What is agile coaching. Agile, SCRUM, coaching, turquoise companies... About terms and meanings. Which companies use Agile?

Lissa Adkins

Coaching agile teams. A Guide for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches and Project Managers in Transition

Published with permission from Pearson Education (Addison-Wesley Professional)

We would like to thank ScrumTrek, represented by Alexey Pimenov and Anatoly Korotkov, for their assistance in preparing the publication.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holders.

Authorized translation from the English language edition, entitled Coaching Agile teams: a companion for scrummasters, Agile coaches, and project managers in transition, 1st edition, ISBN 978-0-321-63770-4; by Adkins, Lyssa; published by Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Addison-Wesley Professional.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system, without permission from Pearson Education, Inc.

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Introduction by Mike Cohn

The buzz at the 2008 Scrum Forum in Chicago revolved around a speaker who was new to the event. On Monday afternoon she led a session called “The Journey from Project Manager to Agile Coach.” And already on Tuesday it was actively discussed.

The reason is that the speaker, Lissa Adkins, whose book you're holding in your hands right now, created this stir by giving her talk on agile coaching with passion, skill, and remarkable erudition. A classically trained project manager and corporate executive when introduced to Agile, Lissa is the ideal mentor for those wanting to become a qualified Agile Coach.

A highly skilled agile coach is as interesting to watch as a magician. And no matter how careful you are, you still won’t be able to understand how he does it. In this book, Lissa takes us behind the scenes and reveals the secrets of her magic. But the most surprising thing is that it’s not a matter of sleight of hand or a card up your sleeve. Instead, you'll discover great techniques that will help your team grow in success. Lissa divides the magic of coaching into specific concepts. She not only explains the difference between teaching, coaching and consulting, but also shows when and how to move from one to the other. Lissa is ready to help you choose between coaching one person and an entire team, as well as determine the chances of coaching to have a strong impact on the team.

Walking us past white bunnies and black hats like a magician, Lisa demonstrates how to start a difficult conversation, using specially designed questions to get team members talking constructively about an issue. This is one of my favorite parts of the book. The author shares practical advice about cooperation. This is one of its main achievements, because numerous works on this topic only state that cooperation is necessary, but are silent on how to implement it. An equally important toolkit offered by Lissa is the ability of a coach to show conscious passivity, observing the team and allowing it to solve problems on its own.

But sometimes agile coaches also fail, so Lissa describes eight options for difficult situations that we can find ourselves in. At the beginning of my career, being in the role of an expert and a “nodal component of the system,” I was often mistaken.

I can honestly say that these situations haven't caused any damage, but I still struggle with the judgmental style of working.

Perhaps you, too, sometimes find yourself a “spy”, a “seagull” or a “butterfly”, or suffer from other actions leading to failure that Lissa describes. Fortunately, Lissa offers eight successful behavior styles. Read Chapter 11, “Agile Coach Failures, Recovery, and Successful Behaviors,” to learn where you might find yourself.

True Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters help their teams achieve more than they can. on our own. Becoming a qualified agile coach is like mastering magic, and you need to start by learning certain techniques. Therefore, the main thing is practice. Of course, it's up to you to decide which practice to choose, but the book will get you started in the right direction by showing how agile coaching masters perfect their craft.

Mike Cohnauthor of the book “Scrum. Agile software development"

Introduction by Jim Highsmith

First of all, this is a great book! I've read a lot of books about Agile, roadmaps, manuscripts, etc. They had a lot of good ideas, but lacked a solid contribution to the development of this methodology. Lissa Adkins's book is different.

In writing about Agile, I look for answers to four questions. Does the book encourage new ideas? Does it help organize existing ones? Does it expand them? Is it well written? For example, Kent Beck's pioneering work Extreme Programming brought together new ideas and redistributed existing ones.

Some argue that Agile is nothing new, but Kent's combination of specific practices and values is original. When I first came across Mike Cohn's work Agile Estimating and Planning, I thought, “How can I dedicate an entire book to this? Didn’t Beck and Fowler cover the topic in full in Extreme Programming?” I quickly realized, however, that Mike's book expanded on existing ideas and took them in a different direction, as well as adding new ones.

Coaching Agile Teams creates an effective platform that organizes existing ideas and practices. In addition, it stimulates the expansion of the boundaries of knowledge within existing ideas. Finally, it is written in a very compelling manner, with practical ideas and empirically based examples.

