The Importance of "Internal Cooperation" to Agile Coaches

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An agile coach inspires and empowers others as an external member of the team/department, sometimes he's like a Superman or Batman who saves one person and then goes on to save the next.

However, there are really many agile coaches who overlook the importance of "internal cooperation", which has buried a bomb in the following Agile transformation.

We're going to talk about the "internal cooperation" today!

1. What is "internal cooperation"?

The "internal cooperation" I define here means that an agile coach doesn't work alone but finding a partner in the team/department he serves, and the partner will undertake all or majority of the Agile transformation in the future work. The partner's work goal or motivation is: no matter it's an Agile methodology or not, and no matter with an agile coach or not, his goal is to find all possible opportunities for systematic improvement and promote the optimization of the team/department. His work motivation is self-driven, he does not need a push from an outsider.

Of course, maybe you don't need such a person, because theoretically speaking, probably everyone in the team is your ideal candidate and everyone is self-driven. Or the whole team will magically become what you want it to be in an instant.

However, let me tell you the cruel reality, most of the time you need a partner. Otherwise, you will be faced with the fact that you have to stand next to the team all the time, and the team degrades as soon as you leave.

2. Why "internal cooperation" is required?

• Clarify the responsible subject

Agile capability is supposed to be quipped with the team in the end. The beneficiary and responsible subject of Agile transformation is the team itself, not the agile coach, who is only inspiring and empowering. That's why teams must learn to ponder and solve problems on their own. The team/department must have its own "engine" (The partner is such an engine), rather than relying on the external force of an agile coach to drive it. It's the "engines" that want to solve problems, and with the help of agile coaches, their abilities, ways of thinking and various means can be enriched and improved.

The "engine" is best to be here from the beginning, or you need to identify and set up it sooner after the Agile transformation started, or at worst before the withdrawal of the agile coaches.

Agile coaches need to deeply understand that it has to be done, so that the team will recognize the responsible subject in the Agile transformation is no one else but themselves as soon as possible.

• Partner knows more about the team than the agile coach

Partner understands the team's situation better and communicates more smoothly with the team than the agile coach. No matter how good an agile coach thinks he is, he has to admit that the partner does have a unique advantage in localization.

The best approach is not "An agile coach makes a customized implementation plan for the team, and then the team is responsible for execution." In my opinion, with the support of the agile coach, it will be better if the partner could work with the team together to make their own plans that better fit their needs, and then try to implement the plans with the feedback at the high frequency and keep adjusting them.

The agile coach will keep observing whether the team members disobey the Agile principles and give them support at the right time. Of course, many times the agile coach will keep silent when there is something wrong and let the team hit the wall and learn better from the setbacks.

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3. So, do agile coaches still need to accompany their teams?

Of course they do!

The significance of accompanying is, solutions is often sparked by the collision of ideas from agile coach and the partner, and then the partner can accurately get how an Agile theory is used in the daily work and understand better of the essence of Agile theories through the solutions.

It requires agile coaches to have not only a solid theoretical foundation, but also the ability to apply the theory flexibly to specific scenarios. On the surface, the agile coach takes in charge of the theory while the partner is responsible for the practice. However, an agile coach who undertake the task cannot be an armchair strategist, and the teams are not supposed to superficially assume that the agile coach is a theorist. In fact, the agile coach is consciously letting go of the practice part to the partner.

Note: The significance of accompanying is not supposed to be pushing the team to move passively, although it does happen in some stages, it can't last forever.

4. How to find such a partner?

First of all, observe if there is someone in the team who is in charge of continuous improvement with an internal drive. If there is such a person, he would be the best choice for the partner.

If there is nobody like that, you need to cultivate one. Be sure to choose someone with the good sense on project management. The one who is not good at project management will be a mess in Agile, either.

I have an interesting observation that team leaders or project managers who perform well in the traditional development model may not be good candidates in an Agile environment. Because in the traditional model, it would be OK and even excellent if they manage the team out of instinct but was responsible enough to keep an eye on team members. In the Agile model, however, only keeping an eye on team members is not enough. A good sense on project management, an open mind, a sense of continuous pursuit of excellence, a flexible mind, extensive knowledge, and a strong internal drive are all prerequisites for a good Agile operation. That's to say those who previously excelled but lacked an open mind and desire to learn are at risk of a career crisis in the Agile environment!

As a consequence, agile coaches have to cultivate a partner from a new perspective.