Episodes
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Landing your dream job straight out of school sounds great, but there's a big hurdle to cross first: the interview. It's not just a quiz about what you know; it's more about how you're ready to grow and handle challenges. Confidence plays a big role here, but let's face it, interviews can be nerve-wracking. The key is to build up your interview confidence like you would a muscle, with the right approach and mindset.
In this episode, we get into the nitty-gritty of job interviews with Neha, who's been through the wringer and come out on top. She's now a product manager and has some great insights on how to handle interviews, from the first handshake to the final questions. Neha's journey is pretty inspiring—starting off in business analytics, moving into the health tech industry, and now making waves at a company called Tree, where she's shaking up the influencer marketing world.
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In this episode of The Agile Coach, host Vivek is joined back again with Adam Miner, an experienced Agile Coach with a background as a Scrum Master, to share his journey of breaking into his first Scrum Master role and transitioning into an Agile Coach role. He emphasizes the importance of personal growth and development outside of the nine-to-five job to set oneself apart in interviews. Adam also highlights the significance of understanding the company culture and team dynamics during the interview process. He advises candidates to focus on showcasing their unique experiences and perspectives to stand out from other candidates.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
"If you can speak to personal growth outside of your nine-to-five in leadership, communications, discipline, success habits, you will probably set yourself apart from eight or nine out of ten other candidates in the process.""It's very much about what you are saying that another candidate is not saying.""You do not need a degree to succeed in corporate or agile. You don't have to have a technical background."Get to know Adam and what she’s up to:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-miner-77793129/
Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:Vivek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/
Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/
The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/
Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website https://theagilecoach.com/
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Missing episodes?
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In this episode of The Agile Coach, host Vivek is joined back again by Adam Miner, an experienced Agile Coach with a background as a Scrum Master. He has worked in various roles in the Agile space, including coaching and mentoring teams in Agile practices. Adam has a deep understanding of the Agile mindset and values and is skilled in facilitating change and driving organizational agility.
Adam shares his experience transitioning from a Scrum Master role to an Agile Coach role. He emphasizes the importance of developing the skill of influencing people through organic trust and respect. Adam believes that the ability to influence is crucial for both Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. He also highlights the value of understanding the Agile mindset and principles, rather than focusing solely on specific frameworks or certifications. Adam discusses the challenges of working with leadership and management teams, particularly in overcoming resistance to change. He emphasizes the need for Agile Coaches to balance their knowledge of Agile practices with strong interpersonal and leadership skills. Adam encourages new Agilists to be opportunistic and step out of their comfort zones to gain experience. He also advises seeking guidance from experienced professionals in the desired role.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
"The most effective skill in an Agile environment is the ability to influence people through organic trust and respect.""If you understand the mindset of agility and take the values and principles to heart, you can apply them to any process or situation.""It's difficult to convince leadership that changing the way they think is necessary to achieve different results.""The best coaches have a delicate balance of training and coaching, combining Agile knowledge with strong interpersonal skills.""The goal for any coach should be to scale Agile leadership and create self-organizing teams."Get to know Adam and what he’s up to:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-miner-77793129/
Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
Vivek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/
Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/
The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/
Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website https://theagilecoach.com/
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In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek is joined by Abbie DeMartino, a development manager at Meijer, to share her journey from a sports coaching background to becoming a scrum master and eventually a development manager. She discusses the transferable skills she gained from her previous roles and how she applied them in the tech world. Abbie emphasizes the importance of being competitive, continuously learning, and building relationships with team members. She also provides insights into the challenges and rewards of her current role, including the need to keep up with ever-changing technology and the satisfaction of driving change and coaching others.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
What is it like being a scrum master and product owner - Abbie: “I think the scrum master and the product owner roles are tough. Like they're, it's a unique personality that you need. You need someone who's driven. You need someone who can handle conflict. You need someone who's able to have difficult conversations”
Scrum Master vs. Leadership Role - Abbie: “As a scrum master, I always felt like I could see pain points at the team level and I didn't have any power to do anything about it per se. Now being in a leadership role, I think I can drive change here. What's impacted my team? And I don't know what other word to say besides authority, but I don't mean authority but the ability to implement some of that change has been really exciting and just seeing wins in my team, right? So they're getting out a big body of work to production that they've spent, you know, multiple sprints on and to see it through and celebrate that with them.”
