What to do if agile coaches need to "own" the delivery of the agile teams?!
In the context of the IT industry, it's not uncommon for agile coaches to be tasked with "owning" the delivery of teams, especially in environments that prioritize continuous value delivery. This dual role can be challenging, as it requires balancing the immediate demands of project delivery with the broader goals of agile coaching, transformation consulting, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Here are my ten real-time examples from complex IT engagements that illustrate how an agile coach can effectively manage this balance among System of Delivery, System of Transformation & System of Continuous Improvement.
SoD - Product Roadmap, Agile Release Planning, milestone identification etc.
SoT - Agile Transformation Roadmap, Coaching Plan
SoI - Kaizen Roadmap based on retrospectives, agile maturity assessment outcomes and most importantly based on the feel factor of the coach.
1. Sprint Planning with Delivery Focus
Scenario: In a software development project for a major financial institution, the agile coach is responsible for guiding the team through sprint planning while ensuring deliverables meet regulatory deadlines.
Approach: The coach can integrate delivery goals with agile principles by facilitating a sprint planning session that prioritizes high-value, regulatory-compliant features. The coach encourages the team to break down these features into manageable tasks and identify any potential impediments early on.
Outcome: This approach ensures that the team remains focused on delivering value while adhering to agile practices like incremental delivery and collaboration.
2. Value Stream Mapping for Continuous Improvement
Scenario: An agile coach in a retail company's IT department is tasked with improving the e-commerce platform's delivery process while ensuring the team is continuously learning.
Approach: The coach conducts a value stream mapping workshop to identify bottlenecks in the current delivery process. By involving the team, the coach helps them understand the flow of value and areas for improvement.
Outcome: The team gains insights into their workflow and implements changes that reduce cycle time, leading to faster delivery of value and a culture of continuous improvement.
3. Balancing Coaching and Delivery Metrics
Scenario: In a healthcare IT project, the agile coach is required to ensure the timely delivery of features while fostering team growth and adherence to agile practices.
Approach: The coach introduces key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure both delivery success (e.g., feature completion rate) and coaching effectiveness (e.g., team self-assessment scores). Regularly reviewing these metrics helps balance the focus on immediate delivery with long-term team development.
Outcome: The team meets delivery goals while improving in collaboration and agile maturity areas.
4. Integration of Lean Practices
Scenario: An agile coach at a manufacturing software company needs to ensure that the team delivers software updates efficiently while also adopting lean practices.
Approach: The coach incorporates lean principles like reducing waste and continuous flow into the agile framework. For example, the team is encouraged to implement just-in-time delivery and minimize work-in-progress to reduce lead time.
Outcome: The team delivers software updates more quickly and efficiently, with less rework and waste.
5. Cross-Functional Team Development
Scenario: In a large-scale enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation, the agile coach is responsible for both coaching and ensuring the delivery of cross-functional modules.
Approach: The coach facilitates cross-functional training sessions and collaborative planning meetings to ensure that team members understand each other's roles and can work together effectively. This promotes both effective delivery and team learning.
Outcome: The team successfully delivers integrated ERP modules while developing a stronger, more collaborative team dynamic.
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6. Agile Transformation in a Legacy System
Scenario: The agile coach at an insurance company is tasked with delivering new features for a legacy system while also leading an agile transformation.
Approach: The coach adopts a dual approach by implementing agile practices such as iterative development and continuous integration within the legacy system's constraints. Simultaneously, the coach leads workshops and training sessions to build the team's agile capabilities.
Outcome: The team delivers valuable features for the legacy system while progressively adopting agile methodologies, resulting in a smoother transformation.
7. Balancing Product and Technical Debt
Scenario: In a tech startup, the agile coach needs to ensure rapid feature delivery while managing technical debt.
Approach: The coach implements a strategy that allocates a portion of each sprint to both feature development and technical debt reduction. The team uses agile techniques like pair programming and code reviews to maintain code quality while delivering new features.
Outcome: The team achieves a balance between delivering new functionality and maintaining a sustainable codebase.
8. Implementing Continuous Deployment
Scenario: The agile coach in a telecommunications company's IT project is responsible for improving the delivery pipeline while also coaching the team.
Approach: The coach leads the adoption of continuous deployment practices, such as automated testing and deployment, which streamline the delivery process. The coach also guides agile best practices and fosters a culture of learning.
Outcome: The team can release new features more frequently and with higher quality, aligning with both delivery and agile coaching goals.
9. Facilitating Agile Release Train (ART)
Scenario: In a large-scale SAFe implementation for a global retailer, the agile coach is responsible for ensuring the delivery of multiple teams while coaching them on agile practices.
Approach: The coach facilitates the Agile Release Train (ART) events, such as Program Increment (PI) planning, to align the teams on shared goals and ensure synchronized delivery. The coach also provides continuous coaching and support to the teams.
Outcome: The ART successfully delivers coordinated releases, and the teams improve their agile practices and collaboration.
10. Driving Continuous Improvement through Retrospectives
Scenario: An agile coach in a government IT project must ensure that the team delivers critical system updates while also fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Approach: The coach emphasizes the importance of retrospectives and implements a structured approach to identify and act on improvement opportunities. The team regularly reviews and refines their processes based on retrospective insights.
Outcome: The team delivers system updates on time while continuously improving their workflows and practices.
In all these scenarios, the agile coach can effectively balance delivery responsibilities with agile coaching and continuous improvement by integrating agile principles, lean practices, and project management concepts. This holistic approach ensures that the team can deliver sustained value while also growing and maturing in their agile journey.
Coaches should also understand that the very purpose of the System of Transformation (SoT) and System of Continuous Improvement (SoI) is to enable and empower the System of Delivery (SoD).
To learn more such real-time scenarios from me you can drop me a message on my WhatsApp No. +91 9600074231