This has been a post that has been a long time in the making. I often reflect back on how I have come to be in the position that I am in at the moment. I have been really privileged to have worked for some great companies so far that have allowed me to learn, progress on my journey and meet some great, knowledgable people along the way that have really pushed me to where I am now.
While I was at University I worked in a bowling alley. I was promoted to a Team Leader and this role taught me a lot about collaboration, team training, satisfying the customer and to think on my feet to bring a team together to solve problems and keep them effective. Do these qualities sound familiar?
When I graduated I found myself moving into a Software Development role and then quickly moving to a small startup in Glasgow to work as a Software Tester. We were working in a Waterfall environment and being last in the chain meant that we would see things sprung on us to test quickly. It was stressful, long hours and other than working in our testing silo, it didn’t feel very collaborative. I left work on the Friday and returned on the Monday to find our world had been turned upside down!
As we assembled on the Monday morning we were all lined up. Our names were called along with a team name. I was put in Team A (very imaginative) and was introduced to this new thing called “Scrum” and “Extreme Programming”. Now, in 2006 there weren’t many people doing Scrum, well, in Glasgow at least and these new roles felt quite alien at the time. They had funky titles like “Scrum Master” and “Product Owner” and I couldn’t help but think that this was a fad and it would all go back to the way it was in a few months or even weeks. As we gained experience as a group we improved. As a tester I became more involved in discussions that I didn’t know happened as I had never been exposed to Developers, Artists, Graphic Designers, Infrastructure experts. This was mind blowing. We started to deliver things quicker, there were less bugs as things were being picked up earlier in the process and the late nights had gone. It was life changing!
After a few months I was honoured when the team chose me to be their new Scrum Master, this was where my journey began. I was mentored by an awesome person called Mel Lang who is still on hand when ever I need her and she really grounded me and taught me the ropes of the role. The feedback and advice she gave me in those early days really set me up for success and the teams and individuals I worked with really pushed my to become the best Scrum Master I could be.
After some time I was sent on a Certified Scrum Master course with two awesome trainers, Tobias Myer and Mike Sutton. I remember returning from that course with a feeling like no other. A feeling that I could change the world! I have since learned a lot of people get that feeling. After the course I emailed Mike to start this world changing journey. I wanted to do what he did, teach people about Scrum. He gave me the best advice anyone in his position could. “What is the rush, stay where you are, learn your trade, success will come”. That is what I did. If there is one thing you will learn, it is that you don’t stop learning. There is always something that you could be doing to better yourself or your teams and that piece of advice stuck with me to this day as I keep on learning my trade.
Those experiences in the early days led to me having a really grounded experience of Scrum, Kanban, XP and a load of stories to tell around how our teams overcame major problems, conflict, leadership woes and delivered really good products that our customers loved. I was quickly learning that stories were a useful part of a Scrum Master’s toolbox and the only way I was going to get more was to move on and use my experience in other companies.
I moved on to become a sole Scrum Master at a pensions company and they really invested in me with my CSPO and allowing me time to practice and learn towards my CSP certifications. Working over multiple teams where we perfected the basics of scrum and really pushed the boundaries to move towards scaling (LeSS, like) and using the latest technologies and cloud transformation really pushed me on to the next level. Working to try and solve large scale problems that were slowing the business down and helping teams implement the improvements to the issues we uncovered really helped uncover a layer of the business that I hadn’t experienced before, one that I began to really enjoy.
After a few years it was time to move again and take those stories with me, I moved to a consultancy and found myself tasked with being a Scrum Master in a scaled environment. Working with teams and teams of teams was challenging but rewarding and this would set me up well for Scaled Environments. The key here was collaboration and relationship building. The effort put in here helped exponentially when it came to unblocking issues for our teams. Resourcefulness is one key aspect I think that most Scrum Masters miss out on and they really should try and master this skill. If your team are stuck, knowing the best person to speak to and ask a favour of is so valuable in getting things moving and back on track quickly and this is ever so valuable in a scaled environment.
I had been working with a few people and helping them with some troubles that they were having in their Scrum Teams. One person referred to me as their Coach and this intrigued me. In all of time I had been working with Agile teams, I had not come across a coach before. Back in those days we had very knowledgable people who you could rely on for insights or troubleshooting if you were really stuck. Soon these people moved into Coaching Roles and I had an idea in my head of the level of experience you had to be at to move into these coaching roles. I had a high barrier based on the people I looked up to.
Fast forward a year and I was given the chance to move into a permanent coaching role and the best thing … a few of the people that I looked up to were also employed as coaches in that organisation, win win!
I have never looked back. Being trusted to work with teams, individuals and leadership on large scale transformations based around Scrum, Kanban and SAFe has really pushed my boundaries. There have been times I have asked myself if this role is really for me, times when there have been conflict between individuals, bad behaving teams and leadership challenges but taking a step back and finding my own way to navigate these challenges practically has been one of my super powers of late. I have found that having a great team of Coaches has helped push me on further as we learn from each other and collaborate to move the business forward for our customers. This has been a brilliant learning experience as not only am I helping others but people have been testing me, pushing my boundaries and making me learn more so that we can be an effective unit together.
The coaching role has really evolved in the past 5 years, so much so that if you stand still it will steamroll you over. In the beginning teams and individuals had a thirst for theory and knowledge now they have progressed past this to the need for practicality. Show me how to do this, show me how to do that is the norm, the skill is now trying to intertwine the theory with the practical side so that people are learning as they do it. As a coach from a practical background I feel that I would struggle in an Agile Coaching role if I couldn’t walk the walk. Mentoring and teaching are two of the major stances that I use with my teams these days and it can be tiring but rewarding when everything clicks into place and the “aha” moments occur.
I started to look into the ICF-ACC credential as Scrum Alliance stated that you must be able to evidence that you can coach at ICF-ACC level as part of their CTC application. I have not looked back since! This has widened my ability as a coach and how I interact with individuals and teams. I was never comfortable being outside of the mentor / advisor states as these were my go-to stances as a Scrum Master, using these to solve issues and work effectively with teams on a day to day basis. I found myself struggling to find the right approach when dealing with individuals, teams and leadership where I couldn’t solve the issues or jump in and guide a team from the front. The professional coaching stance has helped me to step back and trust that teams have all of the skills and answers to their problems, I just need to help them uncover the solutions through the correct approach.
What is my advice to people hoping to move to an Agile Coaching role now? Learn your trade. Too many times have I spoken with Scrum Masters who are new to role and asked their ambition to be told that they want to be an Agile Coach right away. Don’t wish your life away, take the time, experience a few different environments, different sets of people, find your own stories. Find a mentor or someone who would be willing to help you make sense of your experiences and validate your knowledge. You will know when you are ready.
It has been hard to put this journey into a small post. A journey that is nearly at its 20 year point. You would think after this long I would be an “expert” at this but the truth is, you never stop learning. Scrum Mastery, Product Ownership and Coaching are more involved than a 3 day course. Your journey starts after these courses and you get out, what you put in.
* this will probably be a living document as I remember things and chop and change 😀
Daily Scrum 