Adrian Smith
Craig Smith
Agile Coaching
Workshop

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Show of hands…

Exercise…
300
100
400
200
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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Derived from Hungarian word for
“carriage” which is
“something that takes you from
where you are now to where you
want to be”.
Coaching Defined…

agilecoach.net
Story…
Agile Coach
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agilecoach.ca
Manifesto…
Agile Coach
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Hiring…
Trends in Corporate
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Trends in Corporate
Learning…
Productivity Increase through Training
100
80
60
40
20
0
Traditional Training Training + Coaching
(22% increase) (88% increase)
International Personal Management Association, 2001

Scrum Masters
vs Agile Coaches
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A Coach is Different?
“Try this “I have this
… I’ve problem ...”
done it
before “Why is it a
Individual
and it problem?”
works “First do A... “Let’s
…” Then do B … “What else
brainstorm a
Then do …” solution …” could you try?”
Consultant Trainer Facilitator Coach

C Level Leader
The Coaching
Yellow Brick Road
Executive Leader
Agile Coach
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Iteration Manager /
Scrum Master
Team Leader
Project
Manager
Architect
Other Business
Developer Tester
Roles Analyst

Agile
Coach
Exercise: Competencies?
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Agile Coach Competency
Training Agile
Skillset Knowledge
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Coaching Agile Technical
Skillset Coach Skillset
Facilitation Business
Skillset Experience

Name: ______________________________
Agile Coach Competency Matrix Date: ______________________________
Beginner Practitioner Advanced Expert Master
• Fully understand principles and
• Aware of principles • Understand the principles • Have presented at several
• Can setup and lead an Agile practices and can adapt to suit
Agile •
and practices
Participated in an •
and practices
Actively working in and
project project environments
conferences or have written a
book
• Experience as an Iteration • Significant Agile project
Knowledge Agile project improving an Agile
Manager / Scrum Master experience in varied
• Well recognised with the industry
project and maintain pubic presence
environments
My Progress 
• Remains current with best- • Creates new techniques,
• Lead of a discipline
practice and industry trends practices and tools within
Technical • Work in a team using within a team • Recognised in industry
in relevant discipline discipline
core skills (BA, Dev, • Establish standard of • Creating and publishing new
• Aware of standards of • Recognised by peers as a
Skillset Tester, PM) practice and quality
practices within other technical expert in relevant
techniques
within a team
disciplines discipline
My Progress 
• Clear understanding • Comfortable discussing
• Understand market trends • Understand risk, financial and
of the business I am business process and
Business and are able to provide strategic elements that impact a • Have run a successful business
supporting, the objectives
advice on strategy business • Sort after to advise on running
operating • Understand factors
Experience environment and the influencing business
• Sort after for business advice • Experience running a business business
and analysis of impacts. unit
market success
My Progress 
• Comfortable working
• Experienced in facilitating • Facilitates sessions involving
with and leading a
Facilitation group discussion of • Leads multi-day workshops complex people issues • Facilitates senior executive
group
complex issues and planning events for large • Facilitates sessions involving sessions and/or large groups of
• Adhoc facilitation of
Skills Agile team
• Leads the facilitation of or newly formed teams multiple stakeholders and people
Agile team ceremonies conflicting priorities
ceremonies
My Progress 
• Significant training experience
• Enjoy helping other
• Comfortable delivering across multiple courses types • Recognised and sought after as a
Training learn • Have limited experience
training to larger groups • Have written and delivered trainer
• Supports learning delivering training to
• Participate in developing and multiple courses • Have trained a number of other
Skills initiatives within the small teams
updating training content • Comfortable piloting and trainers
team environment
delivering new course content
My Progress 
• Recognised as a coach and • Recognised and sort after as a
• Understand the role • Adapt coaching style to suit
Coaching an d difference • I provide adhoc coaching
am able to follow a simple
coaching model for helping
situation, team and staff level.
coach not only in Agile but in
other areas of work and life
between coach, within current team • Comfortable coaching executive
Skills mentor and advisor.
people to resolve their own
staff
• Capable of coaching C-level
problems executives
My Progress 

Exercise: Competencies!
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Agile Knowledge Participants at
Agile Australia 2012
Rahul Kashyap Anne Nolan
Alex Watson Nick Jeffries
Highest Competency
Frank Valks Bridget Farmer
Needs More Work
Hong Ch’ng Michael Wright
Justin Hennessy Nathan Jones
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Gareth Evans
Rhys Long
Michael Stange
Katherine Dooley
Lakhan Sharma
Linda Christensen
Gavin Browne
Don’t Enjoy

