Posts by Brock Argue

In the Agile coaching world, we put a lot of emphasis on gaining professional coaching skills - and for good reason. It’s more than just teaching people how to fish. Providing the space and opportunity for people to learn that they are resourceful, creative and have what it takes to overcome challenges is invaluable. When a coach shows up in this way, people gain confidence in their own abilities and become ready to tackle the next challenge without their coach. Coaching is a very powerful modality when working with clients. However, sometimes you just need to provide the answers and you need an effective tool to do that.

Executive support is super important for any change initiative to succeed. Knowing how to deliver a solid elevator pitch to an executive is crucial because sometimes all we have is three-minutes and one shot to pique their interest for further conversation.

Now that you’re clear on the problem you’re trying to solve by implementing a scaling framework, your organization has built a solid foundation on one-team Scrum, you’ve evaluated the more lightweight ways to manage dependencies without scaling and you’ve communicated a clear and compelling vision for making this change...it’s time to get started scaling! But wait! How do I start?

It’s been a while since Part 1 of this blog series was published. The second blog has been far more challenging to pull together in terms of what I feel is most valuable for you to read. It started out as a random collection of thoughts on scaling from a couple of different coaches, morphed into a change management approach to scaling and has ended up as a discussion on considerations to keep in mind when scaling Scrum. Check it out!

So, there I was, with a team in their weekly coaching session when everything went wrong (that’s how it seemed to me, at least). I was not in sync with my coaching partner - even accidentally muting him at one point during the session. I felt awkward and unsure - stumbling through questions like I was walking in the dark without a light. The activities I led the team through weren’t clear to them and the team wasn’t connecting with me as deeply as in our other sessions. What happened?

There’s a common situation that many agilists find themselves in when working with organizations: while the Agile Coach or Scrum Masters are working with teams to help them improve their execution of their chosen agile framework, leaders are pushing towards implementing a scaling framework. Leaders and organizations must first evaluate the “ground conditions” necessary for effective scaling and, only then, determine the best way to proceed.

Transformational questions are designed to spur insight on behalf of your client. They invite big picture thinking without constraints, allowing your client to access all possibilities and explore those that are most useful to them. Most importantly, forming questions in this way leaves the coach’s opinions of what the client should do out of the conversation.

Join our Superheroes Academy Coaches, Brock Argue and Erkan Kadir as they discuss the various agile scaling frameworks, the why behind scaling and their insights into how best to approach scaling Scrum in your organization.

Use the Self-Awareness Worksheet to uncover patterns in the way you think, feel and act to grow in awareness of self. Building your own Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the key to success for leaders at any level.

I have a simple idea that I believe will facilitate greater self-organization within teams: Frame the work of the team in terms of activities rather than individual roles. By focusing on activities rather than roles, it becomes more obvious how team members can contribute to the success of their team thus facilitating greater self-organization within their team. When teams focus on roles they inherently and unconsciously limit tasks to specific people whereas focusing on activity opens that task up to any team member who has some ability to contribute to the completion of that task.

The Scrum Guide tells us: “The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team.” When discussing the characteristics of an excellent Scrum Master, we invariably include the idea that being a servant leader is one of the most important (and most often mentioned) characteristics that a person needs to embody if they are to excel in the role of Scrum Master. While generally accepted to be true, it’s not always clear what being a servant leader looks like for Scrum Masters. Who makes the best servant leaders and, therefore, Scrum Masters? What does it look like for a Scrum Master to truly embrace servant leadership?

In addition to working agreements, teams often benefit from having a set of shared values and a Definition of Done (DoD). It’s best if teams create these right from the start of their time together, but team values and a DoD can be created at any time. I use the following techniques when helping teams form, to engage them in a collaborative and creative process that sets them up for success - where the team truly owns the results.

When it comes to developing a coaching mindset we often think about what we do as coaches. While doing is important, it does not represent who we are as coaches. Our mindset becomes visible in what we do and how we approach coaching situations, however, our mindset exists more in who we are as coaches.

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…or so goes the famous Charles Dickens’ opening. Working with teams can feel the same way. It has moments of highs as we achieve together more than we could ever dream of achieving on our own, but also low points when we struggle as dysfunction emerges. Successfully working in teams means being able to successfully deal with dysfunction.

Recently, I had the opportunity to be part of a high-performing team, which is not something I get to do very often as an agile coach. I often work with teams, but this experience reminded me that I’m rarely on a team.