Agile India conference presentation - sample slides
1. Recruiting agile coaches; hiring for
mindset versus skillset
Niall McShane
Head of Telstra Ways of Working Academy
Agile India 2020 - Presentation – Bengaluru, India.
Anju Gahlawat
Agile Coach - Telstra Ways of Working Academy
2. Finding our WoW Coaches – the ask
First week of October 2018; the phone call that started it all…
“Hi Niall, would like to lead up an Academy to develop
50 Ways of Working Coaches by April next year?”
“Sure, why not?”
3. 3
A whiteboard session to design the experience
Reverse CV
Assign
mentor
Candidate
capability
profile
Learning
pathway with
periodic one-
day sessions
19th October 2018, 10.15am
4. 4
Expression of Interest and assessment fair
• Two half-day fairs
• 180 participants, 12-20 assessors (three per applicant)
• Educate about the role
• Observe applicant traits in role-play
• Ascertain “mindset” fit for role
• Assess softer skill potential
OUTCOME: Reviewed and calibrated multiple times to
finalise the short list of 50 who were offered a role in the
capability program run by the Academy.
5. Coach Capability Uplift Approach
• Lynda learning video
playlist and pre-reading
material assigned to
candidates prior to face-
to-face coaching camp
Self-paced pre-
learning
• Candidate coaches
attended an experiential
4-day immersive agile
fundamentals educational
event
• Mentor assigned and
learning backlog created
4-day coaching camp
• Under the guidance of
their mentors candidate
coaches learn by doing in
a safe-to-fail environment
with real teams.
On-the-job practical
learning
• Scheduled during the on-
the-job learning period
this training day teaches
coaches the tools of their
trade; JIRA, online
collaborative whiteboards
and other enablers
Tools and supporting
tech for coaching • Facilitation, mentoring and
professional coaching are
the focus for this 2-day
experiential learning event
2-day soft-skills
workshop
• Should further practical
learning be required for
the coach to be deemed
competent an additional
period of mentoring is
allowed for
Additional on-the-job
practical learning (as
required) • Candidates are assessed
by an expert panel and if
deemed competent are
awarded their WoW
Coach graduation badge
Assessment and
graduation ceremony
10-20 weeks
Badges awarded during learning
journey to recognise competency