An Agile Coach  is your partner in your progression towards business agility.

An Agile Coach is a practitioner, guide and teacher who will work with the client's people to help them achieve their goals, using practices, principles and values from the agile mindset and workplace philosophy.

 Working with an agile coach should be significantly different to working with any other type of 'consultant' you're likely to have encountered before.

Here's what I mean, and how I will approach the engagement:

 As your agile coach... 

I am your independent, trusted partner.    I have no agenda of my own.

We're talking because there's a feeling that your working practices could be better, and that agile - in its broadest sense - might be able to help that.

Or maybe you're already well on the way with 'agile' and ready to go further, or feel the need to go back and fix something ?   Any point on this spectrum is a good starting point.   It's where you are.

I have an approach, a set of tools and knowledge of behaviours and practices from the world of agile that  I can offer. My goal is to help you achieve the goals that you identify as important to achieve.

If we work together, I will advise, serve, guide, teach and mentor you and your teams towards the operating states that you identify.    I will help you identify, frame and select these states

I'm not going to tell you are doing it 'wrong'

I'm not going to criticise, tip everything out, or implement anything on the first day or week.  

First, I will widely observe, listen, assess what can be assessed and reflect that back.   This is essential for your success, so be prepared to be patient.   Without your awareness, nothing useful can follow.   Then, we build on our working agreement of what to focus on next.

We'll get leverage on all that's working well, and pick our goals for improvement together, at a pace that looks like it will work

I will actively work to maximise your discovery, learning and growth, using your own reference points and the boundaries you set on our work.

With this agile coach as your partner you will be listened to, given space to reflect and never judged as incompetent or lacking. You'll be heard with empathy, for deep understanding. How often does that happen ?

Expect confidentiality, empowerment, and to be doing the work yourself to make the enduring, sustainable changes that you will own.   I'll be there alongside, to partner, guide and lead from just one step ahead.

I will help you identify, measure and monitor progress towards the goals you have identified. We'll constantly check, inspect and adjust together through the changes.

I'll look at your whole system, to hear from every part of it and to work out what it needs and what it can tolerate at the time

I'll help you scale agility, rather than implement 'scaled agile.'   Large scale frameworks have valuable practices to offer and we'll look at them where it's useful, but trust me;  an off-the-shelf implementation isn't what you need.

If we work together I will need access to the right people at the right time in your organisation, and licence to go where needed when needed.  You will need me to have appropriate time with the people who can make the changes that you say are needed.

I don't want a long term contract, but a long term working relationship would be a great endorsement of our shared success, should it happen. That said, lasting improvements take time.  Early wins and short-term troubleshooting consultancy is valid and real, but let's talk about about the difference between that, and sustainable change through agile coaching. 

I'm independent and likely to provide these services alone unless we agree otherwise.   So, I don't have the negotiation or reach of a bigger consultancy, and I won't come across as polished as they do. I'll have off days and days off, like everyone.

However, I'm probably 5 times cheaper than a big consulting organisation and at least as good.   I work full time, and in my own time, at being a worthy agile coach.   This stuff really matters to me.

Once under way, the agile coaching engagement is not 'task driven' in the way that, say a development team's work is.   It requires being present when presence is required, and stepping back when stepping back is required.   Its not your typical 9-5, which is why a fixed price will be better value for clients than a day-rate, although it's appreciated many clients' budgeting processes work only on day-rates.   Let's have the conversation, and see what can be done.

If you're tried with a big one and found something less than marvellous left behind, maybe it was because they didn't approach their engagement using the principles described above.    I'm well placed to help tidy things up.

Finally, rest assured I work to a stated code of ethics

 http://whatisagilecoaching.org/code-of-ethics/

In short, that covers working to the highest standards of professional conduct, integrity, confidentiality, respect, dignity, equality and value for money

Interested in talking ?   Give me a call.