Everyone wants to be agile, but do they do it the right way? According to some recent surveys, 90% of senior execs consider their company becoming agile a high priority. At the same time, however, less than 10% of organizations can be actually considered highly agile. Still too often agile’s major principles are thought of as flexible and breaking the rules in favor of a more classic waterfall model is common. This does not only minimizes all the positive effects of agile transition but also frustrates the employees, lowering down their productivity.
How to make sure your company really follows the agile principles and makes the most out of this amazing project management methodology? Hiring Agile Coaches might be the solution you need.
Who is an Agile Coach?
Agile Coach job descriptions often feel vague and don’t really explain enough what is the actual role of an Agile Coach in the team. We, however, will try to provide facts in the clearest way possible.
Agile Coach’s main job is to make sure that agile project management methodology is implemented correctly within the whole company. They train, coach, provide feedback. They don’t, however, manage people — they help them manage themselves, teach self-organization and accountability. Agile Coach is the manager of the agile processes, not of the people.
Some of the tasks that could be considered a regular routine for Agile Coaches are:
- Building awareness of agile’s requirements and potential among everyone involved in the company’s life, including stakeholders.
- Delivering training on agile work, self-management, and self-organization to everyone in the company.
- Helping with the implementation of Product Owners and Scrum Masters into teams.
- Being a coach to everyone in the company.
- Organizing large-scale retrospective events for a bigger group within the company (multiple teams, the whole department, etc.)
- Helping in building a work environment in which everyone feels safe.
- Connecting teams and different departments, helping them mingle to fuel innovation.
- Organizing brainstorming sessions.
- Gathering and reviewing feedback on the implementation of agile in the company and the business in general.
- Identifying issues and obstacles standing on the way of successful agile product development.
Agile Coach vs Scrum Master — how are they different?
Agile Coach is often mistaken as a person that covers the same responsibilities as a Scrum Master. This misconception is fuelled by the fact that seeing one person transition between the role of an Agile Coach and the role of a Scrum Master is relatively common. When changing companies, Agile Coaches often suddenly become a Scrum Master — or the other way around.
It happens because the main concept behind these two roles is indeed very similar. Both Agile Coaches and Scrum Master aim to create an environment that incorporates the ideas of agile and Scrum to the highest levels and coach the people around them.
However, there is one clear distinction between the roles of Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters. The first ones operate on the spectrum of the whole company — they work with, train, and support everyone, whether these people are from the design department, IT, or sales. On the other hand, Scrum Masters are solely responsible for their specific team. They are fully dedicated to their respective developers and Product Owner and are strictly linked to them.
What set of skills should an Agile Coach professional have?
A specific skillset is crucial for an Agile Coach who strives to provide great results for the business. We list the most important skills of the best Agile Coaches below.
- Some technical understanding
An Agile Coach by no means has to be proficient in programming or any other technicalities. This is partly because, unlike Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches work with the whole company, across all the departments.
However, some technical understanding of the processes taking place at the company is more than welcome. An Agile Coach professional should know why the company uses the development framework they use or what each dev team is focused on. It might sound simple, but imagine an Agile Coach who does not understand the value of back-end and optimization and wonders why the next dev sprint does not focus on the implementation of new features but on improving the server infrastructure.
- Expert self-organization skills
An Agile Coach is supposed to teach others in the company how to manage themselves — the Coach themselves, therefore, should give an example by having a perfectly planned schedule. Without expert self-organization and time management skills, an Agile Coach will quickly become more of a burden than a help to your organization.
- Empathy
Sometimes a team member just wants to be listened by somebody. They don’t want an answer to their frustration and even more they don’t want a discussion. Instead, someone who can empathize with them, just sit together and listen, is the key to solving out the problem.
- Conflict resolution skills
Working with the whole company, Agile Coaches are often ending up in the middle of a conflict between multiple departments. Their job is to cool down this conflict, be a mediator who can find the best solution for both sides.
Preferred education background for Agile Coaches
Because Agile Coaches dedicate most of their day to working with people, they are often educated in a field that focuses on soft skills. Most often they hold a degree in psychology, project management, leadership, or public relations. Less often you might meet an Agile Coach coming from a more technical, IT background. This kind of Coach will be most valuable for companies highly focused on delivering software, where most of the company members are developers.
When you want to hire an Agile Coach, you should also look for those with relevant certificates proving their skills. Some of the most relevant ones are ICP-ACC, Certified SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC), as well as Scrum-focused certifications like Professional Scrum Master or Certified ScrumMaster®.
The importance of the company fit
The more tailored to your company your choice of Agile Coach will be, the faster you will see great results happening in your whole organization. What should you especially consider when you plan to hire an Agile Coach?
- Industry fit
Most of the Agile Coaches work in some kind of software company. However, you should think of more specialized industry types, such as fintech or MedTech. Whatever your business’ specialty is, there are surely Agile Coaches on the market who have previous experience with another company like you. And such experience brings the needed understanding of your customer group, competition, and the market’s requirements.
- Product fit
The product fit gives similar results as the industry fit — it provides the needed experience to deliver results faster. Think of the core offering of yours, the main features of your product, whether you are focused on mobile or web. Look for similarities in these areas in your Agile Coach candidate’s portfolio and find the best fit.
- Company culture
Agile Coaches strive to implement an agile culture in every organization they work with. But company culture doesn’t end with agile. Every business has specific values that are important for them and help them in leading the change. You need in your team an Agile Coach who agrees with these values feels comfortable with them, so their coaching can be fully aligned with the basic principles you set for your organization.
How to hire an Agile Coach that fits perfectly?
We understand that finding the perfect Agile Coach for your specialized business is often not an easy job. That’s why, at Ideamotive, we built an industry-leading network of top IT talents looking for new job opportunities. After you reach out to us, we will connect you with only these Agile Coaches from our network who really fit your company profile, product specification, and any other requirements you might have.
And we can help you with more than just Agile Coaches. Our network includes all types of professionals, including all the people you might needs for a Scrum team: a Product Owner, a Scrum Master, and incredible developers.
Contact us today to build an agile company with a great Agile Coach leading it to success.
