This was my presentation for Agile & Beyond 2018 about Agile Coaching. This covers some basics of Agile Coaching in terms of the many dimensions to consider and how skills play out. It does not go into any of these skills deeply.

1. Understanding
Paul Boos
IT Executive Coach/Managing Consultant
Agile and Lean Coaching

2. Our Agenda
• The goal of this presentation…
• What is this Coach role?
• What do Agile+Lean coaches do?

3. Goal of this presentation…
To help those interested in becoming coaches
know where to get started
AND
To help would-be partners (clients) of coaches
understand what to expect…

4. Coach - to - Coachee Exercise
• Break into pairs
• Select who will be the coach and who will
be the coachee
• All coaches follow me, so I can give you
instructions on what you will be coaching

5. Coach - to - Coachee Exercise

6. Prepare Feedback
Coach:
• Write down what you did well
Coachee:
• Write down what your coach
did well
- Silently -
1 Minute

7. Debrief
• Share with each other your perspectives
on what the coach did well…
• At the end, did the perceptions match?
2 Minutes

8. What is this coaching role anyway?
The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as –
partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that
inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential,
which is particularly important in today’s uncertain and complex
environment. Coaches honor the client as the expert in his or her life
and work and believe every client is creative, resourceful and whole.
Standing on this foundation, the coach's responsibility is to:
• Discover, clarify, and align with what the client wants to achieve
• Encourage client self-discovery
• Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies
• Hold the client responsible and accountable

9. Coaches help
people improve.

10. Agile Coaching Institute
Model
Agile Coaching Institute
based on Lyssa Atkins’ book
Coaching Agile Teams

11. Mindful Coaching Voices
Master
Partner
InvestigatorReflector Contractor
GuideTeacher
Graphical depiction of
Doug Silsbee’ss The Mindful Coach

12. Dimensions of Coaching
• Amount of Responsibility
… for Results (Delivery)
… for Improvement
• ‘Level’ in Organization
• Type of Practices (Expertise)
• Size of Group
• Domain Expertise
• Leadership

13. Responsibility Dimensions
counselor mentor partner
facilitator
observer
teacher modeler
advisor expert
"You do it. I will be
your sounding
board.”
"You did ___, you
can consider ___ for
next time."
"We will do it together
and learn from each
other."
"You do it, I will
attend to the
process."
"Here are some
principles you can use
to solve problems of
this type."
"I will do it; you watch
so you can learn from
me."
"You do it; I will watch
and tell you what I
see and hear."
"I will answer your
questions as you go
along."
"I will do it for you. I
will tell you what to
do."
ImprovementResponsibility
Results Responsibility
Slightly Modified from Esther Derby & Don Gray’s Coaching Beyond the Teams Material,
Which they adapted from “Choosing a Consulting Role” by Champion, Kiel, McLendon

14. Responsibility Dimensions
counselor mentor partner
facilitator
observer
teacher modeler
advisor expert
"You do it. I will be
your sounding
board.”
"You did ___, you
can consider ___ for
next time."
"We will do it together
and learn from each
other."
"You do it, I will
attend to the
process."
"Here are some
principles you can use
to solve problems of
this type."
"I will do it; you watch
so you can learn from
me."
"You do it; I will watch
and tell you what I
see and hear."
"I will answer your
questions as you go
along."
"I will do it for you. I
will tell you what to
do."
ImprovementResponsibility
Results Responsibility
Slightly Modified from Esther Derby & Don Gray’s Coaching Beyond the Teams Material,
Which they adapted from “Choosing a Consulting Role” by Champion, Kiel, McLendon
ICF View

