Writing Effective Agile Requirements Workshop

Learn how to craft amazing Agile Work Items (with a focus on User Stories) that will resonate with the team and help you plan the delivery of customer value.

This is an advanced continuing education course that is a complementary addition to a Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Analyst, or Service Delivery Facilitator role.

Having a backlog or pool of options in a ready state for the team to pull from is a critical component of setting a team and organization up for success. Without a solid, well-understood, clear list of work to pull from the team will struggle, and they may even “starve”, which may be just as bad as being overburdened.

Through eight cumulative hands-on exercises, this workshop provides practical experience in industry recognized techniques and practices for crafting and refining effective Agile Work Items (depending on your approach they may also be referred to as requirements, product backlog items, work items, or user stories) to ensure they are in a ready state. For this workshop we use the User Story format as a basis for the conversation, but show how to use the tools and techniques interchangeably depending on your approach and need.

Note: This course is available to be completed in two half days or one full day.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

This course is intended for Product Owners, Product Managers, Business Analysts, Service Delivery Facilitators, or those who will be writing or refining work items (Product Backlog Items, User Stories, or Agile Requirements) for an Agile team.

By successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

• Understand how to craft, define, and set expectations for what constitutes an effective work item (Agile Requirement, Product Backlog Item, or User Story).
• Understand the structure, content and format of a well-defined Agile Work Item and associated Acceptance Tests.
• Utilize some common tools and techniques for crafting effective Agile Work Items including the INVEST Model and Key Splitting Patterns.
• Utilize key terminology and expectations associated with the Scrum Product Backlog and Product Backlog Items.
• Utilize key terminology and expectations associated with the Kanban Method and a Pool of Options.
• Use complementary management practices to keep your Work Items in a ready state.
• Empower your service or development teams through Work Items that resonate with them.
• Become familiar with at least six alternatives to the traditional User Story format and where these may be more appropriate

Attendees should have prerequisite knowledge and experience using Scrum, and/or the Business Analyst role, and/or the Product Owner role and/or a Product Management role and/or the Service Delivery Facilitator role.

Recommended prerequisites include:

Scrum certification (Scrum Master or Product Owner)
OR at least 6 months as a Product Owner, Business Analyst, Product Manager, or Service Delivery Facilitator for an Agile team.

Here are some recommended learning suggestions for before the class:

• “User Stories Applied” by Mike Cohn
• “Specification by Example” by Gojko Adzic

Welcome, Logistics & Expectations

Part 1 – Getting Started

• About this Workshop
• Defining Needs – Overview of Agile Work Items

Part 2 – User Story Fundamentals

• Structure and Format
• Acceptance Criteria

Part 3 – Tools and Techniques

• The INVEST Model and Validating Agile Work Items

• Patterns for Splitting Agile Work Items

• Great Practices to Consider

Part 4 – Next Steps

• What Can You Do Today?
• Alternatives to the Traditional User Story Format