How Does an Agile Coaching Team Work? A Case Study Maria Paasivaara & Casper Lassenius

1. How Does an Agile Coaching Team Work? A Case StudyMaria Paasivaara & Casper Lassenius

2. Contents • Research Goals and Methods • Case Organization • How Does a Coaching Team Work? • How Do the Coaches Work with the Case Projects? • Lessons Learned • Benefits of Coaching • Challenges of Building Coaching • Future

3. ResearchGoals and Methods How Does an AgileCoachingTeamWork? • Interviewstudy of a coachingteam: • Semi-structuredinterviews • Coaches & coachedprojects

4. Case Organization • Globallydistributed • software projects • Products & services • Lowcostcountries • Coachingteam • Eastern Europeansite • 2 -> 8 coaches LargeScandinavian IT Organization • Processchange: • RUP • Agile • Agile & Lean GlobalCoaching Network? Challengedprojects

5. How Does the CoachingTeamWork? WeeklyIterations Iteration Planning and Assessment TeamLeader Daily Meetings X 3 Retrospective Meeting Quarterly Retrospective Working in Pairs

6. How Do the CoachesWork with the Case Projects? ”Deep and Narrow” Approach Receiving Request Mapping Phase Independent Phase Kaizen Workshop Roadmap Mentoring Phase Set-up Phase

7. LessonsLearned Find a changeagent Coaching is a long-termrelationship Involveeverybodyfrom the team Unifyviews in a ”Kaizen” workshop Ensureexecutivesupport Attitude: ”Selling the change” Teamowns the change Small improvementsteps ”Don’tgivethem a fishbutteachthem to fish”

8. Benefits of Coaching Coachingteam: moreexperience, knowledge, skills, resources Enablingprocess improvements Locatingissues “I think that without those coaches, of course we would try to find a way how to fix the things ourselves, but if you don’t have experience from tens of projects and you are not specialized for the processes and so on, it’s hard to see all the consequences of the ideas you have.” “(…) at the very beginning, it was that I had somebody I could ask whether I was doing things wrong or right.” Suggestssolutions ”Selling” the change Avoidmistakes “I think it was this first Kaizen workshop. It was the major benefit and also contribution to the project (…) because they really (…) inspired the customer about changes.” “I would say maybe it takes four, five times longer. (…), because of the project size, because you have to learn how to do it, but even then you are not sure if this is correct way, then there are misunderstandings, then you have to learn based on your failures, and it can be even more than five times, so…”- Customersatisfaction “(…) we where in red numbers (…) and then it switched, and at the end the project was very successful on all, (…) he customer was very satisfied.” ”Saves” the project

9. Challenges of Building Coaching Who Pays for Coaching? ”Deep and Narrow” or ”Broad and Shallow”? Who is a GoodCoach? How to Choose the Coaching Cases? How to Build a SuccessfulCoachingTeam?

10. Future: GlobalCoachingNetwork?

11. www.icgse.org

12. Questions? Contactinformation: Maria.Paasivaara@tkk.fi Casper.Lassenius@tkk.fi