Traits of a Coach

Successful coaches demonstrate capabilities from both agile and coaching areas of expertise. In order to have a holistic approach to coaching, we suggest agilists develop proficiency in the following areas:

• Supports the Team’s Self-Management - Self-management is founded on the assumption that everyone on the team has valuable ideas and is responsible for their own outcomes. When coaching, you have a responsibility to help uncover ways of developing self-management, including your own.
   
• Models the Scrum Values - In the context of Scrum, sharing common values is central to building an environment of trust where people feel encouraged to inspect and adapt toward shared goals. When coaching, you have a unique opportunity to model the Scrum Values and bring awareness of their merit to the team. Here are some examples to draw on:
  • Courage: Challenge new ways of thinking and offer support in exploring them. 
  • Commitment: Encourage commitment to action and help build the right plan for accountability. 
  • Focus: Focus the team on the topic, and bring their attention to emerging thoughts, and inquire how they want to proceed. 
  • Openness: Model and promote openness, creating a safe and open space where everyone feels comfortable to fully express themselves. 
  • Respect: View your colleagues as creative and resourceful. Allow their solutions, ideas, and thoughts to emerge throughout the conversation.
     
• Navigates Complexity… in Human Relationships - People are complex. Navigating this complexity requires emotional/social skills like listening, empathy, and building shared understanding.
   
• Encourages the Team’s Growth through Empiricism - Empiricism is the growth of knowledge through experience. Empiricism is foundational to Scrum. When we help the team focus on a defined problem, apply small changes and use the evidence of what happened to build their understanding, they generate new solutions and options for themselves.