Learn the difference between coaching and mentoring in Agile Methodologies, and how to choose and apply them effectively to support your Agile team or project.

Coaching focuses on short-term goals, immediate performance improvement, tactical skill building, structured approaches, targeted feedback and motivation directly related to agile role responsibilities and competencies. Timebound support on specific issues. Mentoring focuses on long-term career growth, big picture guidance on strategy, developing relationship-based trusted counsel, sharing diverse wisdom and experiences, discussing broader aspirations beyond immediate role. Open-ended counseling to advance careers holistically. Coaching provides the tactical 'what' while mentoring offers the strategic 'why'. Together they accelerate agile skill and career growth.

How can you differentiate between coaching and mentoring in Agile Methodologies?

Agile Methodologies are based on the principles of continuous improvement, collaboration, and adaptation. They require teams to work together in an iterative and incremental way, delivering value to customers and stakeholders. To achieve this, Agile teams need guidance, support, and feedback from various roles, such as coaches and mentors. But what is the difference between coaching and mentoring in Agile Methodologies? How can you decide which one is more suitable for your team or project? In this article, we will explore the definitions, benefits, and challenges of both coaching and mentoring, and provide some tips on how to apply them effectively.

1 Coaching in Agile

Coaching in Agile is a process of helping teams or individuals to improve their performance, skills, and mindset by asking powerful questions, providing feedback, and facilitating learning. Rather than providing solutions or advice, a coach enables the coachee to discover their own potential and solutions. Coaching in Agile can be done by an external or internal coach with expertise in Agile practices, tools, and frameworks, as well as coaching skills. The benefits of coaching in Agile include enhancing team agility and collaboration, developing problem-solving capabilities, supporting alignment with Agile values and principles, fostering continuous improvement and feedback culture, and addressing team challenges and impediments. However, some of the challenges of coaching in Agile are finding the right balance between coaching and directing, building trust with the coachee, adapting to different coaching styles and preferences, dealing with resistance or conflict, and measuring the impact and value of coaching.

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Praveen Nelanti

Agility & AI Explorer | Author, Coach, Trainer, and Organizational Psychologist (Ph.D)
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Coaching focuses on short-term goals, immediate performance improvement, tactical skill building, structured approaches, targeted feedback and motivation directly related to agile role responsibilities and competencies. Timebound support on specific issues. Mentoring focuses on long-term career growth, big picture guidance on strategy, developing relationship-based trusted counsel, sharing diverse wisdom and experiences, discussing broader aspirations beyond immediate role. Open-ended counseling to advance careers holistically. Coaching provides the tactical 'what' while mentoring offers the strategic 'why'. Together they accelerate agile skill and career growth.

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2 Mentoring in Agile

Mentoring in Agile is a process of sharing knowledge, experience, and wisdom with a less experienced person. A mentor is a role model, a guide, and a supporter who offers advice, insights, and feedback to the mentee. This can be done by a senior or peer mentor who has expertise in a specific domain, skill, or role such as development, testing, product ownership, or Scrum Master. The benefits of mentoring in Agile include accelerating the mentee's learning and development, enhancing their confidence and competence, expanding their network and opportunities, promoting their career growth and satisfaction, as well as creating a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration. Challenges of mentoring in Agile include finding the right match between the mentor and the mentee, setting clear expectations and goals, managing time and commitment, avoiding dependency or micromanagement, and evaluating progress and outcomes.

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Sihiyona Moshood

Product Manager | Scrum Master | Agile Enthusiast | QA | Six Sigma Yellow Belt
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In my opinion, Coaching in agile focuses on improving specific skills and processes, while mentoring involves sharing broader knowledge and experiences for overall professional development.

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3 Coaching vs Mentoring

Coaching and mentoring are both effective ways of supporting Agile teams and individuals, though they have different purposes, approaches, and outcomes. Coaching is focused on improving performance, skills, and mindset, while mentoring is more about sharing knowledge, experience, and wisdom. Coaching relies on powerful questions to facilitate learning, while mentoring is more about imparting advice and insights. Coaching encourages the coachee to find their own solutions, while mentoring provides the mentee with proven solutions. Additionally, coaching is usually short-term and goal-oriented whereas mentoring is usually long-term and relationship-oriented.

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Zayn Tee Yin Yong 郑吟勇

Global Transformation & Culture Senior Manager | Leading Change focused on People and Pragmatic solutions | ICF-ACC
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It is also important to set clear expectations with the other party if you are engaged in coaching or mentoring with them. For some, they may expect a mentoring relationship and hence will may understand if you adopt a coaching stance. As an Agile coach, we often have to judge for ourselves if we should put on a coaching hat or mentoring hat based on the context and situation on hand. For critical case, sometimes we may need to change take on a training hat and deliver the knowledge as is for execution.

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4 How to Choose

When deciding between coaching and mentoring for an Agile team or project, it is important to consider the level of experience and expertise of the team or individual, the type and complexity of the challenge or opportunity, the availability and suitability of the coach or mentor, the preferred learning style and feedback mode of the team or individual, and the desired outcome and value of the intervention.

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5 How to Apply

Whether you are a coach or mentor, or both, in Agile, you need to follow some best practices to ensure the effectiveness and success of your intervention. It's important to assess the needs and readiness of the team or individual, as well as establish a clear and mutual agreement on the scope, goals, and expectations. Additionally, building trust and rapport with the team or individual is essential. Active listening, empathy, and curiosity should be utilized when providing constructive feedback and recognition. Encourage reflection and action while also monitoring and reviewing progress and results. And finally, celebrate and share the achievements and learnings.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you differentiate between coaching and mentoring in Agile Methodologies?

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1 Coaching in Agile

2 Mentoring in Agile

3 Coaching vs Mentoring

4 How to Choose

5 How to Apply

6 Here’s what else to consider

Agile Methodologies

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How can you differentiate between coaching and mentoring in Agile Methodologies?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Coaching in Agile

2 Mentoring in Agile

3 Coaching vs Mentoring

4 How to Choose

5 How to Apply

6 Here’s what else to consider

Agile Methodologies

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