Get to know Abbie and what she’s up to:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbie-gortsema123/
Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
Vivek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/
Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/
The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/
Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website https://theagilecoach.com/
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In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek is joined by Laurin Lukas Stahl, Head of Product at Trality, to discuss the world of product management, exploring its definition, differences from project management, and its essential role in the product development process. Laurin, a guest on the show, shares valuable insights into the skills, mindset, and structured thinking needed to become an effective product manager. The conversation also touches on the potential of AI tools like Chat GPT in assisting product managers with tasks such as generating frameworks, facilitating communication, and accelerating product development. Vivek and Laurin emphasize the importance of continuous learning and provide resources for further exploration.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Product Management: Delivering Products and Building Solutions - Laurin Lukas Stahl: “Product management is the idea that there is a central person within a product squad embedded in the overall idea of what the product needs, whose responsibility is finally to deliver the product, to shepherd it throughout each and every stage.”
Product vs. Project Management: Understanding the Difference - Laurin Lukas Stahl: “The main difference is that projects have defined scopes or timelines, whereas products aim to continuously deliver value to users and strive for improvement.”
Structured Thinking: Unlocking Effective Product Management - Laurin Lukas Stahl: “Structured thinking involves approaching problems with a clear process, using frameworks specific to the problem at hand, and communicating ideas effectively.”
Get to know Laurin and what he’s up to:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurin-stahl/
Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
VIvek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/
Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/
The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/
Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website
https://theagilecoach.com/
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In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek is joined by Jonaed Iqbal, the CEO and Founder of NoDegree.com. Jonaed talks about social media, branding, and helping people pursue roles even without a college degree.
He walks us through the No Degree platform and how he creates content and interacts with people without degrees and helping them take the roles that best fit them. He shares key insights on constant learning especially when you don't have the "advantage" of having a degree.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
You can learn so much by being proactive - Jonaed: "You've got a degree? Ten years later and new technology comes out, what are you going to do? Lean in on your degree? No, you have to get involved. Things are always changing so immerse yourself."
Understand the role of recruiters - Jonaed: "The recruiter's job is not to help you out, their job is to help their clients fill roles. If you are their target market and they have a job for you, they'll be helpful. If not they will not be. This is a misconception people have because, the fact is, they're busy and they have their quota so you have to make it easy for them."
Get to know Jonaed and what he’s up to:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonaed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoDegreeDotComConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc
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In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek is joined by Priyanka Gyawali, the Chief Technology Officer at Belong Technology. Priyanka digs into her journey in tech from software engineer to CTO and the immense value of upskilling to get there.
She shares her thoughts on what makes a good product owner/manager and the changes ChatGPT is ushering in the way we process work for the better. For agile, Priyanka also champions giving people space to be creative to bring their ideas to reality.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Changing and overlapping roles after going agile - Priyanka: "Things have changed like the number of roles in a project have changed. Previously it was the developer doing the designing as well, doing the QA, doing the BA, and then there was like a product owner. But like over time when things are more agile now, we have several roles, like people wear different hats, especially in my experience in the startup world."
Leaders should take the lead on implementing innovation - Priyanka: "Someone being a leader, they might not think about the things that are in the market, but then a developer who has hands-on experience and who might have already done that in another project, we can utilize their skill on that. So I guess it's about giving space to people in the team."
Get to know Priyanka and what she’s up to:
LinkedInConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek is joined by Joe Ziadeh, Chief Story Teller and Innovation Artist at Balanced Agility. They play around with ChatGPT to test if it can think and act like a scrum master in realistic situations.
Vivek and Joe run a few prompts and are definitely impressed by some of the answers. Although some are a bit drawn out, the AI has produced impressive results throughout the session.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
How does ChatGPT produce specific answers? - Joe: "After this is done, I want to try and give it something more generic. Because I feel like it could've picked this up off the web. But if it's coming up with these things, I am in shock."
Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:
About JoeAbout Balanced AgilityBalanced Academy WebsiteConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
Welcome to another episode and today, Vivek welcomes Rye Hawley, a Scrum Master at Net Health. They discuss Rye's current role, his transition to tech, and his advice for his past and current self. Rye emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, identifying and resolving impediments, and striving for excellence in personal and professional growth. Learn more about Rye and his work in this latest episode of The Agile Coach.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Acing an interview with less experience - Rye: “I'd recommend when people are in this interviewing stage, is really focusing on what you're bringing to a company, but also like how you're adding value to them, and also you have to think like the company's in a position where they need someone to fill this gap that they have, and so what can you bring to the table, focusing on the specifics there, I think that's what really helped and leveraged by success in interviews.”
Defining what is an impediment - Rye: “Impediments can come in the form of many things, especially in this day and age, I think we'll just talk about my teams and what impediments look like it could be anything from a failed server, or a database or some technical blockage that our developers experiencing. So that could simply mean connecting that individual with a subject matter expert that can help troubleshoot it. That could be an example of an impediment.”
Get to know Rye and Net Health:
LinkedInNet HealthConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek sits down with Haley Prestwood, Scrum Master at Kroger Technology & Digital. Haley talks about her early experience in Agile and her transition from planning to go to law school to becoming a scrum master today.
She shares her insights on how to reaffirm yourself and excel in your role even if you don't initially have any background in IT or software development. She highlights the importance of learning and continuing to grow and how essential this can be in the Agile environment.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Don't be afraid to ask questions - Haley: "Don't be afraid to ask questions and get off mute in meetings. When I first started in my first role, I was so scared to come off mute and ask questions but that's really how you're going to improve and grow."
Lean on the Agile coach community - Haley: "That has been so supportive for me is just staying connected. I've been in IT for 3 years now but I still stay in touch with so many people in the program and that's been very beneficial and helps me continuously grow my knowledge and improve."
Get to know Haley and check out the book she recommended:
LinkedInHow to do the WorkConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek sits down with Joe Justice, CEO of WIKISPEED and Chairman of the Agile Business Institute. Joe talks about all that he has learned about innovation and how it relates to Agile after working with Elon Musk.
He gives us an inside look at a few processes at the Musk companies and the processes they implement for cost reduction and innovation. Joe shares his insights on scrum and how effectively it helps in calling different roleplayers to collaborate and work seamlessly all throughout.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
What is Agility? - Joe: "Agility is making change cheaper in time, money, and emotional willpower like making it less draining and even more fun. That is the game. How Elon says, it is "Pace of innovation is the only thing that matters in the long run." And that's working really well for Elon from a business perspective. Agility is that."
Agile is to reduce the cost to make a change - Joe: "Change is expensive in a traditional mindset and then disruption increases the cost of your existing plan. If you're able to respond quickly to change, then change is a cost-advantage to you."
Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:
LinkedInTwitterAbout WIKISPEEDConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
This episode of The Agile Coach is the second part of our conversation with Mikaylah McCarty, Scrum Master at Universal Parks & Resorts. She shares the best practices when building the resume, improving LinkedIn, and other aspects to focus on when interviewing or applying for an Agile role.
Mikaylah talks about the importance of starting the role right and adopting the right mindset once you start doing what's needed from you. She also highlights the need to continue learning and that you are never confined to just one role as a scrum master.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Understand your story so you don't have to lie - Mikaylah: "You can embellish, you can make something sound bigger, but never lie on your resume because that's cheap. A true scrum master when you're interviewing can see straight through that. I'd know you don't know what you're talking about."
Show up with your best self every day - Mikaylah: "There are thousands of people who want to take my job at Universal and I remind myself that every single day. I am replaceable and I think that is the biggest mentality to note and that stems to everything."
Get to know Mikaylah and what she’s up to:
LinkedInConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
The Agile Coach with Vivek and Pabitra sits down with Mikaylah McCarty, Scrum Master at Universal Parks & Resorts. Scrum Masters lead cross-functional and agile teams. They provide the how to the what and deliver realistic outcomes quickly to customers.
