Approach
Do you ever wonder how some businesses can move so fast while others (maybe yours?) are so slow? The answer is often Agile development.
Coaching Agile brings people together to get things done. Usually those people are in the product development areas of tech-oriented firms or departments.
Everyone wants to do right by customers and stakeholders, but people often have vastly different approaches and concerns. Coaching Agile helps you create a bridge so business and technology teams can work together to accomplish goals that make the most sense.
Every engagement starts with a conversation. You share your goals and challenges. Drawing on our Agile coaching experience, we ask questions to understand what the real issues are and what’s standing in the way of optimal success.
Once we understand your needs, we propose Agile processes that fit your situation, ranging from some simple mentoring to organization-wide transformation. We’ve learned to adapt Agile practices to meet your needs rather than trying to make you adapt to arbitrary Agile expectations.
Then we roll up our sleeves with you to do the work. Whether we coach the leader, work alongside the team, or both, we move with you from concepts to outcomes.
Here are some examples of what we can do for you, based on past engagements.
- A client had a critical customer need that sounded simple but would be complicated to build, involving multiple regulatory agencies, several external partners, and many functions within the organization. We brought all parties together in the same room (this can be done in person or virtually), and the team found the right answer. Getting there involved pre-work consultation with the client and key stakeholders to design a state-of-the-art meeting that used various group processes.
- A client identified multiple solutions to meet an identified customer need. How to choose between them? We brought stakeholders together and facilitated a process to get variables presented transparently. Once each team had a chance to weigh in and be heard, the most feasible and cost-effective options emerged for the client to choose from.
- Responding to a leader’s desire for Agile training that could show results “on the ground” quickly, we developed a custom Agile awareness and tools training for a large national technician team. The first half of the training session focused on theory, the second half on practical use related to what they had learned. After initial roll-out of the training, the client referred us to a peer in another business unit who also trained their team.
How can you bring Agile to your organization? Should you go for full Agile transformation, or do you want to start with a few small, flexible cross-functional teams? There are pros and cons to both approaches. Either way, we can help. If you want to manage the process yourself, we can coach the leader and help you design team training. Or we can take the lead in managing the transformation while you concentrate on your people, partners, and customers.
In the end, our goal is to make you and your teams self-sufficient. As you get used to Agile processes, we scale back our support. When your teams show that they can use Agile principles in new situations, our work is done.
To find out how these processes can work for you, contact us for a free consultation.
