In a number of posts we will put focus on the speakers of Øresund Agile 2010. First out is Lyssa Adkins. Lyssa will facilitate Workshop 4 – Coaching Agile Teams.

Lyssa, in short, what is an Agile Coach?

An agile coach is someone who takes teams beyond getting agile practices up and running and into their deliberate and joyful pursuit of high performance.

What would you think is the greatest value the participants will get from your workshop on Coaching Agile Teams?

Each person leaves the workshop with a personal improvement backlog filled with promises they make to themselves about what they want to improve about their agile coaching ability. For some, it’s taking the time to really listen at all the levels we practice in the class so that they can detect what is really happening with the team – on the surface and under the surface. For others, it’s practicing how to deliver powerful questions to help teams get unstuck. Still, for others, it’s paying attention to the value they deliver to their teams so that they can leave work each day knowing if they have truly made a difference or not. What will it be for you? Who knows, but I see that agile coaches leave the workshop with a long list of potential improvement opportunities (prioritized by highest value, of course).

Who would benefit from attending your workshop?

This workshop is meant for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches and Project Managers in transition – people who are ready to take the next step beyond practices and principles and move into activating teams to achieve the full promise of Agile.

Consider coming to this workshop if:

• You’ve had a few experiences as a ScrumMaster/Coach and it just doesn’t seem to be working for you.
• Your job as Scrum Master/Coach has become routine and you notice the teams seem to be going through the motions, too.
• Your teams get the practices and are doing well, but not getting the fabulous results you were supposed to get.
• Your are an awesome agile coach and you want the skills that will help you earn the Certified Scrum Coach designation.
• You are spread across many Agile teams because your managers think Agile Coaching is not a full-time job.
• You are not sure if the Agile Coach role is really right for you.

What does it take to become an Agile Coach?

There’s no roadmap to becoming an agile coach. For me, it was bringing skills and mindsets from several allied disciplines to my teams so that they could get better and better. Some of these allied disciplines are facilitation, conflict navigation, teaching, problem solving, coaching-mentoring and collaboration. I knew I was an agile coach when I could help teams get “more agile” all the time and I could also help each person take their next step to becoming a great agilist.