What is an agile coach?
Agile is often described as a philosophy that makes project management more efficient. This philosophy is based on four values:
- People and interactions over processes and tools.
- Working software over extensive documentation.
- Collaboration with customers over contract negotiation.
- Responding to changes over following a plan.
So what is agile project management? Agile is an irritating process, which means it is done in repetitive sprints. Concepts such
as scrum, kanban and lean come to the fore. These are all agile methods. The implementation of agile started in IT, today agile
is adopted in almost every part of organizations.
Now it's time for the answer to the question: 'What is an agile coach?'. An agile coach is someone who guides teams or
organizations in implementing and embracing agile management. This is a big change that requires intensive coaching and patience.
The agile coach decides in consultation with the team which of the agile methods best suits the situation in question. He or she
then helps with the transformation.
You now know what an agile coach is, but you probably want a more concrete picture of the work. What does an agile coach do? It starts
with convincing people that the agile philosophy has added value for them. You do this through training, storytelling and
demonstrating best practices. You ensure that employees have the tools to undertake the agile transformation. The agile coach
decides which methods and guidance are best for the specific team. Facilitating leadership, with the focus on supporting employees,
is central.
During this process you assist the team in taking the right steps. As soon as this seems to be going well, you ensure that they
have the knowledge and skills to continue the process independently. You continue to do this until you see that the employees have
the agile mindset. That is the ultimate goal of an agile coach. If they have the agile mindset, implementing the methods in the
future will be much smoother. Once you notice that everything is going according to plan, you remain the point of contact for all
questions and provide training to get even more out of the team; or you move on to the next project.
Below are the tasks of an agile coach:
- Providing training on agile working methods.
- Implementing agile methods, such as lean, kanban, DevOps and scrum.
- Creating transparency and encouraging flexibility and improvements.
- Answering questions and providing personal guidance, where necessary.
- Other coaching activities.