Repost agile coaches from A to Z

ArticleDirectory

• A is advice (suggestion): "I have seen it before. I think it works better ."
• B is balance (balance): "Don't discard good things ."
• C is celebration (celebration): "Hey, you did a great job in the last iteration !"
• D, that is, daring (BRAVE): "to tell you, I am so open-minded ......"
• E is encouragement (Encouragement): "Come on! This is really Nb !"
• F is the feedback: "Have you found a team ......?"
• G is guidance: "It seems we have three options. I think the first two may be better. What do you think ?"
• H is humility (modesty): "In fact, people do their jobs, not me ."
• I: Infectious (appeal): "You have to come and have a look at this !"
• J is jiggle (swing): "adjust it like this, and then adjust it like that ."
• K is knowledge: "Have you read this book/This paper/this email list ?"
• L: listening: "You said you want to do ......"
• M is the Mentor (MENTOR): To make yourself redundant
• N is naysayers (skeptical): "I don't believe it"
• O is obligated (role): "part of the team"
• P is principles (Principle): "Do not only see phenomena, but also understand the essence ."
• Q: questioning: "What do you see? How do you feel ?"
• R is called spectives (Review): "What have we learned? What will we stick? What should be new ?"
• S is sensitive: "I'm wondering if they're ready ......"
• T is transparency (transparent): "I hope you can try it like this, because I think it will help you ......"
• U (unlock): "I didn't expect this team to do this !"
• V is vocabulary (Word): "yagni? Burn up? Muda ?"
• W is welcoming (accept): "What do you think we should do ?"
• X is xenodochial (friendly): "friendly to strangers"
• Y, that is, yarn (telling stories): "Before ......"
• Z is Zen (ZEN): "You must find your own path"
• About the author

Agile Methodology brings about a new role-"agile coach", which is not common in traditional methodology or even never mentioned. Practitioners who are already familiar with it may regard it as a natural thing, and have no trace of it. New beginners who are just getting a glimpse of the door will be confused: "Why is agile coaches so important? What are their problems with 'department Manager', 'Team le', and 'technical leaders? Monster.com offers 54 positions for this purpose. Why ?"

"Qi Wen's appreciation, doubts and analysis" should be my true character. In this article, you can also understand what agile coaches think and what they do.
Dictionary index A-Z

A is advice (recommended) B is balance (balance) C is celebration (celebration) D: daring (BRAVE) E: Encouragement (Encouragement) F is the feedback (feedback) G is the guidance (pilot) H is humility (modest) I is infectious (Appeal) J is jiggle (swing) K is the knowledge) L listening) M is the mentor)

N (naysayers) O is obligated (ACT) P (Principles) Q: questioning (question) R is called spectives (Review) S is sensitive (sensitive) T is transparency (transparent) U is the unlock (release potential) V is vocabulary (Vocabulary) W is welcoming (accept) X is xenodochial (friendly) Y stands for yarn) Z is Zen (ZEN)

A is advice (suggestion): "I have seen it before. I think it works better ."

Managers who work in the traditional way will clearly guide the team in what to do, rather than helping them find their own path. Although the agile coach often appears as a consultant, she does not do much guiding work, but appears when necessary to help the team avoid the known traps, or guide them to good conditions (see Guide and mentor ).

 

B is balance (balance): "Don't discard good things ."

 

Sometimes the team is so busy that they are back on their way. The coach will look for opportunities to work with the team to discover and try new practices that may bring great benefits to the team. He will also ensure that practices that still bring benefits to the team will not be discarded and left alone. He will often merge them with new methods.

C is celebration (celebration): "Hey, you did a great job in the last iteration !"

 

Teams often underestimate the power of successful and affirmative inquiry. Iterations step by step promote the results to form a pace to help everyone realize when to achieve the goal (see feedback ). However, people often forget the celebration of iteration. The overall team's morale will be greatly improved after the project is over or after some major milestones are completed (see appeal. Agile coaches will celebrate each small victory with their team every day.

D, that is, daring (BRAVE): "to tell you, I am so open-minded ......"

 

Introducing changes has corresponding risks. agile coaches need to take responsibility and find ways to bring the greatest value with the minimum risk. In a team, he is often the first to break the ice. He inspires the team, brings security to everyone, and gives them the courage to give suggestions, even if they do not dare to try different ways of work.

E is encouragement (Encouragement): "Come on! This is really Nb !"

 

Some agile practices seem straightforward, but if they do not understand the principles behind them and their impact, they will easily cause problems. After a simple test for a while, people will often feel the limits of the previous practices that have better effects (see the question ). Agile coaches will provide support and encouragement to people to help them survive the inadaptation period of trying new practices, and sometimes help them solve the difficult part of practices.

F is the feedback: "Have you found a team ......?"

 

All agile methodologies advocate fast feedback. Agile coaches emphasize the importance of feedback mechanisms in all aspects of team work-from team collaboration, to process, to practice. Regular feedback can help the team better adapt to the special environment.

G is guidance: "It seems we have three options. I think the first two may be better. What do you think ?"

 

Agile enthusiasts work differently from agile coaches. Enthusiasts are used to using commands and control methods, while agile coaches only guide and help everyone learn by themselves. He guides the team away from known traps, but he also understands that failure is the mother of success.

H is humility (modesty): "In fact, people do their jobs, not me ."

 

Agile coaches provide guidance to the team to help them complete their work. When they make mistakes, she must be brave enough to take responsibility. After the team is successful, she must ensure that appropriate people are rewarded. Arrogant coaches have no place in the team.

I: Infectious (appeal): "You have to come and have a look at this !"

