This document provides guidance on how to hire an agile coach. It discusses where the coach will play in the organization, the skills and competencies they should have, and tips for interviewing coaching candidates. The skills framework outlines five levels of coaching ability from novice to expert based on experience, breadth of knowledge, and ability to answer questions with stories rather than just theory. It emphasizes finding a coach that has worked with multiple teams and organizations, and can challenge existing ways of thinking rather than just agreeing with the hiring organization. Key parts of the interview include having the potential coach ask many questions, challenging assumptions, and being unable to clearly define how they will measure their own success.

1. How to Hire an Agile
Coach
Handouts from Toronto Agile Tour 2016
http://leanintuit.com

2. WHERE I PLAY WHAT MY SKILLS ARE
MY ARCHETYPE PREFERENCES WHAT I EXPECT
HOW I MEASURE MYSELF
Name:

3. Organization
Executive
Management
Team/Project
Where will your coach play?

4. Methodology Bigot
Granola Eater
Pragmatist
Zealot
Team Player
Disruptor
Intelectual
Coach’s Coach
not at all like
me
yup, that’s me
Dear Chris: yes I’m aware of the 100+ cognitive biases
that show why this can’t be accurate. Did you catch the other
problem?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

5. AGILE PRACTITIONER
TEACHINGMENTORING
FACILITATINGCOACHING
TECHNICAL
MASTERY
BUSINESS
MASTERY
TRANSFORMATION
MASTERY
CONTENT
PROCESS
Agile Coaching Institute Coaching Competency Framework
http://www.agilecoachinginstitute.com/agile-coaching-resources/

6. AGILE PRACTITIONER
TEACHINGMENTORING
FACILITATINGCOACHING
TECHNICAL
MASTERY
BUSINESS
MASTERY
TRANSFORMATION
MASTERY
CONTENT
PROCESS
1
2
3
4
5
Agile Coaching Institute Coaching Competency Framework
http://www.agilecoachinginstitute.com/agile-coaching-resources/

7. NOVICE1
2
3
4
5
• Did some formal learning (Scrum Alliance, scrum.org, PMI-ACP, ICAgile accredited courses, watched YouTube videos)
• < 1 year experience working as a Scrum Master or on an Agile team
• Answers questions using knowledge and theory, but not with stories
• Focused on their method of choice “but that’s not how Scrum works!”
ADVANCED BEGINNER
• Novice + these features!
• 1 - 2 years experience working as a Scrum Master or on an Agile team in at least 2 different organizations
• Has used multiple Agile practices (Scrum, Kanban, Crystal, various Agile product management techniques
• Answers questions with a mix of knowledge/theory and stories from more than 1 team/org
• Shows evidence of blending ideas, and ‘breaking’ the rules of their preferred method
COMPETENT
• Advanced Beginner + these features:
• 3 - 5 years, multiple teams and multiple orgs (different industries, various sizes)
• Clarifies interviews questions before responding
• Shows evidence of understanding the impact Agile has outside the team(s)
• Starts by establishing coaching agreements and expectations
• Actively contributes to the Agile community (conferences, meetups, blogging etc)
PROFICIENT
• Competent + these features:
• 5+ years experience
• Wide, and diverse network of connections due to community involvement
• Uses a mix of Agile and good leadership/management practices for solving problems
• See patterns, complexity of organizations, understands systems, psychology and other professional coaching skills
EXPERT
• Highly skilled coaches will underestimate their skills, so challenge those that feel they are ‘thought-leaders’ or ‘experts’.
“Fakers” will likely have more book knowledge as opposed to hands-on experience (see Freddy-Kreuger effect)
Disclaimer: Design your own
levels, these are general
ideas, there is no ‘right’ way
or solitary ‘truth’

8. http://ceaccp.oxfordjournals.org/content/12/5/263/F1.large.jpg
DreyfusModelofSkillAcquisition

