An Agile soft-skill suite case: set of values, principles and practices for agile and lean coaching.
During this presentation will be described and discussed a large set of agile coaching skills.
2. Soft-skills
Soft skills are interpersonal skills such as the ability to
communicate well with other people and to work in a team.
(Antonym: hard skills)
3. Suitecase
A suitcase is a box or bag with a handle and a hard frame in
which you carry your clothes when you are travelling.
9. Agility means that things will be
done differently
Agility does not mean ...
To no longer do project management
To be a chaotic organization that no longer respects its IT governance
framework
To no longer produce documents
To leave the team to itself
To do things partially
To change every thing overnight
That there will no longer be any problems
It simply means to do things differently!
10. Agile adoption means
Personal change
A focus on delivery of value - early and often
Understanding that people are different
11. Personal change
Agile adoption means personal change
not just for developers, but for other folks across the whole
organization.
And by personal change here, we mean coming to see the
world (and the world of work) from a different perspective.
12. Focus on delivery of value
Agile adoption means a focus on delivery of value - early
and often
By value we mean, things of value to stakeholders;
and by early we mean within a few days or weeks
(sometimes even, hours) of starting a new project.
13. People are different
Agile adoption means understanding that people are
different
seeing people as individuals, and recognizing that a one-
size-fits-all attitude to people has serious drawbacks.
14.
15.
16. Coaching is not Training
While training and coaching both promote learning, they do
so in different ways
17.
18. Coaching is not Counseling
Again, there may be a superficial similarity in that both of
these activities are one-to-one conversations, but their tone
and purpose are very different
19.
20. Coaching is not Mentoring
There are some superficial similarities between coaching and
mentoring, as they are both typically one-to-one
conversations aimed at facilitating professional development,
but there are also significant differences.
25. Agile coaching
Balance many things as you work with different teams and
stay true to your own values.
Understanding of the social psychological and complexity
aspects of team.
Sense-making models for analyzing teams and situations.
A method for designing non-intrusive interventions for
changing team dynamics.
Learn what’s really needed to get people to work together as
teams.
26.
27. Self-organization issues
Self-organization of human beings is a tricky thing.
Agile coaches are constantly challenged with how to
motivate/persuade/trick their teams into doing things, without
telling them what to do, but there is very little information or
training on this topic.
Allowing a team to self-organize along the lines of “oh well,
they’re all adults, they’ll figure it out” is just as irresponsible
as reverting to the command-and control school of
management.
87. Team development model
Teams go through four stages
Teams can regress when membership changes
Norming
Storming
Forming
88. Team development model
Teams go through four stages
Teams can regress when membership changes
A mature team may need no leadership Performing
Leader delegates and
overseas
Norming
Storming
The Leader’s goal is to
make the team self-
Forming reliant and than move on
89. Self-sufficient teams produce best results
People are more motivated when they manage themselves.
People are more committed when they make their own
commitments.
Teams and individuals are more productive when they are
not interrupted.
Teams are improving when they solve their problems by
themselves.
90.
91. Self-sufficient teams produce best results
People are more motivated when they manage themselves.
People are more committed when they make their own
commitments.
Teams and individuals are more productive when they are
not interrupted.
Teams are improving when they solve their problems by
themselves.
92.
93. Self-sufficient teams produce best results
People are more motivated when they manage themselves.
People are more committed when they make their own
commitments.
Teams and individuals are more productive when they are
not interrupted.
Teams are improving when they solve their problems by
themselves.
94.
95. Self-sufficient teams produce best results
People are more motivated when they manage themselves.
People are more committed when they make their own
commitments.
Teams and individuals are more productive when they are
not interrupted.
Teams are improving when they solve their problems by
themselves.
96.
97.
98. Self-sufficient teams produce best results
Productivity is compromised when changes are made to the
team composition.
Face-to-face communication is the most productive way for a
team to work and exchange
99.
100. Self-sufficient teams produce best results
Productivity is compromised when changes are made to the
team composition.
Face-to-face communication is the most productive way for a
team to work and exchange
103. Team Roles
The individuals who make up the team need a range of
attributes that are complementary so that, to coin a well know
phrase, ‘its whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.
