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As an agile coach what are the steps to coach the team

Last post 06:27 pm November 29, 2023 by Stef Joosten
10 replies
07:18 am March 18, 2019

Hi,

  i just want to understand that what are the step to coach an agile team. and how to schedule the training or a coaching in days. second as an consultant i have been appointed as a coach for 6 months. in the 6 months the team is well matured. Means the team is showing high   productivity and velocity. They are well organized and. My upper management is happy with the team performance. In this scenario as an agile coach what is my next step.


10:14 am March 19, 2019

I mean no disrespect, but you seem to want to build, all by yourself, a house, without even knowing how one's actually being built.

What's your background? Your expertise? What experience do you have that made others appoint you as coach. And coach what? 


01:21 pm March 19, 2019

  i just want to understand that what are the step to coach an agile team. and how to schedule the training or a coaching in days.

What has lead you to believe that a schedule of agile coaching steps even exists?


04:00 pm March 19, 2019

+1 for Ian

Coaching is definitely an emergent process.


04:18 pm March 19, 2019

+1 for all of the above.  

You are asking for a road map that doesn't exist.  A good agile coach will know how to read the people that they coach and arrive at what is best.  Meaning no offense but it really sounds like you need a "head coach" for yourself that can help mentor you in your endeavors. 

If you need an example, look to your favorite sports teams.  Are the coaches all the same?  And I will bet that there are even specialization coaches on those teams. And if any of those coaches have changed teams, did they coach the players in exactly the same way?  


06:11 pm June 26, 2019

I think an Agile coach role is more than just the performance of the team.  There's organizational influence, patience, embracing empiricism, and being mature enough to have the difficult conversation that say when Agile is or isn't needed.

Within the team, Agile Coach's should know enough of what makes the ideal Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development team so that you can assess if they are maximizing performance (e.g., efficiency) and are focused on the right tasks.

While this isn't a "go print and do" explanation, it should encompass the spirit of what makes a good Agile coach beyond saying your team is performing very well.


11:43 pm June 27, 2019

assess if they are maximizing performance (e.g., efficiency) and are focused on the right tasks

Maximizing performance/efficiency sure seems to sound good! :)

But is an Agile Coach/Scrum in a good position for saying anything about what the right tasks are for the members of a self-organizing team that he himself is not part of?


08:38 am June 28, 2019

Please keep in mind there is a huge difference between efficiency and effectiveness... I try to focus on the latter more...


11:05 pm June 30, 2019

hello Mr Karthik,

I have been reading your post a few times to understand your situation. You are a consultant and were hired to coach an agile team for six months.

Consultants, coaches and Agile Coaches have their differences.

I wonder why you were hired. Did you get a mission or goal? Were you hired for your problem-solving skills needed to solve the team's problems?  Or were you hired to facilitate the team's problem-solving capacity (and not your consulting or advice giving)?  Or were you hired to grow and transform the team? This level of coaching is like mirror-holding to reveal insights about the team and work on values like trust an openness? 

When you talk about maturing, what do you exactly mean? Could the team solve their issues with your technical expertise?  Or did you work on attitudes like respect or courage? Is the team's change in attitude causing more transparency and adaption in the teams approach? Could you improve the teams internal-shift-making capacity?

Your management seems satisfied, why then do you need to stay? Do you see challenges at the team level or the organization level?

 


06:52 am August 18, 2022

Hello all,

Please what is the best route to become Agile coach? Do we have any training and qualification available on Scrum.org which will help the journey to become Agile Coach?

Thanks all in advance for your support

 


10:54 am November 29, 2023

I think you need three skills to succeed as a coach in Agile Software Development:

  • You must be highly skilled in software development and -engineering, so your team will take you seriously as an authority.
  • You must be highly experienced in agile methods, so you will do the right things for the right reasons and help your team understand why.
  • You must be trained as a professional coach, to ensure that your team is learning and growing instead of just you.

I'm convinced that creating agile coaches "by appointment" can only work if these skills are abundantly present.


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