One of Lissa's ideas, which echoes mine, is that coaching is defined by several roles: teacher, mentor, person, problem solver, conflict navigator, coach, increasing productivity.

Differentiation of roles gives depth to a coach's work. For example, mentors teach a subject - agile practices, and coaches encourage the team and its individual members to learn their own inner world. Lissa's experience as a personal growth coach brings this richness to her work and book. Many so-called agile coaches turn out to be simply mentors who teach agile practitioners. The book will help them become effective coaches who improve productivity.

For those who consider themselves an agile coach, trainer, mentor or facilitator, the book offers valuable ideas, practices and interesting approaches to help you improve. Let me give you, for example, one of Lissa’s thought-provoking statements: “A Scrum Master who goes beyond the implementation of agile practices, facing the conscious and inspired desire of the team for high performance, is an agile coach.” In Chapter 10, The Agile Coach as Conductor collaboration» Lissa explores collaboration and collaboration, valuable boundaries for improving team performance. Each of these ideas adds depth to the role of an agile coach.

The second category of readers of this book are those who occupy leadership positions in an agile organization - a manager, product owner, scrum master, coach, project manager, or iteration manager. Although coaching is the primary job of a coach, all leaders make time to do it. Much has been written about self-organizing teams, but little has been written about how to actually become one or help one become one. Leaders have a great influence on those around them, so Lissa's book will help them ease the process of becoming a self-organizing team because they themselves are more flexible.

Finally, anyone who strives to become an effective team member will benefit from this read. I'm a fan of Christopher Avery, author of Teamwork Is an Individual Skill. He writes: “To improve teamwork, I must improve myself” and “I am responsible for all relationships within my project community.” This means that improving team performance is not just the responsibility of the leader or coach, but of any team member. Lissa's book will help everyone become their own agile coach - improving the team through self-improvement. Chapter 3, “Be Your Own Teacher,” is relevant for both individual team members and agile coaches.

A lot of buzzwords. They come as names for something very new and are fixed in our minds as symbols of breakthrough. Symbols global change thinking. But is what lies beneath the terms a real breakthrough? Or do we simply consider the well-forgotten old to be new again?

Coaching

One day I had a conversation with one of my business partners.

I worked with a coach. For a lot of money. In general, I was pleased. But then I went to a good psychologist and didn’t understand the difference. Both of them asked me questions. Both of them talked to me about goals. Only the psychologist did this without pressure. More professional, perhaps.

I wasn't too surprised. After all, coaching is simply one of the technologies for working with people. Just like a psychotherapy session. And the difference between a coach and a psychotherapist is most often that the first one has one method, and the second one has a set of methods and tools. But they have the same basis.

So why was it necessary to introduce a new term?

It's simple. In order for a person to be able to conduct a therapeutic appointment, he must receive appropriate education. Very serious. And then call your services the completely unfashionable word “consultation”. And in order to declare yourself a coach, a short course is enough. And even then, it’s not necessary.

There are no approved and agreed criteria for the quality of a coach’s work. So, there is no responsibility. Essentially, clients simply pay for the conversation. Moreover, quite frank. And often with someone who has no idea how to prevent serious consequences for the client’s psyche. And with someone who cannot figure out whether his client has an everyday problem or a pathology that needs to be treated with drugs. Well, of course, coaches are not available to medical ethics commissions.

So, the fashionable concept in this case helps amateurs, sectarians and many others to promote their name and earn money.

Does the technology work? Of course it works. Just like any other methods when used by professionals. It is not the technology's fault that its name has become fashionable and has appeared on the covers of amateurs.

But here is what many of them arrogantly declare: “Psychologists cannot work normally with people. Now only coaching” - shows that they have no idea about psychology or coaching, like technology.

Agile

This word burst into our reality like a whirlwind. And it has become a symbol of modern business. More precisely, those who believe that they are related to modern business. Moreover, what’s interesting is that everyone has heard about Agile. But quite a few people imagine what it is. So, gentlemen, this is not technology. The Agile manifesto is a set of values and principles that are important for developing technology under conditions of uncertainty. That is, when there is no clear vision of the final result. Principles on which many good tools can be developed.

Does agile work? Of course it works. Like any other values and principles, it guides decisions made within a team along a specific path.

