Things I wish I knew before I became an agile coach

In late 2014 Daisy Pilbrow and I sent out a survey to the agile community. The survey asked agile coaches what they wish they’d known before they started coaching, what was challenging about the role, and what they’ve learned about themselves and others. With the replies Daisy and I hoped to create a short and inspiring recommendation that we could give to interns and new coaches at Spotify.

The survey received 30 replies. We analysed the responses and were able to identify a few patterns that we’d like to share with you. You can find all the responses in their full format here, but we have removed peoples names to protect their integrity.

What role did you have before you became an agile coach?

What makes a good agile coach?
A good coach is someone who:

• leads by example
• is patient
• does no harm
• assumes positive intent
• is selfaware
• is not afraid to fail
• is resiliant
• listens
• cares about people
• is curious
• is humble
• knows how and when to switch between roles
• forgives
• learns
• is pragmatic
• is knowledgeable about agile

What’s difficult about being an agile coach?

• It is hard to quantify what success looks like
• You succeed when others succeed and don’t get as much recognition
• To constantly manage thyself
• Knowing when to switch roles
• Empowering others
• Setting clear expectations
• Leading by example
• Assuming positive intent
• The resistance you encounter (to agile, to change)
• Asking openended questions
• Learning from failure
• Listening
• Listening well
• Building strong relationships
• Recognising assumptions
• Being pragmatic
• The loneliness the role can have
• Coaching teams
• Staying humble
• Giving feedback
• Dealing with conflict

What advice do you have for new agile coaches?

• Don’t try to coach a team by yourself – form alliances with other leaders
• Set really clear expectations with people
• As a guideline – always assume positive intent
• Focus on what’s more important (don’t try to do everything)
• Don’t always coach
• Get to know the system you operate in before you try to change it
• Learn how to listen well, fast
• Learn how to ask powerful questions, fast
• Learn your triggers
• Become good at giving and receiving feedback
• Start small
• Absorb knowledge (books, studies, videos, etc)
• Observe other coaches in action or pair with them

What book should I read if I become an agile coach?

• Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins (this book comes out on top with 17% of all the recommendations)
• Self awareness
  • Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey
  • Team Geek by Brian W Fitzpatrick
  • The Secrets of Consulting by Jerry Weinberg
  • What did you say? The art of giving and receiving feedback by Jerry Weinberg, Charles N. Seashore, and Edith W. Seashore
  • Thank You for the Feedback by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
  • Flawless Consulting by Peter Block
• Leadership
  • 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
  • Management 3.0 by Jurgen Appelo
  • Drive by Daniel H Pink
  • Leading teams by J Richard Hackman
  • Peopleware by Tom DeMarco
• Process and organisation
  • Six simple rules by Yves Morieux
  • The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim
  • The agile samurai by Jonathan Rasmusson
• Other
  • Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu

We have left the survey open incase more people want to take it. We plan on revisiting the results later this year to see if we can identify other patterns, if we have received more responses.

Please reach out to me if you would like to discuss these conclusions, or if you have identified any other patterns that you believe we should include. I just can’t get enough of analysing data. :)

Thanks for reading!