Agility is a topic that continues growing in these times and there we see different roles that

support the accompaniment of teams and companies that work on agile transformations. In my
experience as Scrum Master, Project Manager and Agile Coach in agile transformations for the
past 8 years, I have been able to observe that many ask themselves the same question

What is an Agile Coach? Why should I hire an Agile Coach for my company?

As Agile Coach we want to serve teams and organizations to not only do Agile, but to being
Agile and for this in this Blog I will help you remove those biases and labels that we usually fear
about this role by exploring in more depth what and why

Agile Myths Trainer

An Agile Coach is not a more experienced Scrum Master, nor is an Enterprise Agile Coach an
Agile Coach with years of experience. These roles are not hierarchical, they are linear roles and
each of them entails having particular strengths.

This is why it is critical to understand that an Agile Coach is a person who has been able to go
through other roles within agility but that understanding and living the following is essential to be
able to call himself an Agile Coach:
- Understand and live daily the 4 values and 12 principles of the Agile Manifesto
(http://agilemanifesto.org/)
- Is clear about the Agile Coaching Manifesto (https://agilecoachmanifesto.org/)
- Knows what the International Coaching Federation is and does, but at the same time
understands the code of ethics of being a Coach at any scale (https://coachingfederation.org/)
-Use the 4 essential hats of an Agile Coach (https://www.icagile.com/)
- Get educated and certified on the subject (Agile Coaching)

Hats (https://www.icagile.com/media/pdfs/learning-outcomes/agile-coaching-learning-
outcomes.pdf)

There are four (4) essential hats that an Agile Coach can wear for each of these skills and
knows when to use them to perfection:
- Facilitator: Understands the facilitation mindset, facilitating collaborative conversations,
facilitating selected agile meetings, adjusting facilitation given team maturity, and creating
awareness that teams are human systems.
- Trainer: Use multiple delivery mechanisms for adult content and create an environment for
adherence
- Mentor: giving advice while maintaining presence, articulating the experience, the mentee in
free choice, understanding the contrast between mentoring and coaching, and conducting a
mentoring conversation.
- Coach: Leading the coaching conversation, helping team members experience agile mindset
shifts, assisting in leadership engagement, having techniques for working through conflict,
designing coaching alliances

You need an Agile Coach

Perhaps you wonder if you really need an Agile Coach for your team or company, and it is
normal for us to ask ourselves that question and that is why you have to ask yourself
- Does your leadership team understand how to support Business Agility?
- Do your teams allow collaboration rather than competition?
- Does your leadership team have strategies to support and make performing teams?
- Does your leadership team implement continuous improvement practices at least every
3 weeks?
- Does your leadership team understand the current state of technology and the practice
of the delivery plan for the next 3 weeks?
- Does your leadership team meet with the technical team to review their achievements
at least every 3 weeks?
- Is your leadership team transparent about where we are today and what are the
expectations for the week ahead?
- Is your leadership team adapting to real-world challenges quickly enough?

If you answered no to one of these questions, you need an Agile Coach in your work team to
support you in this transformation towards what is desired and expected.

Remember Agile Coaching is a collaboration with individuals, teams, and organizations on a

creative and inspiring journey using coaching approaches with an agile mindset and principles
to help individuals, teams, and organizations be the best they can be
(agilecoachingmanifesto.org)
What’s Next?
The world continues to change and we need to temper ourselves with what will come, looking
for value in our way of delivering. At the same time, we understand that our customers'
expectations will continue to evolve. Instead of just preparing in the best way we can, they
should continue to invest in Agility while working hand-in-hand with our customers to be the best
at what we do.

For this reason, it is essential to have an ally who knows about Agility and who can support
them in creating innovative strategies and thus create better experiences for the end user. You
may be able to get it with an Agile Coach or another role within the Agile world, that's why I'm
here to help you and talk about those headaches you may be having and looking at.

At the end we should include Business Agility website from CGI