It's a position note because I'm so short on time, I can't write a whole paper.
Recently I've moved from being a consultant and teacher to a coach. I have a few clients I coach for and a few that I still teach and do some facilitation work with. I've begun to really understand what effective coaching looks and feels like. I've begun to see the remarkable improvements in teams that have been effectively coached vs. teams that haven't.
We're learning that software development isn't following a process. It's actually a group of intelligent skilled people that while they may lean on a process framework, they lean more heavily on a wide set of skills and practices. Practices have the nasty characteristic of taking practice to get good at. Many practices, in particular practices involving collaboration, are difficult to self correct. Much a like a dancer needs a mirror to see himself, or better yet a coach to help correct, an agile practitioner needs to coach to act as a mirror - to observe and offer suggestions for improvement since the practitioner can't easily see her own behavior.
A coach can offer suggestions for improvement in the context where it's most meaningful - during or closely after practice.
A strong coach has a mental picture of what it looks like to practice effectively. This allows the coach to offer advice and correction. I new agile practitioner in particular doesn't yet know what it feels like to practice to techniques correctly. I coach can help them get to that feeling.
At this conference I'd like to share my experiences, successes, and failures. I'd like to learn hear about and learn from others'.
Recently I've moved from being a consultant and teacher to a coach. I have a few clients I coach for and a few that I still teach and do some facilitation work with. I've begun to really understand what effective coaching looks and feels like. I've begun to see the remarkable improvements in teams that have been effectively coached vs. teams that haven't.
We're learning that software development isn't following a process. It's actually a group of intelligent skilled people that while they may lean on a process framework, they lean more heavily on a wide set of skills and practices. Practices have the nasty characteristic of taking practice to get good at. Many practices, in particular practices involving collaboration, are difficult to self correct. Much a like a dancer needs a mirror to see himself, or better yet a coach to help correct, an agile practitioner needs to coach to act as a mirror - to observe and offer suggestions for improvement since the practitioner can't easily see her own behavior.
A coach can offer suggestions for improvement in the context where it's most meaningful - during or closely after practice.
A strong coach has a mental picture of what it looks like to practice effectively. This allows the coach to offer advice and correction. I new agile practitioner in particular doesn't yet know what it feels like to practice to techniques correctly. I coach can help them get to that feeling.
At this conference I'd like to share my experiences, successes, and failures. I'd like to learn hear about and learn from others'.