In my last article, I compared agile coaches to the catering corps in the army, saying that we support the troops rather than leading them or engaging in heroics. Cooking and cleaning for the heroes sounds like like a humble, servant leader thing to do. But does that metaphor really drum up an image of… Continue reading My agile coaching mindset is unstable and evolving
Category: Techniques
Extending the coaching agreement – when is an agile coach not an agile coach?
I was talking to some experienced agile people and we started to discuss "agile coaching." We agreed that it was a great idea and that everyone should have an agile coach. But then we realised that we did not mean the same thing when we said "coach." We did agree on some things, like being able… Continue reading Extending the coaching agreement – when is an agile coach not an agile coach?
Thumb based voting
Not everything in coaching is based on complex psychology and systems thinking. Sometimes you just want want a quick way to make a group decision, assess data or gather people's reactions to an idea. One of the quickest ways to assess an idea is to ask for a show of hands. I leaned this one… Continue reading Thumb based voting
Notes from the secret agile playbook, creating a coaching agreement
I have been working with some good coaches recently, but the were not very comfortable with the agile paperwork and coaching bureaucracy areas of coaching. One of the crew asked if I had a copy of a coaching agreement that I could share and I told them agreements are critical and great. Then they asked… Continue reading Notes from the secret agile playbook, creating a coaching agreement
Use the river diagram to communicate data
I run a lot of workshops, including planning workshops and retrospectives. Sometimes the crew votes on things like "what is the best feature, or how did we go this time." But sometimes we collect data and then want to discuss it as a team. And this presents a challenge - I like data in a… Continue reading Use the river diagram to communicate data
The cause and effect clock for agile coaches
I wanted to introduce you to the cause and effect clock as a workshop tool for coaches Why do you need a new clock thing anyway? I have been putting together some rough playbooks for agile coaches lately. Not real guides but some rough notes for a couple of groups. In particular, I have been… Continue reading The cause and effect clock for agile coaches
Would you prefer coaching or coaching?
I ran an agile coaching course recently and, naturally, we spoke a lot about coaching. We ran through a lot of different techniques and approaches to coaching people in agile teams, but we discovered that both "coaching" and "agile" might mean different things to different people in different teams. Then someone asked how they would know… Continue reading Would you prefer coaching or coaching?
Notes on story walls – longer term planning
I have been writing about story walls and how agile teams might use them to manage their work. But some agile teams feel rushed because, although they can see what needs doing today, they don't know what is coming next. So in this article, I will extend the idea of using a story wall to… Continue reading Notes on story walls – longer term planning
Notes on story walls – story or task?
In my last article, I talked about "story walls" but in fact, I focused on task walls. The difference is minor but choosing one over the other can help improve collaboration among the team. Task walls, predictably, are about tasks - "today I will do task 1" while story walls focus on the thing being… Continue reading Notes on story walls – story or task?
Notes on story walls – simple task walls
Most agile teams use story walls - either physical walls or online tools to store their stories. But a lot of those teams see the wall as a burden rather than a tool that makes life easier for them. This is a shame because the only reason you want to have a wall is because… Continue reading Notes on story walls – simple task walls
James King 