This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz
by Mark Levison.
Original Post: Coaching Workshop
Feed Title: Notes from a Tool User
Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NotesFromAToolUser
Feed Description: Thoughts about photography, software development, reading, food, wine and the world around us.
Yesterday (Mondau) Liz Sedley and Rachel Davies ran a coaching workshop “What Does an Agile Coach Do?” that helped me spot several things that I just never think to pay attention to. From Richard Hackman’s book “Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances” (which they highly recommend) they provided a number of observations. First we have to appreciate that there is distinction between a Leader and a Coach. A Leader is part of the team were as a Coach shouldn’t be part of the team and must set the stage for the day they leave.
Hackman identifies three types of coaching intervention and three opportunities to use those interventions effectively. Types:
Educational – improve the teams understanding/knowledge
Consultative – improve the teams process/actions
Motivational – improve the teams effort
And then three opportunities to use these interventions most effectively:
Beginning – Motivational
Middle - Consultative
End – Educational
Like Paul King, I found this counter intuitive at first until they suggested that we think of this a the iteration and not release level. So the start of the iteration we provide the team the motivational push to help them get the most done. In the middle of the iteration we can provide guidance and suggestions to improve the flow and progress. At the end of the iteration we reflect and find ways of learning from what happened. Each table was given a number of problem scenarios and we were asked what would we do. After describing what we would do we were asked to classify each intervention as Educational, Consultative, Motivational or other. Again like Paul it quickly became obvious that I do very little in the way of motivational intervention. In addition I spend a lot of my Educational efforts at moments when the team is less receptive and they will be less effective.
In addition I discovered a few other interesting things:
Breathe, Pause, Wait – don’t act in the heat of the moment. Instead relax and assess what tool will suit your needs best.
Ask questions and understand not just the what, but the why did the situation end up the way it did in the first place. Intervene only when you understand the whole situation, especially the history.
Finally Liz Sedley told me: Don’t ask why many people will take ‘why’ as an attack and go on the defensive. Instead ask ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions. The exception of course is doing root cause analysis (i.e. 5 why’s) and in that case you should explain what your doing.
Along with Richard’s book I’ve also had several recommendations for books on Systems Thinking: Bas Vodde and Craig Larman’s book Scaling Lean & Agile Development apparently contains a good chapter on Systems Thinking and Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. I’ve heard of the latter book many times but never knew that the Fifth Discipline was Systems Thinking (Thanks Declan).
Caveat Emptor - if you buy any of the books after clicking on my link I get 4% of the price. In all likelihood that means I might be able to afford a coffee or two.
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe now to get free updates.
Previous Topic
