Hey guys, Anatoly here from Define Agile. Today we’re talking about the difference between Agile Coach and a Scrum Master. I’m getting asked lots and lots of times, “Anatoly, what’s the difference? They sound familiar, they both deal with Agile, so what’s the deal there?” So, I’m going to explain to you just that today.
The biggest difference between Agile Coach and a Scrum Master is in the scope of their work. While Scrum Master is focused on a single team, making sure that the team processes are in place and the team operates as one single efficient unit, the Agile Coach, on the other hand, is focused on making sure that the whole organization understands Agile well.
Agile Coach is not only focused on Scrum, the good Agile Coach knows different frameworks and understands that to achieve different results, you can use different tools. So, Agile Coach is more enterprise level working with the executives, working across teams, supporting Scrum Masters, making sure they have everything they need, and making sure that the whole organization is moving to Agile transformation.
It does not mean though that Scrum Master supports the Agile Coach. Agile Coach supports Scrum Masters. Scrum Masters then support their teams. Also, Agile Coach brings to the executives all the impediments that Scrum Masters have that they cannot resolve at their level. Agile Coach should be able to help resolve those bigger issues with the help of executives.