She shares her journey to becoming a Scrum Master and how to capitalize on networking opportunities. Mikaylah advises aspiring Scrum Masters to seek out a mentor to guide them and to double down on the skill of communication as creating a safe space but also commanding the room is the role of a Scrum Master.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Scrum Masters provide the HOW to the WHAT - Mikaylah: "A Scrum Master's role is to then take whatever they're prioritizing and say, how are we going to get it done? Product owner is the what in the team. The Scrum Masters are the how, that's the value that we provide to the team is okay, they're saying we got to get this done. We have the team members ready to do the work. The scrum master will then say, this is how it's going to work."
Lead from the front and add skills to your tool belt - Mikaylah: "Get down there with your team. If you don't know it, learn it. If all you can do is sit there, sit next to them and rub their back and give them a donut, like do that. Supporting your team. Never saying, it's not my job. Never say you can't do it, and gaining as many skills in your tool belt as you can."
Get to know Mikaylah and what she’s up to:
LinkedInConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
In this episode of The Agile Coach Podcast, Vivek talks with Angela Johnson, Chief Change Officer & Certified Scrum Trainer at Collaborative Leadership Team and author of The Scrum Master Files. She talks about working with leadership as an Agile coach and working through resistance Agile transformation in organizations.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
You have to have a handle on what you're trying to measure - Angela: "People will say things like, 'we have to go faster' or 'we can't keep up with the competition.' But all of those reasons I firmly believe that they're sincere, they're just not measurable."
It's okay to assume some leaders don't have clarity - Angela: "Even leaders who think they have a clear vision of where they're going, they may be assuming that people are doing what they think is the top goal but that's not necessarily the case until they follow up or verify."
Get to know Angela and check out her book:
About AngelaThe Scrum Master FilesConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
In this episode of The Agile Coach Podcast, Vivek talks with Angela Johnson, Chief Change Officer & Certified Scrum Trainer at Collaborative Leadership Team and author of The Scrum Master Files. She talks about the necessary people skills that scrum masters need and how to handle conflict effectively as a scrum master.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Don't shy away from conflict as a scrum master - Angela: "Sometimes when people are just misunderstanding each other or communication is breaking down, a scrum master has got to get in there sometimes with their black and white stripes and their whistle almost like a referee but oftentimes it's just to help."
How to provide better feedback - Angela: "Instead of making it about you and telling them what they're doing wrong, why don't you invite their participation? Why don't you get them to come up with the answer?"
Get to know Angela and check out her book:
About AngelaThe Scrum Master FilesConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
In this episode of The Agile Coach Podcast, Vivek talks with Pabitra about how she got into Agile, the transition from her first job to where she's now today, and if she would have changed her Agile Career today. They share about the different changes in the space and the overall process of starting a career in Agile.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Leading a team to become a self-empowering unit - Pabitra: "Really think about how I help them in their personal or professional growth so that they feel like they're valued at work not just what they're producing but also their feeling valued at work because somebody actually cares about their growth."
There are always transferrable skills - Pabitra: "No matter what job that you have, there are a lot of the non-technical side or more of the people side of things and business side of things because, at the end of the day, you work for a business. No matter what your role is, you're helping businesses do better."
Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
The Agile Coach with Vivek and Pabitra chats with Andrej Dzidic, Director of Project Management - Technical at Mastercard. He breaks down the role of people skills in the success of a product management role, as well as shares how he built trust to navigate people's expectations. Different stakeholders have different priorities, so being able to build a relationship with each of them creates less friction when actually performing your role as a product manager.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Sales skills are a good foundation for product management - Andrej: "I think sales is a great way to break into product management because you do have that people communication skills. You think about success, you think about revenue, and then you're also getting customer feedback so you are working with the product every now and then by providing input on what the customer wants. And second, with product management and product ownership, you care a lot about go-to-market strategy."
Product managers need to earn trust - Andrej: "From the outside looking in, product management looks like such a cakewalk. It's not. There's a whole political landscape you have to navigate. And so, with product coming in, I knew some of the business stuff from the MBA and from previous roles I had in previous experience and I was pretty good with people so when it came to talking to people, okay, I got this in the bag. Now what I didn't realize is you have an engineering team who's like oh yeah, that's a ton of work. It's not. And so you have to decide for it and figure out what's actually true and what isn't. So you have to earn trust."
