Does agile coaching lead to better business results?

Photo by Dan Gaken

Companies have general goals in mind when they hire agile coaches. Reading through RFPs and talking with leaders, it initially sounds like adoption of agile practices across teams is a goal of its own. A leap of faith that improvements in agile practices means better organizational outcomes will be achieved. Investing in agile coaching may seem worthwhile enough from that viewpoint.

The Agile Coaching Institute’s whitepaper includes a section on “What Business Benefits would an Internal Agile Coaching Capability Make Available?” It says a strong agile coaching capability means it would be possible to:

  • Enhance product delivery flow throughout an organization.

  • Scale safely by ensuring the agile coaching role is filled by someone whose skills and gravitas are a match for a given team/program/organization.

  • Ensure team performance by starting up strong teams, resetting teams when needed, and disbanding teams that cannot sustain the desired level of performance.

  • Create a sustainable Agile capability that lasts long after key players move on.

  • Reduce or eliminate reliance on external agile coach consultants.

As a coach, I found myself wanting something more from the business benefits of agile coaching since I am often helping organizations grow internal agile coaches and form an internal agile center of excellence.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to meet with a potential client who was interested in engaging an agile coach. Knowing that there are multiple coaches and organizations who might be able to help them in this area, one of their asks was for case studies because they wanted to know the results other clients had achieved. Reviewing a compilation of client engagements and the results was like going through an old photo album and feeling nostalgic about happy pastimes. Agile led to real benefits for those organizations like cost savings, increased revenue, and improved employee satisfaction. An agile coach would not have been able to guarantee those results from the start but knowing what’s possible and what would be meaningful for the company can allow for a better coaching plan.

An emphasis on adopting agile practices without an understanding of what an organization is ultimately trying to achieve feels (at best) short-lived. Agile coaching is more likely to be successful with a clear objective and an understanding of how teams’ increased capabilities will benefit the organization. Without that, agile coaches and sponsors alike can lose sight on whether practices are really generating better results or not. And that’s too bad—for the company and for the coach—because we all want to be successful in the long run.

Allison Pollard

Allison Pollard is a coach, consultant, and trainer who brings the power of relationship systems intelligence to go beyond tasks, roles, and frameworks to create energy for change. She engages with people and teams in a down-to-earth way to build trust and listen for signals to help them learn more and improve. Allison focuses on creating alignment and connection for people to solve business problems together. Her experience includes working with teams and leaders in energy, retail, financial, real estate, and transportation industries to help improve their project/product delivery and culture. Allison currently volunteers as program director for Women in Agile’s mentorship program. Her agile community focus is championing new voices and amplifying women as mentors and sponsors for the next generation of leaders. Allison earned her bachelor’s degrees in computer science, mathematics, and English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), a foodie, and proud glasses wearer. Allison is a prolific speaker at professional groups and international conferences, including Scrum Gatherings and the Agile Alliance Agile20xx conferences. Allison is co-owner of Helping Improve LLC.

http://www.allisonpollard.com
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