Coaching

Agile Coaching is an ill-defined concept. Self-described “Agile Coaches” appeared in the Agile world long before there was a definition.

ScrumAlliance definition: “An agile coach helps organizations, teams, and individuals adopt agile practices and methods while embedding agile values and mindsets. The goal of an agile coach is to foster more effective, transparent, and cohesive teams, and to enable better outcomes, solutions, and products/services for customers.”

To complicate matters, the ICF states that the coach should be an agenda-less observer. But off course a coach has an agenda - they are promoting Agile growth and improvement to be used to become better/more effective.

ICAgile says: “Agile coaching is a craft intended to guide others in understanding, processing, and embracing constant change, so that the change is sustainable, lasting beyond the individuals. Agile coaches guide individuals and teams to get clear about the change they desire, identify places where current reality does not match desired reality and then take action to close the gap — all in service of delivering business results that matter.”

I suggest part of the challenge is that an Agile coach needs to take on many stances: Coach, Mentor, Facilitator, Guide and occasionally even teacher. The resources below focus on tools to help the coach on their journey.