Embracing AI to Streamline Agile Coaching

Nowadays, we hear a lot of chatter about how ChatGPT and Google's version, Bard are rapidly taking over every aspect of life. We see stories about people utilizing AI for automating a lot of the churn and mundane activities that we usually have to slosh through in order to get anything done. We see applications in content creation such as for marketing collateral, ideation for product solutioning, and even software development such as generating code. It is no different for the realm of agile coaching. Agile Coaches can also leverage AI to improve efficiencies and effectiveness. So how could an Agilist capitalize with this type of technology to make their responsibilities easier?

Here are a couple of ways that Agile Coaches can use AI to help do their job:

Providing Insights and Recommendations:?

AI can be used to analyze data and provide insights and recommendations to Agile Coaches. For example, AI can be used to identify potential risks and bottlenecks, or to suggest ways to improve efficiency.

Interestingly enough, I tried a few scenario based queries to test Chat GPT and what I got was simple and accurate. Yes, it may appear simplistic, however it seemed adequate for the example I gave it:

Input: “What if an Agile Coach notices a team continuously moving incomplete stories from iteration to iteration?”

Chat GPT Output:

1. Refining the backlog items: The team should take more time to refine the backlog items before the Sprint Planning meeting. This will ensure that the items are well-defined and can be completed within the Sprint.

2. Collaborate with the product owner: The Scrum Master could work closely with the product owner to ensure that the backlog items are prioritized correctly. This will help the team to work on the most important items first and reduce the chances of items being moved to the next Sprint.

3. Adjust the team's capacity: If the team is consistently unable to complete all the planned work within the Sprint, the Scrum Master may need to adjust the team's capacity or reevaluate the Sprint goals.

4. Conduct a retrospective: The Scrum Master could conduct a retrospective with the team to identify the reasons why the stories are being moved to the next Sprint. This will help the team to address the underlying issues and improve their processes.

5. Encourage the team to commit to fewer items: The Scrum Master could encourage the team to commit to fewer items during the Sprint Planning meeting. This will help the team to focus on completing the selected items instead of being overwhelmed with too much work.

?Providing Training and Support:?

AI can be used to provide training and support to Agile Coaches. For example, AI can be used to create personalized learning modules or to provide real-time feedback on role-based performance.

Again, I tested this by focusing on the efficiency for creating a customized Product Management Maturity assessment that would be used in creating a future state roadmap for maturation. What I got was not bad.

Input: Can you generate a maturity-based assessment for Product Management using the Product Management Maturity Model?

Output: Sample questionnaire that you can use to assess your organization's maturity level for product management, based on the Product Management Maturity Model:

Level 1: Initial

1. Does your organization have a formal product management structure?

2. Is there a clear product strategy and vision in place?

3. Does the product development process focus on delivering features, rather than addressing customer and market needs?

Level 2: Managed

1. Is there a product management process in place?

2. Is there a clear understanding of target customer segments?

3. Is there a process for prioritizing features on the product roadmap?

Level 3: Defined

1. Is there a clearly defined product management process in place?

2. Is there a well-defined product strategy and vision?

3. Is the product roadmap aligned with the product strategy?

4. Is there a process for prioritizing features on the product roadmap?

5. Is there a process for obtaining customer feedback and incorporating it into product development?

Level 4: Quantitatively Managed

1. Is product development data-driven and based on metrics and analytics?

2. Is there a process for continuous improvement and optimization of product management processes?

3. Is product development tightly integrated with other business functions, such as sales and marketing?

4. Is there a process for measuring the success of product development efforts?

Level 5: Optimizing

1. Is there a culture of innovation and experimentation in the organization?

2. Is there a willingness to take risks and try new approaches?

3. Is product management viewed as a strategic function that is tightly integrated with the overall business strategy?

4. Is there a process for continuously evaluating and improving the product management process?

*Please Note: To assess your organization's maturity level for product management, you would need to additionally evaluate your current processes and practices against each of the levels described above. This can be done through surveys, interviews, and reviews of documentation and artifacts such as product roadmaps, prioritization matrices, and customer feedback. Based on the results of the assessment, you can identify areas for improvement and create a plan to move towards higher levels of maturity.

So overall, it really seems that there is a lot of potential for AI to make Agile Coaches more effective and efficient. By providing insights and recommendations, automating tasks, providing training and support, and even for collaborating with other stakeholders, AI can definitely help Agile Coaches to improve the quality and delivery of their work.

The technology is no where near the point where we should worry about replacing human intuition for tech, but this functionality does make you wonder.?