9. AGILE PRACTITIONER
TEACHINGMENTORING
FACILITATINGCOACHING
TECHNICAL
MASTERY
BUSINESS
MASTERY
TRANSFORMATION
MASTERY
CONTENT
PROCESS
Agile Coaching Institute Coaching Competency Framework
http://www.agilecoachinginstitute.com/agile-coaching-resources/
Name: Biff the Business Dood
Biff has worked as a Product Owner on an Agile
Team, has used multiple techniques like story mapping, user
stories, job stories, product canvases. He’s also coached
teams on Lean Startup/Agile product management techniques
but has no technical background or experience in transforming
organizations to Agile. Strong teaching skills, deep skill
facilitating sessions with stakeholders and teams.

10. TIPS1
Customize the 5 levels of skill to suit your environment.
Use SHU-HA-RI-Kokoro ( http://alistair.cockburn.us/Shu+Ha+Ri+Kokoro )
Decide where your coach will play (team level, multi-team, management, organizational layer)
Have candidates submit their coaching profile before the interview
Visualize all profiles on a wall, with pros/cons for each
Skill is the easy part, does your coach have the right attitude and aptitude?
Skilled coaches answer questions with stories
Skilled coaches have worked in multiple industries, in organizations of all sizes, and will tell
stories from many different combinations of teams/organizations
Have the whole team interview the coach
Skilled coaches will ask more questions than you will…and it might be annoying, but that means
you have someone with strong potential
Ask open ended questions like: Describe a time when you were in a meeting and it looked like
the people were completely off the rails, what did you do? How did they response? What
happened after that?
Have them work: Bring a team with a problem, or make up a new product. Create a scenario and
have them coach you through it.

11. WARNINGS2
People who rate themselves as Experts in multiple areas may be suffering from Freddy-Krueger
effect. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)
If they haven’t heard of ACI (Agile Coaching Institute) or can’t identify with each of their
dimensions, they are definitely not a coach
Don’t use the template as a strict formula, it’s designed to help you figure out what type of
coach you want, and also for de-mystifying Agile Coaching
Avoid hiring the coach who makes you think “RIGHT ON!!!!! THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT!!!!” during
the interview.
Panel interviews suck. Any novice coach can tell you what you want to hear, don’t do them.
If your organization has a big Agile framework and the coach doesn’t challenge it in the
interview, you’re not talking to a coach.
If the team isn’t in the interview, you will not hire the right coach. A coach isn’t brought in to do
the managers bidding.
Ask your coach what their favourite books are, what was the best Agile conference they’ve been
to and other community related questions. If they struggle to answer, coaching is just a job, and
not a calling. That might be ok, but if they’re preaching “learning organization” and don’t
demonstrate they’re living by that, they’re probably not the right fit.
When you ask a coach how’d they’d measure their effectiveness, they should struggle with
answering it. If they give a framework, tool or say “velocity will increase”, throw them out
immediately.

12. GOOD QUESTIONS1
Tell me about the last Agile conference/meetup you attended.
What are your favourite books? (Hint: proficient coaches will pick books that are about
organizational change, coaching, and leadership…and not just the usual Kotter’s 8 steps and
Drive by Dan Pink.)
Here’s the approach we’ve taken for Agile in our org, what do you think?
How would know if you’re doing a good job? (hint: they should respond with more fuzzy
measurements and answer with the pros/cons of measurements in general. IE: if you have
performance objectives for a coach, they should know that it will influence how they behave.)
POSITIVE SIGNS
The coach asks you more questions than you ask them.
The coach challenges your thinking (don’t fear this, the worst coach you could hire is one that
peddles a bunch of easy answers to get the job)
The coach feels they are interviewing you as opposed to the other way around
The coach says “I don’t know”, or isn’t afraid to say they don’t have experience in the area
you’re asking about…BUT they have the attitude and aptitude to learn.

13. Figure out what skills
are the most important
2
1
Know where you
want your coach to play
Align on expectations
3