Software Engineering :: Agile :: Courses :: Becoming an Agile Coach :: 2. Coach to Teach and Mentor
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One of the key skills needed for a great agile coach is the ability to know when it's time to move from observing to acting.
As a customer, I want to search for a product, so that I can find the best one for me.
- Even if you're less experienced, you still have an experience that's different from Adam...
- All of your opinions carry equal value on this team, especially when it comes to estimating stories
- Some may believe that the software will be harder to test than Adam believes; What if you're right and you end up under-sizing the story?
- An Agile Team is a team of equals...every opinion counts.
- One the next story, I'd like to see more discussion.
- The team has a "dominator" on it; everyone was willing to defer their opinions to whatever Adam thought.
- The coach switched from a silent observer to teaching.
As organizations work to improve their agile practices, the coach will often act as a mentor to other people in the organization
- No matter who's being mentored, the coach must act according to the three C's of mentoring
- Consultant: someone with specialized knowledge that can make wise recommendations
- Counselor: someone who listens and guides, but lets the mentee draw their own conclusion and plans of action.
- Cheerleader: a great coach is always rooting for the mentee to succeed. The coach joins the mentee in celebrating their successes.
- A servant leader doesn't solve the problem for the team...they guide and offer support (i.e. share without directing).
As an agile coach, you'll be pulled in many directions all the time. One of the most important activities you'll face is team and individual coaching
- You'll be coaching the people and the team at the same time.
- It's not enough to simply coach the team as a whole (coach needs to balance the agile framework coaching along with the team interaction coaching)
...
- Acting as a coach of the whole team.
- Focus on observation, teaching, and providing feedback to make sure the team is performing teh scrum framework well.
- Focus on reviewing the artifacts and making sure they're fit to guide the team's work.
- Make sure the team is setup for success.
- Also coach individuals on the team.
- Provides constructive feedback.
- Teaches
- Do the team members feel safe when they raise questions or have differing opinions?
- Has there been an incident or conflict on the team that creates a sense of unease?
- Are all team interactinos this guarded?
- How is the scrum master approaching these unhealthy behaviors?
- Meet with each person to help them improve their interpersonal interactions.
- Guide on the framework.
- Build healthy relationships needed for the team to succeeed.
A coach needs to use different skills and approaches when coaching people in their various roles
Each role will need their own approach
- Product Owner:
- Scrum Master
- Team Member(s)
- Manager(s) & Leaders
You'll also be coaching them on how the PO's role is business representative, not as a boss of the team. You'll have to help them establish and maintain a clear product vision while still accepting feedback from team members and stakeholders.
- Story Writing
- Prioritization
- Release Planning
- Stakeholder Management
Coaching Scrum Masters will require a lot of observation time. At a minimum, you'll need to ensure they have a good grasp of the basics of the framework. The Scrum Master, as first coach of the team, will be guiding them on how to be Agile in mindset and behaviors. Sometimes the scrum master does coach at the individual level as well.
- Facilitation Skills: ...
- Measurement Skill: velocity & other metrics
- Interpersonal Skills: How they're doing at motivating the team, protecting the team, and coaching the team on the framework particulars.
- Meet with them often and ask a lot of questions
- Learn their fears
- Help them see how being agile can improve the team and product
Coach leaders to help them map former skills and situations to the agile world.
- Coach leaders to lead from behind and support the team without solve.
- Effective measurement of team progress that doesn't impose unneeded metrics.
- The best one-on-one coaching advice is to make every session a working session (there will be topics to cover and outcomes from every coaching session)
- Have an agenda for every meeting
- Desired Outcomes
- Sprint Backlog
- Agenda
- Observations
- Consultant, Counselor, Cheerleader
- Counselor, Consultant, Chief Executive
- Cheerleader, Constant, Collaborator
- Consultant, Collaborator, Colorist
- Mediator
- Scrum Master
- Coach
- Mentee
- rarely
- frequently
- always
- sometimes
- a Team Member
- a Product Owner
- another Coach
- a Scrum Master
- when the Manager tells them to
- when an event's outcome is at risk
- whenever they want to
- when it's Tuesday