Is there anything revolutionary new in this? Not at all. Special groups were created long before this. And for employees to work in teams and be customer-oriented is the dream of any entrepreneur. For the fact that the developers and methodologists brought these principles into a single document - respect to them. They can help those who understand how a work process is built based on principles. Especially if he works in software development.

But applying these principles to any business is stupid. But fashionable. And profitable. After all, any fashion serves as a reason to introduce an educational product to the market. And if the word is heard, then it is perceived as new wand. And it costs more than the already boring set of conventional tools. The truth is no different from it, but the label is different, which means it sells better.

SCRUM

Simply revolutionary! Revolutionary to the point of nightmare! Coordinating work in progress is new and fresh. Working in short bursts is... well, cool, I guess. And most importantly, no one has ever done this. Neither do architects or designers who present a sketch to the customer many times before making a final decision on the application. Neither do equipment manufacturers. And especially not the software developers themselves.

Well, of course, no one ever held production meetings. And he did not conduct cyclical control. And he did not create interdepartmental commissions.

Is Scrum necessary and does it work? Needed. And it works. Because these are the principles of normal work group management. Whatever you call them. And reading or listening about a cool guy - a SCRUM master, we notice that in some ways he is similar to an ordinary professional moderator and administrator working group. But, damn it, SCRUM, and even a master, sounds cooler. This means that for a diploma with such an inscription they will give the teacher more money.

So...does it work? Of course! Is it new? No way. This is common management practice. And examples of “revolutionary achievements” achieved with the help of Scrum are, for the most part, the practice of rocking over-bureaucratic systems. Which would have been updated in any case, since they had lost their effectiveness.

And by the way, if we leave the banter at our translators and take the original title of the book that has become the bible in this field, then “doing twice as much, spending half as much time” can be done without new technologies. You just need to learn to work normally, and not squabble and not let personal ambitions influence the deliberative and labor process.

Turquoise... turquoise...

“At first we decided to build a turquoise company, and then we decided to make money and hired single mothers with a mortgage.”

Need something updated? Repaint!

Product manufacturers do the same when they offer us “new” colored packs. This is what the producers of countless theories of “supermanagement” do.

They assign color differentiation to long-studied phenomena.

Gref read the book and suddenly “turquoise” filled the front pages of all business publications. And the brains of those who are trying to somehow organize their business. And the thoughts of numerous gurus who extract money from the latter for “super technologies”.

Much has been painted. And typification of personality and emotions. And stages of personality development. And even taste preferences (I once saw color differentiation of coffee tastes). And as soon as the fashion for yellow-red-blue or whatever types of behavior went away, colored types of organizations burst into our lives. At the same time, presenting the next typification as stages of development. Which is fundamentally wrong. But if they want to prove the opposite, let them force a large machine-tool plant with thousands of employees to become “turquoise.”

When I first heard about spiral dynamics, I cursed and said only one thing: “Someone will definitely bring this into business. And it will present itself as another revolution.” Less than a couple of years later this happened.

And again we are offered something “new”. But the concept of a value organization (which is considered the pinnacle of development) has been known since the beginning of civilization. Only then it was called “tribe”, and then “sect”. And they always relied on the presence of powerful ideologists in the system. And by the way, in form, the Soviet state fits perfectly into the “turquoise” paradigm. It's funny, but it's true.

And real value-based companies of our time, such as Black Diamond - Patagonia, live in the value paradigm exactly as long as their founder and ideologist is alive and active. Well, or while one family is engaged in ideology, as in Mars (although there are many questions for Mars).

Holacracy and flat structures

Another trendy topic. A company without bosses.

Well, it’s generally cool - everyone works to the limit, no one bosses anyone, everyone is happy and all that.

But this ideology does not fit in with what the companies themselves are proclaiming, promoting this approach. In one “leaderless” gang, the leader announces that there will be no more bosses. And who is he himself? And who did the shareholders entrust their money to?

And we believe. We believe all these beautiful signs.

And we start trying to copy.

And we even find our own positive aspects. For example, bosses can now be paid on an equal basis with their subordinates. And live happily and amicably... until all the more or less high-quality organizers leave the company, tired of trying to restore at least some order among (attention, again a fashionable word) “millennials”.

But in reality, creating flat structures does not work. This is against nature, which is based on a fractal. And which always builds a hierarchy.

In reality, in such companies, “curators” begin to appear instead of department heads, and “mentors” instead of department heads. And they differ from their colleagues from the next office only by their burning gaze at first and by their lower salary.

