Welcome to the second in a series of three blogs in which we discuss Agile Business Analysis. In our previous blog, we talked about what Agile business analysis is and the Agile mindset. In today’s blog, we will take some time to cover business analysis skills that can be leveraged in an Agile Environment. Adding …
Continue reading Business Analysis – Adding Value in an Agile Environment
Dr. Susan Heidorn, PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP is the Director of Business Solutions for Watermark Learning in Minneapolis. Susan is an experienced consultant, facilitator, speaker, and trainer, with over 25 years of business experience. Susan directs programs in business analysis, business relationship management, and leadership, including developing and delivering courses and providing consulting. She has been a speaker at a number of IIBA® and PMI® conferences as well as local and regional organizations, boards, and private clients. She is a lifelong learner whose passion it is to guide people into achieving excellence in their personal and professional lives and works on creating positive impacts to the organization.
Influencing skills in today’s work environment is central to getting anything done. Consider what you do day in and day out. How much of your time is spent trying to get someone to think, feel, or do something they aren’t already thinking, feeling, or doing? We often think of the demand for influencing skills as …
Continue reading Three Contributors to the Importance of Influencing Skills
Andrea Brockmeier, PMP, CSM, PMI-PBA, BRMP is the Director of Project Management for Watermark Learning. Andrea is an experienced trainer, facilitator, speaker, and project manager, with over 25 years of business experience. Andrea oversees certification and skills development curriculum in project management, business analysis, and leadership. She has been a speaker at IIBA® and PMI® conferences and is an active volunteer. She enjoys practicing what she teaches and has a steady stream of projects that she manages. Andrea is highly committed to partnering with her clients through projects, consulting, and training, and seeks to make every engagement enjoyable as well as valuable.
When I first heard the phrase “fail fast, fail often,” I was horrified. It was cited as a mantra by the early adopters of Agile methods. But I didn’t understand what it meant in those relatively early days of Agile. The expression conjured up missed deadlines, broken promises, and an undisciplined approach to software development. …
Elizabeth Larson, PMP, CBAP, CSM is a consultant and advisor for Watermark Learning/PMA. She has over 35 years of experience in project management and business analysis. Elizabeth has co-authored four books and chapters published in five additional books, as well as articles that appear regularly in BA Times, Project Times, and Modern Analyst. Elizabeth was a lead author/expert reviewer on all editions of the BABOK® Guide, as well as the several of the PMI standards. Elizabeth also enjoys giving presentations, and her speaking history includes repeat keynotes and presentations for national and international conferences on five continents. Elizabeth enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, theater, and spending time with her 7 grandkids.
The Benefits of Short Iterations, or Why Time is Like Closet Space I’ve always used the maxim that time is like closet space – the more you have, the more you fill it up with stuff! (I recently moved to a smaller space and experienced this personally.) Something similar tends to happen with longer iterations …
Marsha is a senior instructor and consultant for Watermark Learning, and has more than thirty years of experience in the software, technology, telecommunications, and Internet business sectors. She has numerous accomplishments in Agile methods, project management, business analysis, software development, methodology development, process improvement, and courseware development and training. She is a Certified Scrum Master and Professional, a Certified BA Professional, and a Certified PM Professional. She is also a contributor to the IIBA’s Agile Extension to the BABOK, and the agile perspective in version 3.0 of the BABOK.
Agile, as a philosophy, has “crossed the chasm” as organizations seek to respond to dynamic market conditions and fickle, quality-focused customers. While every organization has certainly explored Agile methods to some extent, many continue to struggle with their application and implementation. In this blog, I will explore the top three reasons that these organizations are …
Continue reading Top 3 Reasons Companies Struggle with Agile and Scrum
Innovative, servant leader with extensive IT experience and a passion for process improvement. Demonstrated leadership improving team performance in the midst of significant organizational change. Positive, team-oriented management style achieving results through systematic analysis, collaboration and strong project management.
In our March 12 webinar presentation, Agile Contracts, by N.K. Shrivastava we covered many of the essentials for creating and using Agile contracts. This summary provides an overview of the key take-aways, but you’ll want to view the webinar recording available on demand to get more detailed examples. If you’re new to Agile or missed …
Andrea Brockmeier, PMP, CSM, PMI-PBA, BRMP is the Director of Project Management for Watermark Learning. Andrea is an experienced trainer, facilitator, speaker, and project manager, with over 25 years of business experience. Andrea oversees certification and skills development curriculum in project management, business analysis, and leadership. She has been a speaker at IIBA® and PMI® conferences and is an active volunteer. She enjoys practicing what she teaches and has a steady stream of projects that she manages. Andrea is highly committed to partnering with her clients through projects, consulting, and training, and seeks to make every engagement enjoyable as well as valuable.
