agile coach

Should Scrum Master have One-on-Ones?

Hi guys, Anatoly from Define Agile here. Today we’re talking about one-on-ones. Should Scrum Master or Agile coach have one-on-ones with their peers?

First of all, I just want to make it clear, there is no word about one-on-ones in the Scrum guide. So if you’re strictly following the guide – there’s no one-on-ones there.

However, I have one-on-ones with every team that I work with. Right now I’m working with three teams. Those teams have in total about 25 people. I have one-on-ones with every single person in the team, whether it’s a product owner, QA, business analyst, content strategist, content writer, developer, designer, UX designer, visual designer, anyone. Technically, I am having one-on-ones with every single person there. Why do I do that?

First of all, why are we doing our work as an Agile practitioners? We try to remove impediments. Sometimes it’s very hard to gather the problem especially when you joined a new team or you’re a new person in the team and people sometimes are not ready to start speaking up everything on the retros. But you still need to figure out what the core problems are, so you talk to people one on one, you ask them questions, you are honest with them, you understand their problem, you help them solve their problems. This is how the trust begins to establish between you and people in the team.

It also allows you to realize what is not working on a much deeper level.It is important to help every individual on its own and make sure that all their personal things are addressed. Many, times I was able to uncover very big problems that nobody talked about in a team just by having one-on-ones with people.

I always have all my one-on-ones confidential. I never share anything that people don’t allow me to share, but I find this tool to be invaluable.

Are you having one-on-ones with your peers? Is it working or is it not working?

P.S. Do you need help moving your teams through Agile transformation ? Click on FREE CONSULTATION up top, and lets see how I can help your business!

School of Agile

Scrum Master KPI – Agile

Hey guys, Anatoly from Define Agile here. Today I’m going to be answering a couple of questions from Sint.

What are the top three KPIs for a Scrum Master and Agile Coach during their three months at a company?

That’s a great question. Not many people talk about KPIs for Agile Coach and Scrum Masters. I think that they should have KPIs. I think that they should plan to do something cool and then make sure that our people will keep them accountable for it.

When I joined the team, that I am currently consulting, my KPI was: “I want to make you the most efficient team in the department in three months.” That was my KPI.

The reasonable KPI’s would be:

“I want to set up Agile ceremonies in one or multiple teams.”

“I want to have an Agile workshop that everyone in the company understands Agile”

“I want to make sure to meet with every team member, understand their concerns and resolve most of them.”

“I want to set up Jira in such a way that people will find it useful.”

“I want to help create a process around interaction with our stakeholders”

“I want to improve transparency and happiness” ( you can measure that by having some happiness with your exercises on your retrospectives).

The next question is:

Scrum Masters/Agile Coaches we are often givers of the team as resources, removing blockers, etc. How does one fuel himself personally with new ideas to experiment?

I fuel myself with ideas by asking my team. I ask people, what would they think would helpful? They might say: “Maybe we should do this, maybe we should do that,” I say, “Definitely, let’s try that.” This is how new ideas would work. I gather information and act on it right away.

Since I have experience working with different teams, I might recommend them some ideas.

Also, I am part of Facebook/Linkedin/Reddit groups. I read books about Agile, about Scrum. I talk to people in the industry and then we share what works, what doesn’t. I have many peers that I know who work in different companies and they have many different ideas, so we share them as well.

Thanks for reading, hope that helps!

If you want me to help your teams be Agile, please click on FREE Consultation above and lets see how I can help your business.

School of Agile

Difference Between Scrum Master and Agile Coach

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.