Fashion is a friend, fashion is an enemy

Fashion isn't that bad. Especially when it comes to clothes.

But we must not forget that what avant-garde designers show on the catwalks is often impossible to walk on the streets. Although, there are also useful elements in their works. Which can also be used in the production of mass products. Fashion is even good. After all, after experts have discussed futuristic concepts, they begin to think about today ( keyword– “specialists”). Of course, there is always a consumer who was convinced at the show that, for example, feathers in the ass are fashionable, modern, expensive and cool. And this consumer walks the streets dressed like this, causing laughter among passers-by. And he is proud that he is not like others.

Being a humanist to the core, could I ever have thought that I would be seriously interested in studying practical developments in the IT field?
But life is changing so rapidly that there is nothing left to do but accept its challenge and try new approaches not only in optimizing production, inventing new technologies, products and services, but also in effective management people.
Increasingly, managers have to admit that classical methods of working with employees are failing. Of course, there are a huge number of factors influencing management efficiency.

However, modern realities of life, such as multitasking, requirements for speed of execution, working in conditions of uncertainty, creating innovative projects and products, require clear, coordinated and efficient work, which is often only possible when using new approaches to managing such a project team.

And despite the fact that the agile approach originated and is actively used in the IT industry, its principles can be perfectly integrated into the work of any project teams that are working on solving new, non-standard problems. But first things first.

How did the agile approach appear and what is it?

It is often not easy for software developers, especially if the product is not standard. This means that development requirements can change throughout the product creation process. And if they are not taken into account, then the result may not be the result that the Customer will like.

A few years ago, the development period for a software product could be 3 years, while now it is 3 months! The task of modern business is to implement projects quickly and efficiently! How can this be achieved? Development teams had to rethink the way they worked. The fact is that development was previously carried out in certain stages according to the principle of cascade implementation of the project. Until one stage was completed, it was impossible to move on to the next.
It was not possible to constantly test and improve the product during the project development process, because everything depended on the original technical specifications. This approach was not at all flexible and was associated with bureaucracy and a lot of developed documentation, which often became irrelevant by the time the project was completed. That is why, instead of the classical ones, flexible approaches to project management were invented, which do not require lengthy approvals regarding the slightest changes in the project.
This is how the concept appeared agile - as a philosophy, which combines the principles of all flexible methodologies for software development. These include Scrum, Kanban, etc.

In 2001, thanks to a team of developers who realized that living and creating as before was becoming ineffective, the Agile Manifesto was born, containing the basic principles of working in the Agile approach.

The key ones were:
1. People and their interactions are more important than technology. And the most effective method interaction and exchange of information is a personal conversation.
2. The finished product is more important than the written documentation for it. It is important to deliver fully working software to the Customer every few weeks
3. Constant dialogue with the Customer during the product development process is more important than strict restrictions specified in the contract
4. Responsiveness to change is more important than compliance original plan actions

As we can see, these principles reflect a willingness to change, the value of people and a focus on results.
Moreover, the highest priority is the satisfaction of the customer/user through frequent and continuous deliveries of a product that is valuable to him, so that he can receive feedback for subsequent improvements to the project.

Isn’t this what every team working on a project strives for?
Thank you, dear IT specialists, now we can safely adopt your experience!

Let's see what this approach looks like in practice? And what does coaching have to do with it?

As we know, coaching is always working to build the desired future and always working for results. In the coaching process, as a rule, questioning techniques are used that allow a person to better understand the task facing him, see resources and ways to achieve it. And if in the classic version coaching is the individual work of a coach with a client, then in the context design developments team coaching is used, which is very similar to facilitation. Additionally, agile coaching typically requires the coach's expertise in the area where they are helping the team get results, so sometimes an agile coach can also step in as a mentor and coach.
The agile coaching process makes the team's work transparent, coherent and at the same time focused on specific goals.

Example 1.

Imagine a workday morning that starts every day with a 15-minute Daily stand-up sessions. This is a mini-meeting of all team members, where everyone stands. Yes, it's inconvenient. But the risk of delaying the event is reduced Therefore, only the most important things that will move the project implementation process forward are discussed.

Namely, each team member answers each other 3 questions:
1. What did I do for the project?
2. What do I plan to do?
3. What is stopping me from moving forward?

