agile coach skills Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Pooja Gupta: When Empathy Becomes a Double-Edged Sword And Why Scrum Masters Need to Learn Coaching

Pooja shares her journey from product development to becoming an Agile Coach, where her natural empathy became both a strength and a challenge. Reflecting on how the work environment shifted during the COVID pandemic, she reveals the struggles she faced when she found herself in a mediator role without access to the necessary resources. Pooja discusses how she fell into the trap of focusing solely on facilitating meetings and how that limited her effectiveness. Recognizing that her team was working in silos and avoiding responsibility, she took the initiative to redefine her role, learned coaching from scratch, and empowered her team to take ownership of their work. What does it take to transform a team’s mindset from dependency to accountability? Listen to find out!

The inspiring story of how a failing hospital turned things around with Agile and Lean

Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story – How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company.

About Pooja Gupta

Pooja is an Agile Coach at Visma Solutions and Agile Community Lead for Visma Group. With a passion for “limitless learning” and “selfless teaching,” she brings empathy and a people-centric approach to her work and everyday life. Based in Helsinki for 9 years, she finds balance through yoga, meditation, and family life.

You can link with Pooja Gupta on LinkedIn.

Sofia Katsaouni: The Importance of Mentorship in a Scrum Master or Agile Coach’s Journey

In this episode, Sofia recounts her struggles as a junior coach facing challenges in a new team. Despite wanting to lead a kickoff, she was overruled by the engineering lead, leading to self-doubt and frustration. She emphasizes the importance of open communication, sanity checks with external perspectives, and listening to one self. The lack of support left her feeling overwhelmed, highlighting the need for mentorship in agile coaching.

In this episode, we refer to nonviolent communication, an approach that can help us when we find ourselves in the middle of a conflict situation.

The Ultimate Guide to Supporting Product Owners as a Scrum Master

Are you having trouble helping the team work well with their Product Owner? We’ve put together a course to help you work on the collaboration team-product owner. You can find it at bit.ly/coachyourpo. 18 modules, 8+ hours of modules with tools and techniques that you can use to help teams and PO’s collaborate.

About Sofia Katsaouni

Sofia is a dedicated Agile and Organizational Coach who places people and their needs at the forefront. Transitioning from electrical engineering, she applies analytical skills to empower high-performing teams. With an emphasis on trust and psychological safety, Sofia enables startups and scale-ups to foster human-centric, performance-driven cultures.

You can link with Sofia Katsaouni on LinkedIn.

Chris Garvey: The SPINE Model: Simplifying Change Leadership for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches

Chris offers us a reflection on a change leadership challenge, acknowledging the failure of linear approaches in that context. He emphasizes simplicity and introduces the SPINE model. Starting with a clear contract with clients and understanding the purpose of the Agile journey are crucial steps. Chris underscores the importance of documenting the “why” and the problems to be addressed before delving into practices and tools. Communication is key, and sharing observations with teams using phrases like “what comes up for me is…” fosters understanding. He advises against seeking future certainty and emphasizes that it’s people who must undergo change, not be changed. Ultimately, success is defined by the client, not the coach’s agenda.

Want to Improve Your Change Management Results? Discover the Lean Change Management Approach Today!

As Scrum Master we work with change continuously! Do you have your own change framework that provides the guidance, and queues you need when working with change? The Lean Change Management framework is a fully defined, lean-startup inspired change framework that can be used as the backbone of any change process! You can buy Lean Change Management the book at Amazon. Also available in French, Spanish, German and Portuguese.

About Chris Garvey

Chris is passionate about people, and creating empowering spaces where people can thrive. He is a coach at heart having been a Life Coach before becoming an Agile Coach. For close to 10 years he has been working in the agile space as a Scrum Master, then Agile Coach, then trainer, and now as an Enterprise Agile Coach.

You can link with Chris Garvey on LinkedIn.

Chris Garvey: A Tale of Two Agile Teams, A Key Lesson on The Impact of Leadership on Team Self-organization

In this episode, Chris shares a pivotal experience managing two teams as a Scrum Master. While one team was granted time to embark on their own agile journey, the other team faced time constraints. Despite having the same coach, manager, and product owner, the teams significantly diverged. A key insight emerged when one tech lead allowed the team space for self-organization, while the other did not. This distinction played a crucial role in team performance. Chris emphasizes the importance of providing support for teams to take ownership and grow, as it doesn’t happen naturally without guidance.

Featured Book of the Week: The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

Chris delves into the profound impact of The Power Of Now By Eckhart Tolle on his Scrum Master journey, emphasizing its focus on presence and challenging thought patterns. He highlights the gift of being fully present as a coach, offering a unique perspective on trust and conditioning in our thinking processes. The book’s influence lies in its ability to open minds to diverse thinking, ultimately shaping Chris’s approach as a Scrum Master.

Transform Your Agile Teams with Hard-Earned Lessons from Super-Experienced Scrum Masters

Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches – Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM’s that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!

About Chris Garvey

You can link with Chris Garvey on LinkedIn.