Agile Coaching Agreement
By Gary Bamberger
I was recently working with a client as they started accelerating their Agile journey. They had a very “bottoms up” transformation without coaching support because the organization leaders decided to pass through the agile coaching costs to the programs due to budgetary constraints on overhead costs.
One executive who had multiple engagement opportunities asked me, “What can I expect a coach to do?”
Establishing a coaching agreement
To address his question, we developed what we called the Agile Prep and Planning Guide that agile coaches could use as a coaching agreement template. It provided a pattern of activities to prepare for and execute Release Planning. It also included supporting activities over the initial ~six weeks the team would work together. Each activity listed what service the coach would offer.
The benefits we realized from using this coaching agreement included:
Meet the team where they are - Our coaches tailored the activities and the level of coaching support collaboratively with teams to establish clear expectations for the coach based on the skills and experience on the teams. These expectations were shared with stakeholders.
Empowerment - The team and/or the coach were empowered to adapt the agreement as the coaching engagement situation evolved.
Independence - Some teams found the guide useful enough to independently leverage it for subsequent release planning events.
Transparency - Other teams requested coaching support in preparing for and executing subsequent release planning events because they better understood what was involved.
Self-organization - Our coaches self-organized and supported each other based on depth of expertise.
Additional coaching agreement elements
We also added the following value-added elements from the coaching agreement I use with individuals:
Definition of what the targeted outcomes are and how they will be measured.
How the coach will engage:
In person, video conference, teleconference, etc.
Define roles with whom the coach engages.
How direct the coach would be in communications.
Whether feedback from the coach is immediate or relayed during a debrief.
Whether the coach acts as an accountability partner.
When does the coach engage (e.g. which events) and on what schedule.
Coaching engagement allocation, duration and estimated cost.
What coaching competencies will be leveraged (i.e. coaching, mentoring, training and/or facilitation skills)?
What are the expectations of team members (e.g. be present, participate fully, provide honest feedback, commit to forward action / experimentation, etc.).
Confidentiality - what information is held in confidence and what is shared with others.
Caution
I limit using this agreement to situations where it is necessary since there is overhead associated with developing and leveraging the agreement. In most circumstances I’ve encountered, the team and / or organization intuitively understand the benefits of engaging an agile coach to guide the early stages of their agile journey and, therefore, do not require a formalized agile coaching agreement.
Where I have introduced this agreement, it has been with the understanding that it is a temporary tool that will cease being valuable as the organization progresses from “doing” agile to “being” agile.
Contact us
If you’re interested in learning more, contact us to discuss how a coaching agreement could benefit your situation