Business Analysts often feel (and sometimes are) left out of the work of the team. Where do you see the Analysts fitting into what you call the “Rock Crusher village” and what unique value do they bring to the team?

The “rock crusher village” deconstructs the role of the product owner into the seven roles required to own and manage a backlog

In this village, the role of the “analyst” is defined as:

An individual who is responsible for transforming the sometimes competing wants, hopes, interests, and aspirations of the Customer, Stake holder, the Initiative Owner, the Product Manager, and the contributions of the Subject Matter Expert into a shared clear understanding of precisely what to build.  Is responsible for progressively creating a better understanding of precisely what to build – the solution.

The Rock Crusher

In short, they have to hold this village together and ensure the village has a shared clear vision of what the solution is and what is truly valuable versus just a good idea.

The role of analyst is often very much what is referred as a “boundary spanner” where an individual listens and shares information across the enterprise to create a shared clear vision of what is valuable. Numerous studies correlate boundary spanning with successful technology deployment[1].

Often the individual(s) playing the Analyst role is also a Subject Matter Expert (SME) with deep product domain knowledge.

[1]Levina, N., & Vaast, E. (2005). The Emergence of Boundary Spanning Competence in Practice:

Implications for Implementation and Use of Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 29(2),

335-363.