This is how teams achieve exceptional performance and,
again, sporting analogies abound.
104. What are Belbin's Team Roles?
At Henley Management College whilst researching effective
teamworking some years ago, Dr Meredith Belbin analyzed the
composition of high performance teams and discovered that
there were a number of behavioural attributes that were
crucial.
119. Independence or Self-Mastery
The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to
independence (i.e. self mastery):
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
120. Interdependence
The next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e. working
with others):
Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be
Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
121. Self Renewal
The Last habit relates to self-rejuvenation:
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
125. Getting Things Done (GTD)
is an organizational method created by productivity
consultant David Allen, described in a book of the same
name.
The Getting Things Done method rests on the principle that a
person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording
them externally.
That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering
everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on
actually performing those tasks.
126. First Things First
The book by Steven Covey asserts that there are
three generations of time management:
first-generation task lists,
second-generation personal organizers with deadlines and
third-generation values clarification as incorporated in the
Franklin Planner.
127. Urgent Not Urgent
• Crisis • Preparation
• Pressing Issues • Planning
Important
• Deadlines • Prevention
• Meetings • Relationship
building
I II
Not Important
III IV
• Interruptions • Trivia
• Some mails • Some Phone Calls
• Many popular • Excessive
activities TV/Games
128. Urgent Not Urgent
• Crisis • Preparation
• Pressing Issues • Planning
Important
• Deadlines • Prevention
• Meetings • Relationship
building
I II
Not Important
III IV
• Interruptions • Trivia
• Some mails • Some Phone Calls
• Many popular • Excessive
activities TV/Games
129. Urgent Not Urgent
• Crisis • Preparation
• Pressing Issues • Planning
Important
• Deadlines • Prevention
• Meetings • Relationship
building
I II
Not Important
III IV
• Interruptions • Trivia
• Some mails • Some Phone Calls
• Many popular • Excessive
activities TV/Games
130. Urgent Not Urgent
• Crisis • Preparation
• Pressing Issues • Planning
Important
• Deadlines • Prevention
• Meetings • Relationship
building
I II
Not Important
III IV
• Interruptions • Trivia
• Some mails • Some Phone Calls
• Many popular • Excessive
activities TV/Games
131. Urgent Not Urgent
• Crisis • Preparation
• Pressing Issues • Planning
Important
• Deadlines • Prevention
• Meetings • Relationship
building
I II
Not Important
III IV
• Interruptions • Trivia
• Some mails • Some Phone Calls
• Many popular • Excessive
activities TV/Games
155. The prime directive says:
Regardless of what we discover, we understand and
truly believe that everyone did the best job they
could, given what they knew at the time, their skills
and abilities, the resources available, and the
situation at hand.
156. Iteration Retrospective
Set the stage
Deliver product
Gather data
increments
Generate
Build product
Insight
Incorporate
Decide what to
experiments &
do
improvements
Close
Retrospective
157. Structure of a retrospective
Set the stage
Gather data
Generate insight
Decide what to do
Close the retrospective
163. Virginia Satir’s Change Model
describes the change patterns she saw during therapy with
families
the patterns she describes occur with any group of people
when confronted by change
164.
165. Stage 1: Late Status Quo
The group is at a familiar place.
The performance pattern is consistent.
Stable relationships give members a sense of belonging and
identity.
Members know what to expect, how to react, and how to
behave.
Implicit and explicit rules underlie behavior.
166. Stage 2: Resistance
The group confronts a foreign element that requires a
response.
Often imported by a small minority seeking change, this
element brings the members whose opinions count the most
face to face with a crucial issue.
A foreign element threatens the stability of familiar power
structures.
167. Stage 3: Chaos
The group enters the unknown.
Relationships shatter: Old expectations may no longer be
valid; old reactions may cease to be effective; and old
behaviors may not be possible.
The chaos stage is vital to the transformation process.
168. Stage 4: Integration
The members discover a transforming idea that shows how
the foreign element can benefit them.
The group becomes excited.
New relationships emerge that offer the opportunity for
identity and belonging.
With practice, performance improves rapidly.
The members need reassurance and help finding new
methods for coping with difficulties.
