Saturday, May 20, 2017

Does Agile Coaching Really Make Sense For Your Firm?

By Kimberly Stone


Shifting to an Agile way of thinking requires a radical change in mindset and practices on various levels. As most experts will tell you, this is the only way to develop the culture of continuous improvements that delivers the real benefits of the Agile methodology. Having an Agile coaching strategy in place can not only make the adoption process easier, but also prepare your team for the fresh, new world of opportunity that awaits.

In its pure form, coaching is a skill that offers learners a better view of their own practices, abilities and shortcomings. A good consultant takes this further by incorporating their knowledge of both the practices of Scrum, and their foundations as well. This gives them the unmatched ability to figure out what would work best in a particular situation, and where to look if things don't go as planned.

The kind of challenges you can expect as you try to implement the agile approach will mostly depend on the layout of your business. And while you can't allow setbacks to weigh you down, wasting too much time looking for solutions within your firm could be costly. You might thus want to hire a coach to help you navigate around the barriers. Besides sharing some familiar learning experiences, they will also find ways to make the learning curve less steep for your team.

One of the biggest benefits of the agile methodology is the aspect of continuous improvement that's built into the process. But how much faster can your team make progress when they have the skills and attention of a professional coach every day? Consultants provide a platform for learners to innovate and come up with new ideas.

In an attempt to control overhead costs, small businesses are increasingly relying on contract workers and remote teams. Effective collaboration between such workers and their colleagues is vital in ensuring a firm gets the most out of their manpower. Thanks to social media and professional associations, coaches have an extensive community of practice. This means they're well-versed at establishing connections, sharing responsibilities and bringing a sense of accountability into teamwork.

As you may well know, transforming an entity from the inside isn't the easiest of tasks. Politics and individual bias will often get in the way of objective judgment. As such, the best way to improve your firm would be to incorporate the sober and highly-accurate perspective of a Scrum coach. They'll be able to point out elements of your business that need transforming, besides overseeing the overhaul as well.

A Scrum training program provides the perfect solution for entities looking to incorporate agile methods into their operations. Once the trainer leaves, however, it's up to the team to put what they learnt into practice. And this is something that doesn't always happen. Working as an adviser, a coach can help teams adapt the principles to their environment, resulting in a deeper understanding.

The Agile methodology isn't something that most small business owners are familiar with. And when there are so many different responsibilities to juggle, adopting this framework can present huge challenges. So rather than take the gamble, consider hiring an experienced coach to act as your guide along the way.




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