Agile & Scrum Questions
Part of the Business Analyst Roadmap
In short
'What does a BA do in a Scrum team?' and 'What makes a good user story?' come up in almost every BA interview now. Know the basics cold, then add how you'd actually help the team.
'What's the BA's role in a Scrum team?' or 'how do you write a good user story?' — testing Phase 7's Agile fluency, increasingly common given how many BA roles now work in Agile environments.
Think of it like this
Cricket, over by over
A team doesn't plan all 50 overs at the toss. They plan in chunks, play, look at the scoreboard and adjust: more attack, a bowling change. Scrum works in sprints the same way, reviewing and adapting each time.
Watch it happen
Where the BA helps across a sprint
1/5Refinement: the BA brings well-written stories with acceptance criteria and answers questions.
The big ideas
What you need to know
Know the three roles
Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers. The BA isn't a formal Scrum role, but often supports the PO.
INVEST stories
Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable. Name it and give one example.
Definition of Ready and Done
Ready: clear enough to start. Done: meets the team's quality bar. BAs care a lot about Ready.
Agile still needs analysis
Explain that analysis happens continuously, just in smaller pieces, not all upfront.
See it in code
Walk through the code
1As a student, I want to reset my portal password,2so that I can log in without visiting the office.3 4Scenario: Reset with registered email5 Given I am on the login page6 When I request a reset for my registered email7 Then I receive a reset link within 5 minutes8 And the link expires after 30 minutes1/3Who, what, and why. The 'so that' shows value.
A user story with acceptance criteria. If asked 'write a good story', a short example like this beats any definition.
Save yourself the pain
Common mistakes
Oops
Claiming the BA is the same as the Product Owner in Scrum.
Do this instead
Explain the PO owns the backlog; a BA often supports with analysis, unless the role is a hybrid.
Oops
Saying Agile means no documentation.
Do this instead
Agile values working software over heavy documents, but stories, criteria and models still matter.
Your mission
Answer five classics
Quick check
Who owns ordering the product backlog in Scrum?
Go deeper
- 1Review Phase 7 and practice explaining the BA's role in Scrum ceremonies clearly.
- 2Prepare to write a sample user story with acceptance criteria live, if asked.
- 3Practice explaining Definition of Ready and Definition of Done in plain language.
More stakeholder & delivery at this stop
Stakeholder Conflict Scenarios
Business Case Questions
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