Such a short meeting helps to detect parallel processes, understand the stage of project implementation, the difficulties that need to be solved, and also increase the responsibility of each employee to other team members.
It is important that the solution to the voiced problematic issues will occur later, not at the stand-up session itself.
The purpose of such a meeting is to maintain focus on the current stage and at the same time look to the future. That is, to see how what the team is doing now affects the implementation of the project in the future, and, if necessary, adjust the action plan in time.

Example 2.

To visualize the process of executing tasks, you can use a tool such as Kanban board.
It can be in the form of a real board with stickers on which tasks are written, or in a virtual form, if the team works remotely.
In case it is a physical task board, employees write their tasks on sticky notes and paste them in the appropriate columns, depending on the stage of task completion. Thus, a general picture of the work on the project in the current period emerges, and an understanding arises at what stages of the project “ bottlenecks", where, for example, the greatest accumulation of tasks occurs.

In the very in simple form Project stages can be designated as:
1. Need to do
2. In progress
3. Done

You can also break down the processes a little into their component parts, then the task board might look like this:

If necessary, you can visualize on the board other stages of the project that are characteristic of the activities of a particular team.

During the morning Daily stand-up sessions employees, talking about the work done and upcoming work, paste stickers from one stage to another and can more clearly see those moments that complicate their work.

Based on such a visual analysis, “urgent tasks” may emerge that slow down the project as a whole. Such tasks are listed in a separate column on the vision board.
This activity allows you to understand whether a given project can be implemented within the given time frame or whether additional resources, including temporary ones, are needed. In this case, you can warn the customer in advance about the upcoming adjustment of deadlines, rather than informing about it at the last moment.

Example 3.

Matrix for prioritizing customer requirements

As stated earlier, it is very important for the project team to maintain constant contact with the client. Customers, in turn, can quite actively propose many ideas for implementation, not all of which are practical or can be implemented immediately. In addition, the implementation of some ideas may require additional costs.
Therefore, it is necessary to clarify together with the customer the value of each task for his business.

Working with values and priorities is also a coaching approach that can be easily implemented using a special priority matrix of customer requirements. Tasks are distributed across all quadrants of the matrix depending on their value to the customer and expected costs. After that, we analyze which tasks we leave for work (these are tasks that fall into the quadrant of high value at minimal cost), and which ones we need to think about in terms of increasing the value or reducing the required resources.

So, if suddenly any of you, reading this article, resisted the idea of constant interaction with the next Felix Sigismundovich from the ranks of your customers in order to make new adjustments to the project, then don’t worry! These meetings will not fray your nerves, because, using this tool, you will not need to blindly rush to implement any new crazy idea out of 1000 similar ones... Working with this matrix at meetings with the customer will help make your communication as productive and truly engaging as possible .

What do our customers want? High-quality and timely implementation of the project, as well as attention to your wishes.
What do project team leaders want? So that all team members, in addition to professionalism, have high degree responsibility for the result and were involved in the project implementation process. This will ultimately lead to coordinated work and the creation of a product that can satisfy the customer’s wishes, and possibly exceed them.
The Agile approach allows us to achieve both the first and second.

However, it is important to understand that in this case Agile becomes your management and communication style. And just as traditional management styles have their benefits and risks, agile management has its bottlenecks.

When we talk about coaching-style management, we mean that the team we are dealing with is quite mature. This creative people who initially have an interest in the business, a desire to be realized, a certain sense of responsibility and involvement.

We say that coaching is always work with awareness and a 100% sense of responsibility. And if these qualities of your employees are not yet at the required level, then it will be quite difficult for you to apply Agile coaching in its pure form. Therefore, you can use mixed management styles, gradually “growing” your team to a level at which you can safely use the Agile approach to management.
And this will undoubtedly lead you and your team to new heights! And your satisfied and grateful clients will never want to exchange you for anyone else!

Ekaterina Kudryavtseva, business trainer, coach

Autumn 2016 Sberbank reported O launch programs transformation Sbergile(Sberbank+ Agile), which is based on the Agile software development methodology and is positioned as the most significant event in the history of the bank.

“Agile is perhaps the most radical transformation in our history, in all 175 years of our development,” said the head of Sberbank, German Gref.

A key role in the program is played by Agile coaches, and below is a description of this vacancy in question-and-answer mode.

Agile coaches: questions and answers

Question: Please tell me whether we can count on an extension of the deadline for accepting applications or another iteration of recruiting coaches to the group after some time?