What’s wrong with lessons learned sessions done at the end of a project? If the sentiments of my project management training students are any indication, plenty. The complaints are many and varied: “They take too long and we don’t have time.” “At that point, the project is over so people don’t really care anymore.” “By …
Continue reading What’s Wrong with Lessons Learned Sessions?
Andrea Brockmeier, PMP, CSM, PMI-PBA, BRMP is the Director of Project Management for Watermark Learning. Andrea is an experienced trainer, facilitator, speaker, and project manager, with over 25 years of business experience. Andrea oversees certification and skills development curriculum in project management, business analysis, and leadership. She has been a speaker at IIBA® and PMI® conferences and is an active volunteer. She enjoys practicing what she teaches and has a steady stream of projects that she manages. Andrea is highly committed to partnering with her clients through projects, consulting, and training, and seeks to make every engagement enjoyable as well as valuable.
Three Agile Planning Horizons Agile estimating and planning involves three “horizons” : Release Plan, around 2-6 months Iteration Plan, 2-4 weeks Daily Plan, every day Below is a brief overview of these horizons, as explained in our latest Watermark Learning webinar: Agile Estimating and Planning Best Practices. The webinar is now available on demand and it includes …
Continue reading Webinar Recap: Agile Estimating and Planning Best Practices
Marsha is a senior instructor and consultant for Watermark Learning, and has more than thirty years of experience in the software, technology, telecommunications, and Internet business sectors. She has numerous accomplishments in Agile methods, project management, business analysis, software development, methodology development, process improvement, and courseware development and training. She is a Certified Scrum Master and Professional, a Certified BA Professional, and a Certified PM Professional. She is also a contributor to the IIBA’s Agile Extension to the BABOK, and the agile perspective in version 3.0 of the BABOK.
The fourth annual Agile Day Twin Cities was held November 14, 2014, at Target Commons on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. It was a great day of communing with developers, project managers, product owners, executives, business analysts, ScrumMasters, testers, coaches and others working with and learning about agile. Professionals from all points on the doing-to-being …
Andrea Brockmeier, PMP, CSM, PMI-PBA, BRMP is the Director of Project Management for Watermark Learning. Andrea is an experienced trainer, facilitator, speaker, and project manager, with over 25 years of business experience. Andrea oversees certification and skills development curriculum in project management, business analysis, and leadership. She has been a speaker at IIBA® and PMI® conferences and is an active volunteer. She enjoys practicing what she teaches and has a steady stream of projects that she manages. Andrea is highly committed to partnering with her clients through projects, consulting, and training, and seeks to make every engagement enjoyable as well as valuable.
This week I added PMI-ACP® to my signature after passing my PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) certification exam. According to PMI, there were 5,999 active PMI-ACP credential holders worldwide as of June 30, 2014, and the certification is becoming increasingly popular as agile skills remain in high demand in the project management industry. Applying for …
Andrea Brockmeier, PMP, CSM, PMI-PBA, BRMP is the Director of Project Management for Watermark Learning. Andrea is an experienced trainer, facilitator, speaker, and project manager, with over 25 years of business experience. Andrea oversees certification and skills development curriculum in project management, business analysis, and leadership. She has been a speaker at IIBA® and PMI® conferences and is an active volunteer. She enjoys practicing what she teaches and has a steady stream of projects that she manages. Andrea is highly committed to partnering with her clients through projects, consulting, and training, and seeks to make every engagement enjoyable as well as valuable.
Project Management Professional® (PMP)® Certification Training
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner® (PMI-ACP)® Certification Training
PMI Scheduling Professional® (PMI-SP)® Certification Training
PMI Risk Management Professional® (PMI-RMP)® Certification Training
The PMI Talent Triangle® Bundle
Visit Project Management Academy®
Project Management Professional® (PMP)® Certification Training
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner® (PMI-ACP)® Certification Training
PMI Scheduling Professional® (PMI-SP)® Certification Training
PMI Risk Management Professional® (PMI-RMP)® Certification Training
The PMI Talent Triangle® Bundle
Visit Project Management Academy®
PMI, PMBOK, PMP, CAPM, PMI-ACP, PgMP, PfMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, PMI-PBA, The PMI TALENT TRIANGLE and the PMI Talent Triangle logo are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
IIBA®, BABOK® Guide and Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® are registered trademarks owned by International Institute of Business Analysis.
CBAP®, CCBA®, IIBA®-AAC, and ECBA™ are registered certification marks owned by International Institute of Business Analysis.
BRMP is a registered trademark of Business Relationship Management Institute.