Yes, you do.
You really need to understand Agile. You need to have lived it, breathed it, and worked within Agile team environments to really get this stuff.
You need to understand, on a visceral level, the Agile values and principles.
You need to know how these values and principles integrate into team environments and organisations.
If you don’t have that experience and deep level expertise, you are not going to be able to guide teams effectively through all the teething problems that often arise when a team first adopt Scrum or Agile methodologies.
You aren’t going to have the essential experience to help guide them in their development as an Agile organisation and you aren’t going to be able to effectively coach them toward solving some of their most compelling problems.
If you are thinking of becoming an Agile coach, please go and get the essential experience of working as a practitioner within an Agile organisation.
As an Advanced Certified Scrum Master, you are already going to be straddling the line between Scrum Master practitioner and Agile coach.
As a Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master, you are going to be advancing as a professional Scrum Master practitioner and earning your coaching skills in more advanced environments and applications.
It is a great idea to be an experienced and skilled Agile practitioner before becoming an Agile coach.
When push comes to shove, we all fall back on the behaviours that have served us in the past. If you don’t have the deep experience necessary to coach a team, you are going to fall back on behaviours that don’t serve Agile organisations.
If you are thinking of becoming an Agile coach, visit our Advanced Certified Scrum Master course page, Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master course page and the Agile Coaching Academy course page.
The IC Agile Certified Agile Team Coaching course page is another great destination if you are looking to progress in your career as an Agile coach.
Agile Coaching FAQs
- What is an Agile Coach?
- What is the difference between a traditional coach and an Agile Coach?
- What are the career opportunities for an Agile Coach?
- Do you need to be a Scrum or Agile practitioner to become an Agile coach?
- Do I need to be an expert in Scrum to start my Agile coaching journey?
- Is an Agile coach a line management position?
- How do I integrate Agile coaching into a traditional management role?
- Do project managers make great candidates for Agile coaches?
- Can I become an Agile coach from both the scrum master and product owner tracks?
- What would be a great apprenticeship for an Agile coach?
- How is an Agile coach different from a Scrum Master?
- How will I know if Agile coaching is a good fit for me?
- Are there levels of seniority for Agile coaches?
- How effective is Agile coaching in an organisation that doesn’t embrace Agile?
- Is Agile coaching a natural evolution from Scrum Mastery?
- What is the difference between an Agile coach and a Project Manager?
- How will hiring an Agile coach help our business?
- I’m a project manager. Can I make the transition to Agile coach?
- How does Agile coaching help Agile transformations?
- How much of an impact can Agile coaches have on entrepreneurs?
- Will becoming an Agile coach help me lead my company more effectively?
- What is the difference between a Certified Enterprise Coach and a Certified Team Coach?
- Do Agile coaches work with individuals or teams?
- I lead a development team. Will becoming an Agile coach benefit us?
- How long will it take to go from Scrum Master to Agile Coach?