The deadline for accepting applications has been extended by 1 week (until June 20). Currently, we are selecting a team of agile coaches for the first wave of agile transformation. No decision has been made yet on how agile coaches will be selected for the second wave.

Question: Please tell me when information will appear on the exact dates of training and the timing of interviews with candidates?

Interviews with candidates have already begun. Each participant in the competition who successfully passes the first stage of selection (based on a resume) will receive an individual invitation to an interview. Each candidate will be required to be interviewed by two members of the Bank's Agile Transformation Working Group. Groups for training will be formed after July 15. Training for participants in the first wave of Agile transformation will begin on August 1, 2016.

Question: What are the development and career prospects for an Agile coach?

You get a unique opportunity to develop some of the most in-demand competencies on the market today. Regarding career growth: in Agile there is no hierarchy of positions (superior-subordinate), but there is a hierarchy of competencies (the one who is most useful to the team in solving the assigned tasks is valued higher).

Question: The implementation of Agile reminds me of the implementation of PSS. Or are there fundamental differences?

The main difference is that in Agile, teams are responsible for the product that will be delivered to the end customer. While PSS units should be engaged in improving processes and introducing a culture of continuous improvement, helping other units become more efficient.

Question: You ask to inform your supervisor in advance that you are participating in the selection. But you don’t indicate that you need to get the manager’s approval. Is it true that there is no need to obtain consent to participate in the competition; if the selection is successful, the manager will not be able to veto?

Yes, that's right. But you must understand that the transition process must be made as painless as possible for the department from which you are leaving.

Question: How many coaches are planned to be recruited?

At the first stage it is planned to recruit 30 people.

Question: What positions are employees being considered for this position?

There are no special requirements for grade and position. Employees of the Central Office / PCP of the Technology Block / Sberbank-Technologies in Moscow who have the following qualities can take part in the competition:

Able to unite a team to achieve results.
They create an inspiring atmosphere and help to develop.
Able to listen and find common language with different people.
Understand the nature of conflicts and know how to resolve them.
Capable of leading change and having experience in successful projects.
Have some experience in Agile (preferably).
Participated in projects with an IT component (desirable).

Question: How many teams will an Agile coach oversee?

One Agile coach will supervise 3-5 teams.

Question: What exactly will an Agile coach do? This is training teams or direct participation in project activities as a mentor-consultant? Will the coach's responsibilities be limited only to the implementation of Agile, or will the setup of new processes involve solving a significantly wider range of problems?

The Agile Coach position does not involve administrative, supervisory or financial authority. Major transformations are carried out through the use of facilitation tools, training, monitoring group dynamics, one-on-one conversations, and asking the right questions.

The main responsibilities and powers of an Agile coach:

1. training of team members
2. launching a team, building processes for delivering results
3. working on the continuous development and improvement of Sbergile methods (together with other Agile trainers) and their implementation in the daily work of the Teams
4. development of procedures for sharing knowledge and experience within the Bank
5. helping the team increase efficiency and maturity
6. tracking group dynamics of team development
7. Conducting one-on-one discussions with team members on individual performance issues
8. identification of problems (and successes) of teams, assistance in solving them
9. Participating in joint regular assessment of team members, looking for opportunities for improvement and communicating these opportunities to teams (POCLAC)

Question: Is the program designed only for employees of bank branches located in Moscow?

At the first stage, a decision was made to attract candidates from those employees who work in the Central Office and SBT and PCP in the Moscow location. This is due primarily to the fact that candidates are given a three-month period during which they can return to their workplace. Accordingly, candidate managers will be required to keep these positions unfilled during this period. Such agreements do not yet exist with regard to regional banks. In addition, the project budget at this stage does not include relocation costs.

Question: What format of work is planned? Is this full-time or is it possible to combine it with current activities? Is it possible to complete training in this program, but remain in the current unit?

After training, Agile coaches will devote 100% of their working time to new responsibilities, with complete separation from the previous process. The option of combining with current activities is not expected. It is impossible to undergo training but remain in your current unit.

Question: Where will the coaches be located during training? After training? Are business trips possible?

During training and subsequent work, the permanent location of the Agile coach is Central Asia (Moscow). Business trips are not provided.

Question: How will the selection take place? Only based on the submitted essay and resume or will there be any additional stages, personal interviews, something else?

