Becoming An Effective IT Coach

In the new book, Coaching Agile Teams (Addison-Wesley/available now), author Lyssa Adkins provides several guidelines to explain how IT project managers can transform themselves into “Agile Coaches” for their teams – and get optimal outcomes as a result. A useful quote from General Dwight D. Eisenhower: “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.” Translation? “Controlling” a team through a pre-determined blueprint is not possible. Coaching a team to be effectively agile in light of change is not only possible, it’s necessary. But what defines success? It means more than delivering on time, within budget, and on scope. The true measure of success lies in getting clients the business value they. The differences between a “tech project lead” and an “agile coach” are important to understand. A tech project lead knows about programming and development and such, and can teach those things, while an agile coach pays equal attention to organizational goals, and cultivates the understanding and value of these things within the team.