15. Responsibility Dimensions
counselor mentor partner
facilitator
observer
teacher modeler
advisor expert
"You do it. I will be
your sounding
board.”
"You did ___, you
can consider ___ for
next time."
"We will do it together
and learn from each
other."
"You do it, I will
attend to the
process."
"Here are some
principles you can use
to solve problems of
this type."
"I will do it; you watch
so you can learn from
me."
"You do it; I will watch
and tell you what I
see and hear."
"I will answer your
questions as you go
along."
"I will do it for you. I
will tell you what to
do."
ImprovementResponsibility
Results Responsibility
Slightly Modified from Esther Derby & Don Gray’s Coaching Beyond the Teams Material,
Which they adapted from “Choosing a Consulting Role” by Champion, Kiel, McLendon
ACI View

16. Responsibility Dimensions
counselor mentor partner
facilitator
observer
teacher modeler
advisor expert
"You do it. I will be
your sounding
board.”
"You did ___, you
can consider ___ for
next time."
"We will do it together
and learn from each
other."
"You do it, I will
attend to the
process."
"Here are some
principles you can use
to solve problems of
this type."
"I will do it; you watch
so you can learn from
me."
"You do it; I will watch
and tell you what I
see and hear."
"I will answer your
questions as you go
along."
"I will do it for you. I
will tell you what to
do."
ImprovementResponsibility
Results Responsibility
Slightly Modified from Esther Derby & Don Gray’s Coaching Beyond the Teams Material,
Which they adapted from “Choosing a Consulting Role” by Champion, Kiel, McLendon
Mindful Coach View

17. Level and Practice Dimensions
Executive
Middle Mgmt
Functional/Program
Managers
Team

18. Practice Dimensions
• Human Interactions
– Structures, communication paths, emotional responses, biases,
collaboration, introducing change, culture, climate, etc.
• Process Improvement
– Effectiveness, efficiency, input/output, measures, waste reduction,
etc.
• Technical Practices
– Tools, techniques, scripting/encoding, architecture, testing, etc.
• Product Evolution
– Prioritization, requirements elaboration, customer/user
understanding, maintainability, security, performance, hypotheses,
etc.
• Business Strategy
– Vision, mission, purpose, fulfillment of needs, business models,
revenue/investment streams, etc.
Are there others? Probably…

19. Size of Group

20. Domain Expertise
Fresh Eyes
Industry Trends
Lack of Shared Mental Model
Stuck In Thinking
+’s -’s

21. Coaches have no authority.

22. Willingness to Follow
Required to Obey
Coaches have no authority.
Leadership is

23. Willingness to Follow
Required to Obey
=
Influence
Authority
Coaches have no authority.
Leadership is

24. Willingness to Follow
Required to Obey
=
Influence
Authority
This takes time.
Coaches have no authority.
Leadership is

25. What do Agile + Lean
Let’s start by referring to our
Responsibility Dimensions
&
Coaching Voices
coaches do?

26. Observes what you do
and offers insights
along the way.
States what went well
or not and what
further things to try.
Works through the
problem together with
you.
Helps you through
the activity.
Provides instruction
on principles to solve
problems.
Shows you ways to
solve your problem
with you as an
observer.
Observes you and
provides factual
observations.
Answers your specific
questions as you
have them.
Tells you how to
implement a specific
solution.
ImprovementResponsibility
Results Responsibility
Slightly Modified from Esther Derby & Don Gray’s Coaching Beyond the Teams Material,
Which was adapted from “Choosing a Consulting Role” by Champion, Kiel, McLendon
Responsibility Dimensions
counselor mentor partner
facilitator
observer
teacher modeler
advisor expert

27. Mindful Coaching Voices
Master
Partner
InvestigatorReflector Contractor
GuideTeacher Qs for:
Action
Outcome
Situation
Examples
What to Do
Explain Models
Challenge Thinking
Provide Info
Self-Management
Self-Awareness
Share Commitment
Coaching Relationship
Give Feedback
Examine Strengths
Encourage
Reflection
Agree on Action
Resolve Doubts
Follow-up on
Actions
Graphical depiction of
Doug Silsbee’ss The Mindful Coach

28. That feels a bit abstract…
Can we see some examples?
Glad you asked…

29. What role is this coach playing?
Context: the CIOs leadership team wants to
understand what they need to do to allow their
teams to self-organize properly.
• The coach collects concerns that each person has.
• She constructs an agenda/facilitation guide and
conducts a workshop that illustrates the pertinent
aspects about what self-organization is and what
managers can do to help teams focus on solving their
own problem.
• At the end, she gives the leadership team a card with
reminders on it.

