Agile coach as teacher

- One of the key skills needed for a great agile coach is the ability to know when it's time to move from just observing to acting. Most of the time, this happens during a team's event. The coach will step in to act as a teacher in the moment when failing to do so will have a significant impact on the team. Let's take a look at the Team Sprint planning event and see how this works. - Okay, team, here's our next story to estimate. As a customer, I want to search for a product, so that I can find the best one for me. - Pablo, do you want the search to be alphabetic or alphanumeric? - Let's go alphanumeric. - Any other questions team? - [Man] No, I don't think so. - Okay, then grab your poker cards, and let's estimate the story. Okay, team, let's see what everyone thinks. Okay, looks like it's three's all around. - Excuse me, team. I hate to interrupt, but I'd like to know why everyone waited until Adam provided an estimate before sharing one of your own. - Maybe it's because I'm always right? - Honestly, we always end up sizing based on Adam's opinion because he has more experience. - Well, and why waste time debating? He's usually right. - Well, even if you're less experienced, you still have an experience that's different from Adam'. All of your opinions carry equal value on this team, especially when it comes to estimating stories. Some of you may believe that this story was going to be harder to test than Adam believes. What if you're right and you end up under-sizing it? Remember an agile team is a team of equals. Every opinion counts. On the next story, I'd like to see more discussion. - Right, right, Karen. - Team, let's go back to the story and talk about what it'll take to get it done. - Here, we saw a team that has a dominator on it. Everyone was willing to defer their opinions to whatever Adam thought. In this event we saw coach Karen switch from being a silent observer to teaching. Why do you think she decided to start teaching in the moment? If you think it's because the Sprint planning event, could create a major problem for the team, you'd be right. Coach Karen realized that if she didn't guide the team immediately, they could make a flawed commitment for the next sprint. This mistake could put the team and the outcome at risk. As a coach, you'll need to demonstrate the skill of knowing when to switch from observer to teacher. When you do, your teams will get better, faster.