Technical Skillset Participants at
Agile Australia 2012
Prashant Sagar Neal Horner
Sergei Shutov
Highest Competency
Akhil Mittal
Needs More Work
Salman Munir
Brendan McCarthy
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Shane Wegener
Dina Bauman
Cynthia Tapp
Rene Chappel
Stewart Howell
Robbie McDowall
Bridget Farmer
Gillian Clark
Don’t Enjoy

Bus. Experience Participants at
Agile Australia 2012
Nathan Jones Warwick Slade
Anne Nolan Rene Chappel
Highest Competency
Frank Valks
Needs More Work
Gareth Evans
Archie Harris
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Michael Stange
Rahul Kashyap
Stewart Howell
Brendan McCarthy
Don’t Enjoy

Facilitation Skills Participants at
Agile Australia 2012
Gillian Clark Sergei Shuton
Kim Linton Linda Christensen
Highest Competency
Bridget Farmer
Needs More Work
Anne Nolan
Jaime Horton
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Frank Valks Alex Watson
Hong Ch’ng Nathan Jones
Cynthia Tapp Dina Bawman
Don’t Enjoy

Training Skills Participants at
Agile Australia 2012
Nick Jeffries Stewart Howell
Brendan McCarthy
Highest Competency
Shane Wegerer
Needs More Work
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Nick Jeffries Linda Christensen
Serge Shutov Michael Wright
Robbie McDowall Archie Harris
Rhys Long Justin Hennessy
Salman Munir Prashant Sagar
Don’t Enjoy

Coaching Skills Participants at
Agile Australia 2012
Archie Harris Robbie McDowall
Warwick Slade Gavin Browne
Highest Competency
Neal Horner Rhys Long
Needs More Work
Michael Wright Alex Watson
Prashant Sagar
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Gillian Clark
Dina Bauman
Salman Munir
Justin Hennessy
Katherine Dooley
Cynthia Tapp
Kim Linton
Hong Ch’ng
Don’t Enjoy

Agile
Coaching
n
Toolkit…
Id tio
ea va
s
Inno l Ski
lls
Busines ca
s Skills
Te chni
g
M entorin
Fa cilitation
Training
Lean
Agile

Team Practices Team Practices
Co-location Refactoring
Daily standup Continuous integration
Iteration Planning Practices (Acceptance) test driven
Customer Showcase development
Retrospective Automated deployment
Adaptive release plan Incremental design &
Cross functional team architecture
Requirements as stories
Principles Domain driven design
Planning / story wall Technical spikes
Informative workspace Exploratory testing
Burn up/down charts Collective code
Parking lot diagrams ownership
Success sliders Ubiquitous language
Relatively sized work Crafstmanship
One piece flow Values
Kanban
Definition of done Simplicity
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Transparency
Frequent delivery
Customer involvement
Technical excellence
Working solutions
Teamwork
Human interactions
Self organisation
Customer collaboration
Emergent design
Responding to change
Continuous
improvement
Agile Knowledge…
Sustainable pace
Servant leadership

Agile Knowledge…
■ Agile Manifesto
■ Books
■ Podcasts / Webinars
■ Agile Conferences and Meetups
■ Societies: Agile Alliance, Scrum
Alliance, Lean Systems Society
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■ Agile readiness and maturity
assessments: The Nokia Test, SAMI,
ThoughtWorks Agile Assessment
■ Certifications: CSM, PMI-Agile, ICAgile

Technical Skillset…
■ Software Developer: Craftsmanship, Code
Katas, Polyglot programming, Coderetreat,
Open Source Contribution, PeepCode
■ Business Analyst: IIBA, BPMN
■ Test / QA: ISTQB, Exploratory testing,
Automation skills, Bug stomps, Specification
By Example, Testing communities,
■ Project Manager: PMI / PRINCE2, Servant
leadership, Team dynamics
■ System Engineer: Technical Certifications, ITIL,
DevOps
■ …or whatever skills will make you better at
your key role

Business Experience…
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■ Agile Business Processes:
Agile in the Business, Lean Startup,
Business Model Canvas,
Beyond Budgeting
■ Financial skills
■ Marketing skills
■ Human Resources skills
■ Business Domain knowledge:
Market awareness,
future trends and directions
■ Run / start a business

