Agile coaches are embedded in the teams at times as they coach and also continue to train. But what does a typical day look like? There are coaches who work for a coaching company and they can focus on coaching while some of us own our own coaching company. That means that some time each day is focused on making sure that the business is running smoothly and we are servicing existing clients while connecting with new ones especially if we want to expand and grow a coaching team.
But let's just assume for this blog that we are talking about a coach who is working on a project with one client company. I like to divide the coaches' work into phases as the work day looks different depending on what phase the coach works in:
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1. Organizational Assessment Phase:
This is the most neglected phase due to missing education and experience by some who are coaching Agile methodologies. Please ask your coach that you are about to hire what service they provide in the assessment phase. Nobody can just walk into a company and understand the culture with one meeting. Techniques used by some are interviews with executives and team members which is helpful. But even more important and only used by Organizational Psychologists are sound psychological testing tools and methodologies that are not part of Agile. I utilize various tools and techniques to assess organizational behavior and culture, team structure and efficiency, and fit for positions amongst team members. A good Agile coach will spend a week assessing at minimum and follow it up with a report before prescribing a plan that clearly lays out what will help the company. Often times I find issues beyond those related to Agile methodologies and team performance with the understanding that the introduction of Agile methodologies also often exposes other issues. Those are also pointed out in the report, and a risk assessment clearly explains the impact that these issues can cause. A "dysfunctional" organization is not suddenly functioning with the implementation of Agile and for example Scrum teams. I work closely with management to assess and improve organizational processes that include recruiting, on-boarding, management, program management process, workflow and communication across teams, etc.
The assessment phase is also one of the many reasons why you want to hire an Agile coach and not just a Scrum Master or Agile PM. They do not have the experience, skill set, and simply also not the time to do thorough assessments. And as many of you know missing out on the assessment phase and attempting a one-size fits all implementation of Agile is usually unsuccessful. More often than not however I come into a company after they failed in implementation Agile and built teams and found out the hard way that it does not work.
Ideal time for assessment phase: week 0-4 depending on size of organization and state of Agile with week 1 being 100% focused on assessment and slowly decreasing to 60-80% during week 2 etc. while training or coaching increases. Assessment continues throughout the end of the engagement with a final assessment due and "check-ins" presented throughout in a 6-12 month project.
2. Training Phase:
This phase that often overlaps with the assessment phase can be started as early as week 2 where formal training of Agile methodologies is introduced. This is what certified "Scrum Trainers" are known to do if Scrum is chosen. But even they often cut short or provide no assessment so I am sometimes working with trainers or take on the trainer's role. Ideally though if you do not need the Scrum Master to be certified working with a trainer is in my opinion too costly and not necessary. Some of us coaches are very qualified and experienced in training teams on Agile methodologies including Scrum, Kanban, XP etc. and also introduce Lean principles. What is also a service that I like to always provide is customized training per the team's needs. I never provide just a general presentation or class but instead customized training specifically designed for the appropriate team members. In fact I am presenting a Training plan during the assessment phase with the goal to teach the basics as needed to those who need it with the understanding that the application continues to be coached during the coaching phase.
Ideal time for training phase: week 2-4 depending on size of organization and continued training as needed to new team members or for advanced classes and workshops over time (i.e. advanced tools for Product Owners: release planning, roadmaps, etc.)
3. Coaching Phase:
So crucial and sometimes completely neglected as all a company pays for is training or certifications or simply "just doing it" with Scrum Masters and Agile Project Managers. Coaching to me is an art and a mindset. Once assessed and trained it focuses on application and optimization of the practice. And practice takes time. The goal of a good Agile coach is to shorten the time span it takes a company to implement Agile successfully. I have a pretty good idea after the assessment phase on how long it takes me to coach and continuously train teams as an embedded coach. During this phase I also focus on other organizational behaviors and structure and I have built Agile PMOs during this phase. A typical day usually starts off with meeting with the teams during their regular dailies and coaching hands-on as needed. After that the rest of the day is spent with planning or review meetings, one-on-one coaching with training on tools and sharing of additional knowledge and experience in the implementation without interrupting. A lot of times the Agile PMO process and introduction of Agile and other tools takes a good part of the day while executive and management meetings and coaching can be addressing higher-level organizational issues. I also like to set aside an hour at least for continued assessments and reporting so that all can be captured and optimized. For that I use a Kanban board and system.
Ideal time for coaching phase: week 2-end of engagement which can be 3-6 months long at a smaller organization or 6-12 months long at a larger scale organization. It usually concludes with an assessment to show progress and always is followed up with coaching on an as-needed basis. Teams often fall back into old habits during the first year and sometimes need a meeting or coaching to work out the kinks.
4. Agile Coach and Agile Practice Lead:
Agile Practice Leads are performing all aspects of coaching plus they are typically taking on more permanent internal process and people management. They are typically hired longterm on contract or permanently in the Project or Program Management office at organizations to provide Organizational Effectiveness continuously. Sometimes this position can also be in the role of a Director or VP of the PMO meaning they are the head of the PMO especially if the organization and department or division are all Agile. I am mentioning this as some companies see the importance but do not have the budget to hire a long-term Agile coach. First of all, I usually like to show the significant savings an Agile Practice Lead and Coach can bring to an organization if the coach can also be taking on more permanent roles and has proven leadership skills in other areas like recruiting, managing, and budgeting, creating profit and loss statements and running a company or division, etc. A 200k investment over a period of 6-9 months can easily amount to millions of dollars in savings which I have proven in my previous work with companies over a number of years. But if you are looking for the budget think of your current PMO structure as well. It pays off big time, guaranteed! The best companies in the U.S. like Google or Salesforce already have VP positions filled with Agile leaders who focus on driving the Agile Process, people and organizational development. Many more companies will follow.
Any questions? Feel free to contact me at: patricia@agilemediaconsulting.com
- Patricia Anglano
President and Lead Agile Coach
Agile Media Consulting LLC
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