169. Stage 5: New Status Quo
If the change is well conceived and assimilated, the group
and its environment are in better accord and performance
stabilizes at a higher level than in the Late Status Quo.
A healthy group is calm and alert.
All members provide feedback to improve the process.
170. Satir’s Change Model
Stage Description How to Help
Encourage people to seek improvement information and
1 Late Status Quo
concepts from outside the group.
Help people to open up, become aware, and overcome the
2 Resistance
reaction to deny, avoid or blame.
Help build a safe environment that enables people to focus
on their feelings, acknowledge their fear, and use their
3 Chaos
support systems. Help management avoid any attempt to
short circuit this stage with magical solutions.
Offer reassurance and help finding new methods for coping
4 Integration
with difficulties.
5 New Status Quo Help people feel safe so they can practice.
184. … to a Social Network one
Organizational structure
185.
186.
187.
188. Kaizen
Kaizen a Japanese term which means “continuous
improvement” by doing little things better and setting and
achieving increasingly higher standards
The exact translation is:
Kai = change
Zen = better
It is a Japanese philosophy that originally comes from
Japanese culture and Japanese practice of management.
189.
190. “The journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step"
Rooted in the two thousand-year-old wisdom of the Tao Te Ching
191. Kaizen
Kaizen is the art of making great and lasting change through
small, steady increments.
Kaizen is the tortoise versus the hare.
192. 7 Small Steps
How to Think Small Thoughts
Take Small Actions
Solve Small Problems
and more …
How to perform mind sculpture-visualizing virtual change so
that real change comes more naturally.
Small rewards motivate better than big rewards.
196. Succeeding with Kaizen Programs
and Events
Avoid common implementation mistakes
Find the right champion and establish an effective steering
committee
Create timelines, select teams and leaders, and define
objectives
Use kaizen events to implement 5S, standard work, Kanban,
and new line designs
Includes a chapter-length case study from a real
manufacturing firm
199. How will we proceed?
We are coaching rather than commanding or controlling.
We create environments promoting collaboration to foster
team work.
It is ideal to reorganize the physical location, but this goal
could be reached gradually.
We involve business people right from the beginning in order
to promote commitment.
We create communities so people can communicate and
improve themselves.
We use tools to disseminate information
202. What does it mean to managers?
LEADERSHIP
• Definition of the objectives and performance management
• Management and leadership style
ENVIRONMENT
• Work environment and organizational culture
PROJECT TEAM
• Self-sufficiency and accountability
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Communication and knowledge sharing
• Skills and professional development
• Continuous improvement e and organizational learning
• Processes and tools
203. 208
Managers are also impacted by
the transition from a traditional to
an Agile approach
Transfer authority and responsibility to the team so it can do
its work adequately
Avoid interference and micromanagement
Promote collaboration and teamwork
Support learning and not systematically penalize failures
Review best practices in order to adapt them to changing
realities
Make adjustments to the facilities so the environment
facilitates the execution of Agile projects
Adapt the management style to the context of the team
204. Managers will be supported by
organizational coaches
As members of the expertise centre, organizational coaches:
Offer training courses to groups of managers (e.g. Agile for
managers)
Participate in steering committees of pilot projects (ETC)
Individually support the managers that are related to pilot projects
in order to go from a traditional management style to a more
Agile one
Provide individual or group coaching in order to address fears,
challenges, and resistances and to provide appropriate support
206. Characteristics of a Agile organization
Management Pyramid is inverted
Greater Liberty and Freedom to accomplish the task at hand
Constant Learning, Knowledge Creation and Knowledge
Sharing
A More Enjoyable and Humane Work Environment
A Hyper-productive Cooperative Work Mode
Emergent Planning, Architecture and Requirements
New values that generate a cooperative culture
The Quality of Life
207.
208.
209.
210.
211. Conclusion
A transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one
is not an IT project, it is rather an organizational
change.
An Agile approach highly impacts project teams but it
also impacts managers and their management style.
When this type of transition is successful, it gives a
competitive advantage to the organization.
Supporting managers is critical to the success of this
type of initiative.
212.
213. Credits
Stock photo: 123rf.com
Original photo: Giulia Armani
Music: “Ladies of Ireland” » Mike Oldfield
“Mirror” » Fabio Armani