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Coaching v Mentoring

Reading David Lowe’s excellent post The Rowing Coach, got me thinking about the differences between a coach and a mentor, and the role someone like an Agile Coach or Scrum Master may take when working with teams or organisations. Should they purely be a coach, solely be a mentor, or… Read More »Coaching v Mentoring

Retro: the movie title still

Retro: The Movie

How good are your retrospectives? Could they be better? Do you have the opportunity to watch other teams’ retros? Is there someone who you can invite to critique your meetings? During my time at Net-A-Porter, I was lucky enough to work with some excellent people and we helped each other… Read More »Retro: The Movie

Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club in a boat on the Thames

The Rowing Coach

Chris O’Hara is a full-time rowing coach working with Oxford University. The ladies 4 x lightweight scullers (four people, two oars each) are heading to the European Universities Games 2014 in Rotterdam at the end of July, and he is determined they will be at their best. But how does… Read More »The Rowing Coach

Help is coming!

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“I went back to the office after completing the 2-day Certified ScrumMaster course. People expected me to have answers and solutions, but nobody was offering me any support. I felt lost and alone.”   Heard that before? Yes, we had too. So a group of us at a Scrum retreat… Read More »Help is coming!

Acronym Quiz

The Agile and Lean communities love an acronym, but will settle for an initialism if they have to. For clarification, an acronym is when a word is formed from the initial letters of words in a phrase, and is then pronounced as a separate word (for example, BAFTA or WYSIWYG).… Read More »Acronym Quiz

Duplicate Roles

Who can the play the roles of Product Owner and ScrumMaster? And do they need to be full-time? The ScrumMaster Can the ScrumMaster perform the role of Product Owner? No. There is a potential for a conflict of interest. One of the duties of the ScrumMaster is to protect the… Read More »Duplicate Roles

Product Owner | Product Manager

What is the difference between a Product Owner and a Product Manager? A simple question, but not simple to answer; opinions are divided and approaches vary from company to company. Following a discussion at London Agile Discussion Group and further reading, here are my generalised summaries. The Product Owner The… Read More »Product Owner | Product Manager

Commitment and Consistency

Would you be shocked if I told you that, during the Korean War, prisoners of war from the United States gave away military secrets, informed on fellow prisoners, and even publically denounced their country? Would you be even more surprised if I told you they did so without being beaten… Read More »Commitment and Consistency

Too much change

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  • 2 min read

The role of agile coach is a funny one: even when you’re doing a good job, you can’t put your finger on a deliverable and say “I did that”. This lack of externally visible, tangible deliverables sometimes makes coaches (and ScrumMasters) feel they need to have an outward show of… Read More »Too much change

What is an agile coach?

How different is an agile coach from a ScrumMaster? Are they interchangeable? Is a ScrumMaster always a coach, and a coach always a ScrumMaster (assuming you’re using Scrum)? These were just a few of the questions that were raised at this week’s LADG when we met to discuss “how to… Read More »What is an agile coach?