30. If you answered you are correct.
teacher

31. Now tell me the
she stepped
through….
voices

32. Most likely:
for outcomes
then,
to help them understand
Investigator
Teacher

33. Context: a team is having trouble
automating tests in Python with the
Quantum GIS application.
• The coach writes 2 non trivial sets of examples for
automating tests; one for unit tests on the methods
at the plugin level and one for the server’s RESTful
web service.
• Afterwards, the coach provides the examples and
steps through each one with the team.
What role is this coach playing?

34. If you answered you are correct.
expert

35. Now tell me the
he stepped
through….
voices

36. Most likely:
to learn the situation
then,
to give them specific examples
Investigator
Guide

37. Context: a manager that is having trouble with self-organization
has asked you to meet with his 3 team leads and he to develop a
set of working agreements around decisions.
• Beforehand, the coach starts gathering scenarios that the the team leads
would like to find the manager’s position on, particularly upcoming
scenarios.
• The coach uses these scenarios to play delegation poker asking each time
what level of delegation the manager feels comfortable with while asking the
various team leads to answer with what they would like to see.
• For those that have a gap, he helps each person list what changes the other
could take to get them to an acceptable arrangement. These are listed on a
chart and a commitment is reached.
• The coach has each person sign it and he then takes a picture.
• As the days unfold where decisions begin being made, he provides
reminders to the commitments made and pointers to the manager (or team
leads if they are assuming too much authority) on what they should be
doing differently.
Last one…
What role is this coach playing?

38. If you answered , then
, you are correct.
Facilitator
counselor

39. Now tell me the
he stepped
through….
voices

40. Most likely:
to learn the situation
and outcomes
then,
to bias them to action to try it
then,
to hold them accountable
Investigator
Guide
Contractor

41. So what role did you play?
• Get back into your coach-coachee pairs;
talk about what role(s) the coach performed
ImprovementResponsibility
Results Responsibility
counselor mentor partner
facilitator
observer
teacher modeler
advisor expert

42. Debrief
amongst yourselves
What coach role was taken?
Was it the right one?
What could you have done better?

43. Graphical depiction of
Doug Silsbee’ss The Mindful Coach
What voices did you use?
• Get back into your coach-coachee pairs;
talk about what voice(s) the coach used

44. Debrief
amongst yourselves
What coach voice(s) were taken?
What perhaps caused you to select that one?
Which one would have been more
appropriate?

45. I want to become a coach.
Where do I go from here?
When you leave here, find a quiet space:
• Take inventory of the roles and voices you feel
comfortable and uncomfortable in sliding into…
– Comfort roles/voices may be strengths, and you may
also over use them or use them when another is
needed
– Uncomfortable areas are places to grow
• Take inventory of the levels in the organization,
size of the group, practice areas, and industries
where you are also comfortable or uncomfortable.
• Tailor your approach to utilize your strengths and
work to build those weak areas.

46. I want to hire a coach.
What should I consider?
When you leave here, find a quiet space:
• Take inventory of where you think you need help.
• Ask yourself the following:
– What if the coach comes back and has observations
or feedback that is different than what I think I need?
What will be my reaction?
– How will I handle the direct feedback my coach will
give?
– What specific levels within the organization or in a
specific practice areas or domains do I want the
coach operating within..?
– Am I willing to partner with the coach for mutual gain?

47. @paul_boos
703.307.4322
paul.boos@excella.com
http://nimblicious.com
Thank You