RIP Agile Coach – Why The "Agile Coach" Needs To Go Away
Mike MacIsaac
Principal Management Consultant @ MacIsaac Consulting | IT Program Management, Identity & Access Management, ServiceNow
I recently attended a gathering of Scrum Masters. While there, someone said something that caught my attention. What they said was something like, “the Agile Coach role needs to die in a dumpster fire”.
The Agile Coach they were referring to is a person that coaches Scrum teams (usually a contractor), but doesn't act as a Scrum Master for any of the teams.
Other than making me laugh, the remark intrigued me. I’ve worked with many Agile coaches, some of who I learned a lot from. I have good friends and colleagues (don’t hate me for writing this) who are Agile coaches. So why then, do they need die in a dumpster fire?
After the person gave their explanation, I have to say, I kind of agree (not that they need to die in a dumpster fire) that most Agile coaches aren't needed. Here’s why.
About 10 years ago or so, when the Agile movement picked up speed, Agile was new for most companies. Companies formed Scrum teams by placing people in Scrum roles that had no experience. For example, a PM became a Scrum Master. Or, a BA became the Product Owner. At that time, it made sense to bring in an “Agile Coach” who could help new teams, because the team members were so new to it all.
I remember my first experience on a Scrum team. I worked as a software QA analyst. None of us on the team knew much about Scrum, including the appointed Scrum Master. We had a coach come in to help, and he was helpful.
Fast forward to 2018, and Agile has become the norm. Today, the demand for Scrum Masters is as strong, if not more so, than the demand for project managers. This brings me to why Agile Coaches are no longer needed.
The reason why “Agile Coaches” are no longer needed is because the Scrum Master is a coach. It’s the job of the Scrum Master to coach the team, PO, and organization. Bringing in an “Agile Coach” to coach Scrum Teams is like bringing in a Project Management Coach to coach project teams. You wouldn’t bring in a project management coach, because the team already has a project manager. So, why would you bring in an Agile Coach, when it’s the Scrum Master’s job to coach?
Also, these "coaches" that work with Scrum teams are put in a difficult spot. The reason is because they are not part of the teams. Scrum teams are crazy busy. Having someone outside of the team come in and start "coaching" often becomes a hindrance.
In short, Scrum teams don’t need coaches if they have qualified Scrum Masters.
Now, while it may be true that Agile coaches aren't needed for teams, I contest that there is still a strong need for Agile coaching at the enterprise level. A good certified enterprise agile coach can help executives put in place the right Agile strategy. This goes way beyond Scrum and Scrum teams, and gets into organizational transformation.
Executives face tremendous challenges implementing Agile in their organization. This is particularly true for large organizations that need to scale Agile. This is the area where Agile coaching provides value, not by coaching teams that already have Scrum Masters.
About the Author: Mike MacIsaac is the owner and principal consultant for MacIsaac Consulting. Mike provides leadership as an Agile Delivery Consultant and IT Project/Program Manager. Follow Mike on Twitter@MikeMacIsaac or subscribe to Mike’s blog.
Agile Transformation Leader - Boeing IT PMO
2 年The heading should read "RIP Scrum coaches," assuming you have scrum masters who are highly competent and have years of experience equivalent to an agile coach. Executives can be agile champions, but the skill set for coaching is particular and specialized. Under coaches' guidance, executives take years to learn their jobs in a transformation. New templates, Job descriptions, mindsets, transformation strategy and framework, agile portfolio operations, agile metrics, agile HR, ......the list goes on. Executives can't start as agile coaches because no engineering or business school has a degree that covers all these skills. The agile coach is a specialized profession and highly paid because they possess skills that are more aligned to doing a Ph.D. Executives can become coaches only AFTER they get extensive training and coaching. Organizations need coaches not just for augmenting the headcount side-by-side with executives but even to coach executives. What you wrote is equivalent to telling someone to learn basketball by reading about it. It takes a coach to make a champion. I have seen multitudes of failed transformation dollars wasted based on such uninformed advice, and I am saying this from experience.
Associate Director, Data and Technology
2 年how long until the demand for Scrum Masters dries up in the same fashion?
Change Management and Agility Enthusiast I My purpose in life is to make a difference.
5 年Agree that Agile Coaches are needed by executives.
Test Analyst at Australian Taxation Office
5 年I beg the world to please understand: no matter what title you have, focus on helping guide the organization first and foremost transition to improve, not just chuck in principles. Use whatever principles you have learned that supports and fits and organization. Everyone is different. It’s so easy to say this worked for others in the past, but they need to actively listen to the organizations needs first and foremost and work what fits with that.
Create your authentic, meaningful, and impactful future in Life, Leadership, Career and/or Retirement.
5 年While agile might be a 'norm' in some places, there are many companies where it still hasn't arrived.? Or hasn't arrived successfully.? The world still needs agile coaches for companies transitioning to agile and those who want to improve their use of agile thinking and scrum or kanban processes.??