The selection will take place in three stages:

Reviewing resumes, essays, studying information about the candidate from the HR database
Interview with a recruiter
Interview with two members of the Agile transformation team, including an experienced Agile coach

Question: When will the results of the competition be announced?

The results of the competition will be announced at the end of July. But decisions on specific candidates may be made earlier

Question: Can I apply if I have not yet completed my probationary period?

You can if you meet the requirements for candidates

Question: Is knowledge required? English language? And at what level?

Knowledge of English is welcome Intermediate level, since you will need to study various untranslated texts, presentations, and video materials.

Question: How long will the training take? Is it possible to combine it with current work during training?

Training of Agile coaches in the first wave of the project will begin on August 1 and will take place in modules over approximately two weeks. The training program is currently being finalized. After that, they will practice alongside experienced agile coaches from the external market. During training, 100% distraction from the work process will be required. More detailed information on training issues will appear soon.

Question: Please tell me, is it possible to take part in this program in parallel with the sixth stream of Sberbank 500?

Combining work as an agile coach and training under the Sberbank 500 program is possible. It should be borne in mind that the transition to the position of an agile coach requires mastering new specialty and will require a lot of effort and time. As a result, combining the role of an agile coach with training in the Sberbank 500 level program can be very difficult.

Question: After passing (before passing) coaching, will a permanent structural unit according to Agile? Will the coach work in this structure or return to his previous place of work?

After a 3-month testing period, agile coaches will be transferred to a separate structural unit.

Question: What does a three-month period mean during which you can return to your previous position and do the same thing you did before Agile? From what time is this period calculated?

A three-month period is given in cases where the employee for some reason will not be able to continue his career as an agile coach. It could be his decision or the team's decision. This role is completely new and many issues related to its functions are not completely clear today. Therefore, it was decided to keep the employee in his previous position for three months, after which he will be able (if necessary) to return to his previous functions without any negative consequences.

Question: What does it mean: “they will devote 100% of their working time to new responsibilities” in conjunction with “the previous place of work will be assigned to Agile coaches”? For three months, coaches will be assigned to their original department/administration, but perform coaching-related responsibilities while receiving tasks from another manager?

Absolutely right. For the first three months, the candidate will be registered in the previous department, but will perform 100% new functions, based on the tasks that will be formed together with the new team. And the assessment of a coach’s work will be influenced by the assessment of the teams he works with.

Question: Will the Agile Coaches' field be linked to the original department after three months? Will their original department manager have anything to do with them after this?

We cannot rule out the possibility of cross-functional interaction between Agile teams and the departments in which the candidates previously worked, but in general the work will be carried out independently.

Question: Is it possible to transfer employees to other departments/positions based on the results of training and work?

The purpose of the training is to meet the bank's needs for Agile coaches. After a three-month testing period, agile coaches will be transferred to a separate organizational unit. If for some reason the candidate returns to his previous place of work within a three-month period, then his transfer to another place of work or promotion will be within the competence of the previous manager.

Question: How will the work of Agile coaches be compensated? What exactly is meant by compensation?

Compensation refers to the conditions of material remuneration that are applied in the bank and SBT and PCP now. Until the end of the year, the conditions of material remuneration will be maintained. Then a financial reward system for Agile teams will be used, which will be developed during the first wave of the project.

Question: You write that until the end of 2016, compensation for Agile coaches will correspond to the conditions in their previous position. I have a great desire to become an Agile coach, however, with prior agreement with the Director of the Department, I expect to receive a promotion in the near future and be transferred to a higher grade. Do I understand correctly that if I pass the selection process to become an Agile coach, I will not be able to receive the promotion I expected until the end of 2016?

For three months you remain an employee of the department in which you currently work. If your manager decides to increase your grade during this period, he can do so and discuss his proposal with you.

Question: What grades will Agile coaches have?

The issue of grading Agile coaches will be resolved during the first stage of the pilot. The grading system in agile teams may differ from the one currently in force at the Bank. The task of maintaining income is the task of confirming your competencies and skills, and not maintaining your grade. For now, at the first stage, the grades that exist now will remain, that is, until the end of 2016, the compensation of Agile coaches will correspond to the conditions in their previous position.

Question: Regarding the terms of remuneration, in business units the main part of the remuneration comes from the bonus part. How will this be taken into account for 2016?

Until the end of the year, the conditions of material remuneration will be maintained. Then a financial reward system for agile teams will be used, which will be developed during the first wave of the project.