Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching, Re-read Saturday, Week 13, Chapter 13 – Badass Pair-Coaching

Chapter 13 of Badass Agile Coaching: The Journey from Beginner to Mastery and Beyond is titled Badass Pair-Coaching.  Over the years I’ve had many alternatives to take part in pair teaching, though fewer over the previous few years. I miss pair teaching; it pushes me to increase my horizons and up my sport. When I started studying this chapter I anticipated it to be solely esoterically attention-grabbing, however then I bought to pair coach with Jonathan Lee for a couple of hours — hopefully, we’ll do it extra usually. Pair teaching, like pair programming, affords quite a few advantages starting from a second set of eyes to better variety of concepts and expertise. My unscientific evaluation is that pairing in agile transformations reduces prices and will increase the chance of concepts sticking with groups and organizations. 

The phrase pair envisions two folks working collectively hand in glove, very like a driver-navigator method to pair programming. Pair-coaching requires a broader number of topologies. Coaches will typically work collectively as a pair and different occasions as aligned people that periodically sync. Making a pairing method work requires settlement on a number of factors:

1. Alignment on mission and objectives – Working towards the identical set of objectives establishes a right away set of guardrails to maintain work shifting in the identical route. 
2. Shared Context – Both coaches want to grasp as a lot of the context for the engagement as potential. 
3. Preparation – The coaches have to plan the engagement and the day to ship probably the most worth and never step on one another’s toes.
4. Single Voice – One individual can’t push one set of concepts or framework whereas the opposite goes in a special route.  This is extra of an alignment on the tactical method to the mission and objectives.
5. Client Agreement – The greatest motive why the variety of pairing (or any mixture of a number of coaches) alternatives has gone down is a view that the method is extra pricey. Many single coach agile engagements fall prey to the identical “too many individuals engaged on too many issues directly” difficulty as growth groups. This boils all the way down to a belief downside wherein everybody believes that one social gathering is making an attempt to underpay and the opposite social gathering is making an attempt to maximise income.

The chapter features a canvas (the cool phrase for template) for constructing a working settlement for pair teaching. I’ll strive it the following time I pair-coach. 

One of the factors that the chapter drove dwelling to me was the necessity to sync and retrospect as a pair. Jonathan and I spent a little bit of time retrospecting and syncing after our session sitting within the entrance seat of his automotive because it warmed up within the 3-degree F climate of northern Illinois. I used to be barely uncomfortable till the warmth kicked in however the occasion was targeted and essential. Retrospection allowed us to hone our method and syncing ensured we stayed aligned. 

It is enjoyable when the subject of the week aligns with the occasions of the week. I’m not assuming any kind of causal relationship. I suppose we’ll see throughout our re-read of Chapter 14, titled Badass Role-Based Coaching subsequent week. (Have you got a replica? Badass Agile Coaching: The Journey from Beginner to Mastery and Beyond)

Note: With the completion of Chapter 13 we now have 8 or 9 weeks left earlier than we start Team Topologies.