Get to know Andrej and what he’s up to:
About AndrejConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
The Agile Coach with Vivek and Pabitra chats with Andrej Dzidic, Director of Project Management - Technical at Mastercard. He defines what product management is and how his team sets up strategies with buy-in from engineering leadership.
Andrej also shares how he builds teams by performing a gap analysis and prioritizing a potential product manager's communication skills. He talks about mentoring others using prioritization strategies and clarifies that a degree is not needed to enter a product; so be aware that competition is tough but not impossible to break through.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Product management is about creating synchronicity - Andrej: "When I think about product management, you really don't have a successful product if you don't meet product market fit, right? So when you're thinking about it initially, you might think, okay, how quickly are we actually pushing things to the market and are we meeting that equilibrium point? But for me, what I really started to care about was predictability. So how in sync are our product managers with our business stakeholders?"
Become great at the product by creating your own product - Andrej: "If you've never been a product owner or product manager, go out and build a product. Go and find someone on Fiverr who can do some light work for you that's relatively cheap. Make some wireframes, put together a backlog, and let's see you build a product. I mean, I do it in my free time, so even though I'm working in product, I'm trying to figure out how can I build something so that I can just go work because I love product management."
Get to know Andrej and what he’s up to:
About AndrejConnect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:
About VivekAbout PabitraAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
The Agile Coach takes a deep dive with Joe Ziadeh, Chief Story Teller and Innovation Artist at Balanced Agility, into his journey to becoming a certified ICE-AC agile coach. He shares the differences between mentoring and coaching, how to practice facilitation, and his own growth as a coach himself as his biggest learning experiences in this journey.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Mentors solve the problem with you, coaches help the person behind it - Joe: "As a coach, your coachee or client, however you want to call it, shows up and they say, hey, I've got a problem that I need to solve. And the coach comes in and says okay, cool. How can I help you? Not the problem. Let's talk to you and figure out what's going on in your life. How are you working on this problem? What can we do to support you so that you can solve the problem on your own."
Teach the way the brain wants to learn which is through activity - Joe: "There are a lot of ways that we can learn that are more exciting, more interesting, and more effective. So then we start teaching based on the way our brains work. So gains, activity, getting people moving around, laughter, jokes, music, bright colors, interactivity. All of these things combined together create a much more effective and enjoyable learning experience."
Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:
About JoeAbout Balanced AgilityBalanced Agility WebsiteConnect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:
About VivekAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc -
The Agile Coach sits down with Joe Ziadeh, Chief Story Teller and Innovation Artist at Balanced Agility, as he shares how to approach and engage teams as an agile coach. Joe breaks down his insights when working with new teams, from entering the team with mutual respect to the very mindset that makes an agile coach effective.
Joe gives tips on how to create psychological safety to encourage transparent conversation and shares some activities he does with new teams. He also discusses how he aligns with stakeholders and leadership and how key metrics are based on goals that leaders must first define. Lastly, Joe provides expert tips on hiring agile facilitators and some qualities to look for in product owners.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Create psychological safety by bonding with the team - Joe: "The first thing that you need to do is, as a coach, you need to connect with every person on that team. And there are going to be people who don't necessarily want to connect with you. And you have to set up one-on-ones. You have to bond with these people. You have to connect with them as human beings."
Deal with leadership through expectation management - Joe: "The higher up in the organization you get, it's a question of, hey stakeholder, what is it that you want to see from this? What does this team need to do to make you happy, to be successful? In your mind, what are the things that you can see that would keep them from being successful, and how can we prevent them? And then what can we do so that in the future when the team needs help, you are in a position to help them?"
Providing air cover for supporting difficult decisions - Joe: "You'll run into situations, where as a leader, your job isn't to make sure that the organization runs clockwork the way it's supposed to. The vast majority of your time is spent on when stuff goes wrong, how do I pick up the pieces and get us back to what we should be doing?"
Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:
About JoeAbout Balanced AgilityBalanced Agility WebsiteConnect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:
About VivekAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc - Show more