 

Agile coaches will bring passion and vitality to the team and use their own examples to inspire people to be passionate about their work. He understands how many changes the team is willing to accept and how much enthusiasm he shows is not confused by people and agile enthusiasts. He has been searching for the right time to share his energy and enthusiasm with everyone.

J is jiggle (swing): "adjust it like this, and then adjust it like that ."

 

A lot of things need to be done in more than one way, even if the team uses the same practice as the last time. Agile coaches help teams adjust their practices based on past experiences and understandings so that they can better adapt to the team and environment.

K is knowledge: "Have you read this book/This paper/this email list ?"

 

Agile knowledge: Agile practices, agile principles, implementation methods and challenges, etc. Agile coaches are familiar with this set of resources and can guide you to read related books, papers, or blogs to find resources related to problems they encounter.

L: listening: "You said you want to do ......"

 

Agile coaches need to listen to their views to understand their current status and their likes and dislikes. Sometimes, she also gives feedback on what she heard to the team. She listened carefully to everyone's opinions, grasped their needs and concerns, and adjusted her work priorities and related activities accordingly. Sometimes she shares these opinions with others and encourages them to defend themselves.

M is the Mentor (MENTOR): To make yourself redundant

 

The ultimate goal of agile coaches is to build self-sufficiency teams that can adjust their practices. To achieve this goal, he needs to find appropriate people, provide guidance to them, and provide support. The roles of these people seem like coaches.

N is naysayers (skeptical): "I don't believe it"

 

Each team may have some people standing on the opposite side of agile coaches, and there is no reason to say anything. Agile coaches must be able to withstand such challenges, understand their needs, and understand why they feel threats (see listening, asking questions, and being sensitive ). She will work with them to make them feel their opinions are valued, meet their needs, and let them release the pressure. This is also the job of coaches.

O is obligated (role): "part of the team"

 

The agile coach needs to prove that his suggestion is completely for the benefit of the Team (see transparency). If he can work with the team as part of the team, he can experience the follow-up impact of a decision, this will be very helpful for his work.

P is principles (Principle): "Do not only see phenomena, but also understand the essence ."

 

Penetrating the implementation process of practice is what agile coaches should do. The practice of separation from principles will become useless, with little effect, and the principle of separation from practice is even more difficult (see Guide ). Agile coaches will help teams experience a series of practices, help them understand the value of these practices, help them adapt to the effects these practices bring to the Organization, and thus master the principles.

Q: questioning: "What do you see? How do you feel ?"

 

Asking questions can help us clarify whether the problem is smooth or difficult (refer to the doubters ). Agile Coaches often ask questions, separate facts from personal opinions, and have a better understanding of the status quo. If you don't ask questions, you can easily make a decision. In the long term, it will have a negative impact on the team.

R is called spectives (Review): "What have we learned? What will we stick? What should be new ?"

 

Review is a key practice. agile coaches use it to help teams recognize their achievements. Project Review can provide the accumulated wisdom for new projects, and the mid-stage or fixed-frequency review can help the team quickly respond to the changing environment, ensure work efficiency and continuously improve. In the review, highlighting the changes that have been implemented, or at least pointing out the repeated problems, will benefit both the coach and the team. (See listener ).

S is sensitive: "I'm wondering if they're ready ......"

 

The best agile coaches respect the organizational culture and working environment of the Team (see listener and enthusiastic ). She won't command them to change their way of working; she will first observe the situation before making suggestions.

T is transparency (transparent): "I hope you can try it like this, because I think it will help you ......"

 

Honesty can build trust between agile coaches and teams. He will explain the reasons for doing things and let everyone know the benefits of trying new things. By interpreting the current situation and its similarities with past experiences or lessons learned, people will feel at ease to accept his suggestions. Sometimes it is important to let everyone know that he has not done anything in the dark or that there is any hidden motive.

U (unlock): "I didn't expect this team to do this !"

 

Because of the environment constraints, the team often has a lot of potential to break out. Through careful observation and respect for the current process, agile coaches can help the team identify and eliminate System Restrictions and release the potential of the team.

V is vocabulary (Word): "yagni? Burn up? Muda ?"

 

Each set of methodology has accompanying words. Agile coaches understand the meanings of these words, abbreviations, and special words and match them with the team's ideology. This is especially useful when the new model conflicts with the existing model and may require lab-based teaching (see Zen-Italian ).

W is welcoming (accept): "What do you think we should do ?"

 

If agile coaches are successful, the team will propose new ideas and implement them. Agile coaches should welcome and support personal proposals to protect them from being criticized as they used.

X is xenodochial (friendly): "friendly to strangers"

 

Most agile coaches constantly switch teams and need to adapt to different environments. Not only do they have to be accepted by different people, but they also need to ensure that their words and deeds do not produce rejection (see sensitive ). Everyone has their own ideas and motivations-The coach must be aware of this and know that everyone has potential.

Y, that is, yarn (telling stories): "Before ......"

 

It is an effective way to spread knowledge and tell stories in different cultures. agile coaches also use it to spread knowledge and ideas. Some stories tell the lessons learned in the past, and some may be used as a metaphor to describe the concept.

Z is Zen (ZEN): "You must find your own path"

 

I don't know how to proceed. Some principles can be understood only after you experience them yourself. It is better to try to build a safe environment, and even if people make mistakes, there will be at least no serious consequences. Agile coaches can use the Socrates-style Q & A method to help people find the best solution to their own problems.

About the author

Patrick Kua is a software engineer and a mentor and coach at thoughtworks. Patrick has been actively engaged in team building and development, bringing passion and vitality to people around him. He believes that if people can keep their favorite things consistent with their work, they will be able to live happily and develop better. Over the past three and a half years, he has trained and guided many teams to implement agility.

View Original English text: The agile coach, from A to Z.