DEV3L on Coaching Agile Teams

The term Agile Coach has been used to describe a myriad of roles within the Software Development space - anywhere from a Scrum Master, Project Manager, to an agile curious Technical Lead. Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition by Lyssa Adkins is the definitive book on what truly makes an Agile Coach.

Coaching a full-time job for agile coach, and part-time job for all leaders

Constantly need to reawaken and refocus

Ch1 - Will I Be A Good Coach

Agile exposes the dirt - sunlight is the best disinfectant

40% Doing, 60% Being - a agile coach models agile all the time!

Time and budget remain constant, only scope is flexible

Native Wiring:

Read room

Care for people over products

Cultivate curiosity

People basically good

Act in the moment

Thirst for learning

Excellence worth pursuing

Intolerance for "way we do it here"

Messiness is expected

Risk being wrong

Ch2 - Expect High Performance

Quest for high performance moves away from the hamster wheel - autonomy, mastery, purpose #drive

High performance is a journey towards something better - next right thing

High Performance Tree, roots as values - team kick off technique

Ch3 - Master Yourself

Coaching starts with you, but it's not about you

When you coach, bring yourself

Start with self, identify growing edge

Identify Conflict Resolution Style

Use Nonviolent Communication - for leaders there is no such thing as a trivial comment

Practice your Servant Leadership

Grow your Emotional Intelligence

Master yourself in the moment

Master higher levels of listening

Ch4 - Let Your Style Change

The student is the teacher, the teacher is the student

Agile Coach Styles:

Teaching

Coaching

Advising

Ch5 - Coach as Coach-Mentor

Achievements:

Astonishing results

Healthier growing teams

Help individuals next step

Coach team at beginning and end, then individuals in the middle

Be present, coach out loud as

Tone: loving, compassionate, uncompromising

Meet them half step ahead of where they are - one on one agile coaching

Guarantee safety - Psychological Safety as a Prerequisite #modernagile

Open with observation or invitation

Ch6 - Coach as Facilitator

Coach creates container, team creates content

Their meeting, not mine - focus, wander, attention

Self-sufficiency is the goal

Help them see

Agile Ceremonies

Stand up - commitment and coordination

Sprint planning - know work, fresh start, shared goals, focus

Sprint review - true up, show and tell, feedback, ask for help

Retrospective - inspect and adapt, how, do better

Ch7 - Coach as Teacher

Learn about process, team, and work - GO

Understand teams current agile aptitude, then reinforced core competencies

Break ice for the team, but don't spend all day - more success task orienting team over relationships

Create a Shared Vision that engages on multiple levels - individual, team, company

Create team norms, aka Working Agreements - values, social, logistics, and conflict resolution

Work ahead - envision, backlog, get going

Constantly teach agile roles - PO, Manager, Coach

Ch8 - Coach as Problem Solver

Do not inflict help on team - let them learn to solve own problems - empower

It's the team's commitment - take the problem to the team

Don't go looking for problems, address them as they arise

Rubric:

problem

pause

take to team

allow team to act, or not

Problem Levels:

process

performance

team dynamics

Run health checks - Agile Team Dynamics

When problems arise, get some space - sleep on it - reaffirm agile process that can solve

Reveal the system to itself #orsc

Ch9 - Coach as Conflict Navigator

hear complaints

feel energy

observe language

Teams often can self navigate up to level three - self organization

Response modes:

analyze

structures

reveal

Don't carry complaints for team, have individuals address other party directly when possible

Intervention Steps:

have you shared with party?

• dry run?

would it help if I go with you?

• when/where
• dry run?

may I tell party on your behalf?

Boost positivity to negativity ratio - at least three good to bad

Ch10 - Coach as Collaboration Conductor

Collaboration: greater sum parts

• emergence

Cooperation: sum parts

• smooth transitions

Collaboration built upon cooperation

Collaboration Behaviors:

speak unspeakable

build up

here all voices

nurture collaboration intimacy

faith in emergence

get unstuck

play seriously together

Human beings first, then work mates

When muscle is built, go conductorless

Ch11 - Agile Coach Failure, Recovery, and Success Modes

Failure Modes:

spy

seagull

opinionator

admin

hub

butterfly

expert

nag

Recover - replace fear with trust

Success Modes:

magician

child

ear

heckler

wise fool

creeping vine

dreamer

megaphone

Practice, awareness, next right thing

Ch12 - When Will I Get There

No finish line, keep learning and integrating skills

Skills:

instilled agile practices

started up agile team

coach 1x1

coached team

coach po

coached outsiders

coach change

instigated paths to performance

accepted their ideas

mastered yourself

model agile values and principles

navigated conflict

self-path of growth

started giving back

Measure self as leader, not manager

Reference Journal Events: Start, Finish