Facilitation Skills…
■ Techniques: Brainstorming, Affinity
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Mapping, Wisdom of the Crowd,
Icebreakers, Futurespectives
■ Achieving session goals and
objectives
■ Being neutral / impartial
■ Keeping focus
■ Achieving concensus with conflicting
priorities and opinions
■ Keeping decisions and actions
visible

Training Skills…
■ Learning Models: Shu Ha Ri,
Graphic, Audible
■ Matching learning to content
and audience
■ Teaching through
demonstration: “Training from
the Back of the Room”
■ Games: Innovation Games,
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Gamestorming, Tasty
Cupcakes
■ Mentoring post-training
■ Alternative delivery methods

Coaching Skills...
Coaching Models:
■ GROW Coaching Model
■ PrOpER Coaching Model
■ Results Coaching Model
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■ 3 days, 3 things, 3 weeks
■ Integral (AQAL) Model
■ CLEAR Model

GROW Coaching Model
Aim: Set long term
objective
Goal Objective: Agree specific
Assessment: Invite self objective for session
assessment Topic: Agree topic for
Examples: Offer specific discussion
examples of feedback
Assumptions: Avoid or
Reality
check assumptions and Range: Cover the full
discard irrelevant history range of options
Options Suggestions: Invite
Action: Commit to action suggestions. Cautiously
Obstacles: Identify offer suggestions
Choices: Ensure choices
possible obstacles and Wrap are made
how to overcome. Agree
support
Up
Aim: Make steps specific
and time bound

PrOpER Coaching Model
Review the outcome. Did Pick a problem to work on.
you improve things? Watch how the team
Even if things Problem works. What needs to be
haven’t improved, have improved?
you learned something?
Review Options
Consider your options.
What could you try
Experiment that might influence
Pick one option to try.
the situation for the
better? List at least
three options.

Results Coaching Model
Current
Reality
Habits
Actions
Insights
Questioning
Permission
Desired
Outcome

Dodgeball Model
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Common Coaching
Anti-Patterns…
■ Trying to change too much
■ Losing objectivity
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■ Staying too long
■ Being too theoretical
■ Being inflexible
■ Getting influenced
■ Avoiding tough conversations

Agile
Tips…
Coach
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and have a
clear exit plan
Start with the
end in mind…
Know when to leave
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Be the
change
you want
to see…
Roll up your
sleeves and
show them
how its done

Keep your distance…
Don’t become part of the team

Ask the team…
Make the team responsible -
you don’t have all the answers
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Step by step…
Don’t change everything at once,
create a learning environment

Just the facts…
Separate fact from emotion
Image: © Universal Studios
with insightful questions

Make what you measure…
Select simple
metrics,
measure
regularly and
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make visible

Agile is only a means to
an end…
Adopting Agile should increase
business value and reduce risk

Wrap Up…
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Adrian Smith
Agile Coach Questions?
http://www.ennova.com.au
http://www.agileengineeringdesign.com
adrian.smith@ennova.com.au
@adrianlsmith
Craig Smith
Agile Coach
http://www.suncorp.com.au
http://www.craigsmith.id.au
craig.smith@suncorp.com.au Download this presentation at:
craig@craigsmith.id.au http://www.slideshare.net/smithcdau
@smithcdau http://www.slideshare.net/adrianlsmith
Suncorp Group includes leading general insurance, Ennova is a software development company that specialises in
banking, life insurance, superannuation and helping businesses optimise their use of technology. We are
investment brands in Australia and New Zealand. passionate about what we do and have embedded Agile and Lean
The Group has around 16,000 employees and thinking into our approach to everything. This enables us to rapidly
relationships with nine million customers. It is a Top deliver high quality software solutions that provide long term business
25 ASX listed company with over $95 billion in value. Our Agile and Lean consulting services draw on an diverse
assets. Suncorp has five core businesses: Personal experience base that spans the engineering, manufacturing,
Insurance; Commercial Insurance; Vero New construction and financial services industries. Additionally, Ennova is
Zealand; Suncorp Bank and Suncorp Life. These are active in the development of software products and therefore has first
supported by corporate and shared services hand practical experience in the application of Agile and Lean
divisions. methods.
(http://www.suncorp.com.au) (http://www.ennova.com.au)