“Agile Coaching” Is Not the Goal

I've met a number of Agile coaches recently. They tell me they're hired as Scrum coaches or as Scrum Masters. They see their job as “better Scrum.”

It would be lovely if that was their one and only job. However, many of these coaches work in organizations just starting a cultural transformation.

Even though the client asked for Agile coaching, that might not be what the client needs.

Instead of assuming you need “Better Agile” or “Better Scrum,” consider these questions:

• What business outcomes do you want to see, in 30, 60, 90 days? (Why the short-term thinking? Because consultants and coaches and Agile approaches need to prove they offer value and find some quick wins.)
• What measurements will you require? (More on this below.)
• What are the boundaries of my role here?

These questions have nothing to do with a “better Agile” or “better Scrum.” They are about business results.

Coaches — Agile or otherwise — are not “installers” of a specific framework. If they are, they're teachers or something else. They're not coaching.

Coaches offer options with support. That means the coach often helps people think through (and maybe implement) alternatives. I don't see how to help think through alternatives without understanding the business results the organization needs.

Coaches who understand the organization's needs can and help the organization (or person or the team) achieve those needs.

That means that the very first job of a coach is to understand the metrics the managers want. What if the managers are “wrong” with their desire for specific metrics? The managers want something. Learn what that something is.

Here are things I often see managers ask for:

• Percent done or earned value. Managers want to know when they can capitalize or when the first release is ready. How can the coach help the team release more frequently? What are the impediments to frequent releasing? How can you visualize that data?
• “Accurate” estimation. Managers want to set expectations for people (inside and outside the organization). Maybe the coach can help create smaller stories or better roadmaps. Or, maybe the coach can show how the multitasking creates havoc with estimation and the project portfolio.
• How to see the value of a person. HR pressures managers for traditional “performance management.” How can a coach help a manager overcome that pressure and how can team members evaluate themselves or work with managers for more rapid feedback?

It's time to change the idea that the Agile coach needs to help facilitate the team's working agreements or facilitate retrospectives first.

Yes, Agile coaches might need to do that. However, I don't see how to create or facilitate successful Agile teams without understanding what the goals are, how managers will measure success, and how to define a coach's success.

How can you offer options with support if you don't know where the organization wants to go?

That data goes to the organization's needs and how the organization will define the metrics around those needs.

Yes, that's coaching. It's not Agile coaching. It's coaching. Agile coaching is a further refinement once you understand what the manager and org want.

Too often, I see Agile coaches who don't know about lean thinking. They don't understand why managers might need to see cycle time, not velocity. They can only get to “Agile”-in-name-only, or other nonsense like that. Which might be much worse than not-Agile-at-all.

If you're a coach, how can you work to support the people or the managers in their goals? How can you help them see alternatives? How will your services help them achieve business goals? Answer those questions.

If you work in an organization trying to use Agile approaches, do consider joining us in the Influential Agile Leader workshop.