Agile Notes (No. 13)
Every Friday, I send out an email highlighting a concept relating to Agile/Scrum/Continuous Improvement. Lets get to it….
This week, we continue with Notes from the excellent Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins. I absolutely LOVE how Lyssa brings her practice of mindfulness and being present into her coaching. Being an agile coach is about listening and communication. Really. Effective. Communication.
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This notes comes from Chapter 6: Coach as Facilitator and the section Facilitate During the Stand Up on pages 119-121. I have to push back a little. Keep in mind there is a difference between a Coach and a Scrum Master. In my current role, I find myself leaning more to the Coach side. It is about “wielding a light touch.” Its about gently steering the team to better practices.
The Try This section might need to be updated. I have been working remotely for years before COVID-19. Most of you, if not all, are working remotely. The notion of staying quiet during the start of a daily stand-up just generates too much unnecessary stress for me. I act as an MC during our call. We are all on video. We bring up our Jira Sprint Board. And as MC, I move us from person to person through the group. It saves SO MUCH TIME. I don’t think this is bad. I think it helps. It makes it flow better.
Now - If you are a Coach and the Scrum Master is not facilitating then, absolutely, have a conversation with them. Gently. Softly.
There is good advice in the top of the screen shot. As a coach, do not intervene in the stand-up. Wait until the end and ask if you can offer some thoughts. Do it with a sense of curiosity. I like that - why do we do things this way? Has this always been the case? Then bring it around to Scrum Principles.
Thanks for reading. Please, leave a comment. Do you have any coaching tips? Share them in the comments! And, if you think about it, maybe forward this on to someone you know.
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