The term “agile coaching” may be new to many business owners and boards of directors. In fact, it was a concept first developed just over a decade ago and, as a result, many of today’s companies didn’t plan for a person with that job designation within their corporate hierarchy. However, it is a position that should be viewed as necessary in today’s digital realm.
By being referred to as “agile,” you will probably assume, and rightfully so, that this is a position for a person with the experience and competence to literally think on their feet. It is a position that is highly adaptive and one that can be seen as the driving force of team effort. Let’s look at that for just a moment to see just how important an agile coach is to your company and a quick look at what it is that they actually do.
The Birth of Agile Coaching
If you are not familiar with agile coaching, you are not alone. The principles and practices now being learned in an Agile Coaching Certification program were first outlined and developed in 2011 by Lyssa Adkins working together with Michael Spayd at the Agile Coaching Institute. Being a “coaching” concept first brought into the limelight just 12 years ago, it has blossomed into something well beyond coaching.
When Is a Coach Not a Coach?
This is a tricky, and somewhat loaded question. How can a person with the professional designation be a coach and not a coach at the same time? Perhaps the best way to explain this is that an agile coach is one who works within the structure of teams from within and without. They are able to assemble and assess progress and failures so that team leaders, coaches in their own right, can gain momentum moving forward to feed on successes and circumvent stumbling blocks. This information is then adapted to other teams, as necessary, and usually within a digital framework. Therefore, an agile coach is also highly technologically advanced. As such, it is a position filled by someone with advanced-level Agile Coaching Certification.
Qualifications of an Agile Coach
As you can already discern, an agile coach goes well beyond the common understanding of what it is that a coach does. An agile coach assembles and analyzes information being fed to them by departmental or team coaches within a structured method of communication. Rather than being a coach or teacher, the agile coach asks the right questions so that team coaches and project managers can be part of the growth process. It is a method of ‘coaching’ that is highly adaptive to the day-to-day workings of an organized structure.
Closing With a Mental Visual
It may be a relatively easy concept to understand at first glance, but much more difficult to achieve. Perhaps an easy mental visual would give you a better understanding of what it is that an agile coach is and does. Think of the agile coach as the hub of a wheel with all the project managers or team coaches as being the spokes. The AC is continually being fed information from every direction to be analyzed and redirected as necessary. This information is the fuel that drives progress and while an agile coach isn’t a coach in the traditional sense, it is a person who is able to facilitate coaching on those spokes continually feeding information into the hub while using feedback to gain the momentum necessary to growth. Check out this article for a more in-depth look at what it is that an agile coach actually does.