d38280cf58d Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Story mapping is maybe the easiest tool to quickly and reliably elicit requirements. It’s my default that always delivers reliable results, not matter the situation. Here is our 5 minute how-to. Find detailed show notes on this episode page: https://burnupmedia.com/2019/03/25/ep09-tldr-story-mapping/ Related reading: https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/storymapping-3a3f0d67d681 https://www.adaptivepath.org/ideas/the-anatomy-of-an-experience-map/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_storming Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

For this episode we have invited our colleague Dave Hewett to discuss all things Engagement Management, Client Service and Account Handling. We will touch on what good ‘client servicing’ means and where the balance lies between saying ‘yes’ and saying ‘no’. Ultimately engagement management is all about ensuring delivery in a way that both the client and the delivery team are happy. Remember, only happy teams deliver good outcomes. Client services is a role of many ‘hats’ and switching context is possibly the most important skill in this role, be this to dive into granular detail within a domain or to switch domain completely across different clients. Dave also explains that a thick skin certainly helps with the role, where you often end up as the go-to for everyone from the client to your team offloading stress, anger, frustrations and worries. That said, it is also important for an engagement manager to detect what is important and what isn’t: things you can let go and ignore as ‘noise’ and those things that really need attention. Dave Hewett, born in New Zealand, is a UK-based based Engagement Manager for Equal Experts with a 30+ year work portfolio in business analysis, delivery and engagement management across industries including energy, telephony, finance, automotive and many others. ------- Expanded show notes and leave questions or comments for this episode at: https://burnupmedia.com/2019/03/18/ep08:-team-roles---engagement-management Show Notes Dave Hewett is UK based Engagement manager for Equal Experts. Contact him if you are interested to hear how Equal Experts can help your organisation in delivering software or affecting change. Equal Experts: https://www.equalexperts.com/ Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-hewett-b97609/ Subscribe to the podcast at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Everyone has heard of User Stories, most delivery teams use them, most business analysts or product owners write them, but often we are not writing them well. Here is our 5 minute fix to help you write great stories. Find detailed show notes on this episode page: https://burnupmedia.com/2019/03/06/ep07-tldr-user-story-writing Related reading: https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/what-makes-good-user-stories-451c56b5756f https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/clean-user-stories-and-backlogs-bf203b6e1257 Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting

For this episode we have invited our colleagues Isabell Britsch and Tarik Johnston to discuss all things Digital Design with us. We will touch on the importance of placing the user at the centre of things and in this context will explain the differences between service design (the overall end to end including the organisational view), user experience design (how user interact at the various touchpoints), user interface design (the design of an interface provided at a specific touchpoint). We chat about the difference between experience design (how things work) and visual design (how things look). And also why both are important in the design of products and services satisfy user needs and business goals. More so, user experience design is a vital factor in requirements analysis and iterative, collaborative solution design. In this context we will specifically argue that all software applications, even the most internal operational system, will benefit from, in fact require, user experience and visual design. As usual, in our episodes on roles we will touch on ‘what makes a good practitioner’ in these disciplines, how their day to day work looks like, and how one can get into these roles… Maybe the most important takeaway is that all software teams must adjust their thinking and start including user experience and visual design into their solution design and implementation process. Isabell Britsch is a London based Design Consultant and Art Director and has a 20 year work portfolio with clients across a wide range of industries and projects in digital, print and TV. When she does not design, she teaches Yoga and Meditation. Tarik Johnston is a London based User Experience Designer with a 15 year work portfolio in designing user-centered digital applications in the public and private sector across ecommerce, banking, government, travel and property. Show Notes Isabell Britsch is a London based Design Consultant and Art Director and renowned yoga and meditation teacher. Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/isabellbritsch Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabell-britsch/ Yoga and meditation here: https://www.yogawithisabell.com/landing Tarik Johnston is a London based User Experience Designer and can best be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarik-johnston-625ba96/ Subscribe to the podcast at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

In this Episode we have invited our colleague Swathi Poddar to discuss why the Business Analyst and Product Owner are such important roles for every successful delivery team. Successful projects are based on a clear understanding of the domain, specifically goals and needs, and how to best satisfy these with a solution within the given constraints (time, money, regulatory, etc). With the Product Owner hat on, we take care of the up-front bit, i.e. the focusing on strategic fit, while with the business analyst hat on, we focus more on the nitty gritty details of the solutions. But really, both roles are just a different focus the same spectrum. In practice they can be taken on by the same or different individuals. Ultimately both roles are about ‘making sense’ of a problem domain, enabling teams to articulate complexity, explore items under discussion and converge towards a clear and valuable outcome. As with most roles in the ‘21st century’, knowledge of tools and techniques (how to do things) are being downgraded to hygiene factors, while approach and mindset (how to go about things, specifically communication and collaboration) become factors of excellence. Consequently the business analyst and product owner are key roles for any well run project. Swathi Poddar is a Business Analyst, Product Owner and Software Consultant. She has worked and studied in the UK, US and currently works out of Pune and Banglore, India. Show Notes Further thoughts on the topic can be found at our blog: The Business Analyst Role ‘analysed’: https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/how-to-become-a-business-analyst-1-mindset-vs-skills-435ef3bf1c5a Successfully interviewing as Business Analyst or Product Owner: https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/product-owner-interview-guide-d504ad1de1e2 BA Career survey: https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/business-analysts-how-did-you-get-into-your-role-cea4b64b8017 Our guest in this episode is Swathi Poddar, Business Analyst, Product Owner and Software Consultant. She can be ‘found’ and contacted here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swathi-poddar/ Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

This Episode, the start a series on our Team Roles Series, we will set the scene on which roles are generally required for a well set-up software delivery team. In this Episodes we will be introducing each role and set the scene for subsequent episodes in which we will invite craftswomen and men skilled in the various roles to discuss raison d’être, what good looks like, value that role adds and, in fact, what that roes ‘does’. Expected insightful discussions with some of the industry’s top talent from all over the world. We will be quite flexible with rolling out the episodes in this series, so stay tuned, and let this unfold organically over the next couple of months… Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

We’ve all been in situations where suppliers and clients alike were extolling the benefits of nearshoring, offshoring or other forms of cross-location working. And indeed there are very good reasons on why we may want to consider such resourcing strategies, but more often than not we find that making this work in practice and realising the benefits without introducing too much pain is harder than anticipated. Today, we are in Bangalore and have invited our colleague Swathi Poddar to talk offshoring and distributed teams with us. Swathi Poddar is a Business Analyst, Product Owner and Software Consultant. She has worked and studied in the UK, US and currently works out of Pune and Banglore, India. Show Notes All three of us agree: colocated teams are easiest. But not always feasible. Globalisation and distributed teams are here to stay. Be this for cost efficiencies, scale or multi-region support. So get used to it. Here is how to make them work: Hire skilled talent  Put conscious effort into forming and supporting distributed teams Align all stakeholders Over communicate To make this really work, you need to put the effort in. And be under no illusion, distributed teams come at a cost. If you get it wrong, you will suffer all sorts of problems from inefficiencies to quality issues. If you get it right, it will make your delivery faster and better. Further thoughts on the topic of Distributed teams can be found at our blog: https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/on-working-with-distributed-teams-475b12be4d3 Our guest in this episode is Swathi Poddar, Business Analyst, Product Owner and Software Consultant. She can be ‘found’ and contacted here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swathi-poddar/ Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

EP02 Values Alignment In this Episode we chat about Values. Values that we as individuals, as supplier and clients hold, and why it is important that we are mindful of such values. We discuss what happens when values are misaligned and propose ways on how to align them. Because we both know from experience: When values are misaligned, bad things will happen! Show Notes Interesting reading on topics mentioned in this podcast are the Agile Manifesto, and the less authoritative, but nevertheless highly relevant Declaration of Interdependence. Expanded show notes and leave questions or comments for this episode at: https://burnupmedia.com/2019/01/27/ep02-values-alignment/ Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

In this Episode with chat about Values. Values that we as individuals, as supplier and client hold, and why it is important that we are mindful of such values. We discuss what happens when values are misaligned and propose ways on how to align them. Because we both know from experience: When values are misaligned, bad things will happen!

EO1 What is Agile? In this Episode with provide a high level view on what Agile is. We touch on mindset, process and techniques. We dispel the myth of Agile being a silver bullet that solves all software delivery problems, discuss whether Agile is always right and provide some early insight into how to apply Agile successfully. Show Notes Further reading on topics mentioned in this podcast are the Agile Manifesto, and the less authoritative, but nevertheless highly relevant Declaration of Interdependence. Also, a quick overview of Scrum and XP. If you are up for a related novel check out The Phoenix Project, if you are interested in agile concepts, do read the introductions to DSMD and SAFe. Expanded show notes and leave questions or comments for this episode at: https://burnupmedia.com/2019/01/27/ep-01-what-is-agile/ Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

EP00 Introducing The Burn Up Podcast Introducing The Burn Up: a podcast about all things Agile and Software Delivery. Based on our experience as IT consultants we will talk about what makes software projects successful or fail; we will introduce interesting concepts and techniques, dispel myths and challenge common assumptions. We will look at strategies and technologies and will chat with industry leaders and top talent. We will provide inspiration and guidance for clients and suppliers, management and practitioners, to help make software delivery more enjoyable and successful. Show Notes This episode is an easy start, so if you are keen, head right over to our first episode. Expanded show notes and leave questions or comments for this episode at: https://burnupmedia.com/2019/01/27/ep-00-introducing-the-burn-up/ Subscribe at: http://theburnup.com/ Follow The Burn Up on Twitter: @burnupmedia Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/burnupmedia Email us: podcasts@burnupmedia.com Read Marcel's Blog at www.thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk More interesting stuff on our reading list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4905904-m?shelf=software-consulting This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Further Information at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/