What does an Agile Coach do and how do I become one?

If you look around on the current job market, you will notice more and more job offers with the job title Agile Coach. You will encounter different fields of activity as well as requirements that an applicant should fulfill. So that you can make a big leap forward in your career, I will show you in this article which possibilities there are to become an Agile Coach - and why it makes sense to take this leap.

What is an Agile Coach?

In many job advertisements, the Agile Coach is equated with the role of the Scrum Master. This is understandable - because the Scrum Master is also a coach who supports his team. However, the Agile Coach is not a member of a Scrum team, but his focus is on supporting the entire organization. In doing so, he always acts objectively and neutrally and is not to be understood as an active part of the action. Furthermore, an Agile Coach should be able to apply more than just the Scrum Framework: An Agile Coach masters a variety of agile frameworks, methods & tools. This is because he coaches the organization in implementing the agile approaches and techniques that are suitable for them. Coaching is to be understood as help for self-help. The Agile Coach is thus a person who supports an organization in acting in a self-learning and self-organized manner and in becoming adaptable.

How do I become an Agile Coach?

Basically, anyone can become an Agile Coach who has an interest in working with people and change in a professional context. Depending on your personal level of knowledge and experience, there are different paths you can take to become an Agile Coach.

1. Are you still at the beginning of your agile career? Then it is recommended to deal with Scrum as a first step. Scrum is one of the most used agile frameworks worldwide. Many other agile approaches are derived from it or can be combined well with Scrum. In our Scrum Master & Product Owner Training (Module 1 of the SERVIEW Certified-Agile-Coach training) you will learn the agile mindset as well as agile and Scrum specific principles and approaches. With the Scrum Master I and the Product Owner I certification you build your foundation!
2. In the second step, you can now - based on your Scrum knowledge - gain practical experience in a Scrum team as a Scrum Master or as a Product Owner. Or you can continue your education theoretically. The Scrum Master II training (Module 2 of the SERVIEW Certified-Agile-Coach training) is ideal for this. Here you focus on the interpersonal level. You will further develop your existing competencies and learn to react flexibly to changes in the environment of your Scrum team. With the Scrum Master II certification you prove that you have internalized and exemplify the agile mindset. However, this does not make you an Agile Coach.
3. The third step is now to extend your previous experience in the team to the entire organization. You can learn how to do this in our Certified Agile Coach Training (Module 3 of the SERVIEW Certified Agile Coach Training). Here you will learn, among other things, how to coach executives, how to sustainably promote employee empowerment and self-organization, and how to accompany agile transformations.

However, your path to becoming an Agile Coach does not end there. You now have the prerequisites to support organizations in developing themselves in a self-organizing manner. However, as an Agile Coach, you should also continue to educate yourself. Always expand your toolbox and try out different techniques!

How does an Agile Coach training benefit my career? And what added value does it bring to my company?

As a trained Agile Coach, you leave a large footprint in your company. You are broadly positioned in the agile world and master a variety of agile approaches and techniques that can be applied in any area of the company to master agile transformation processes. This is precisely where the added value for the company lies. Many companies need to implement agile transformations in order to adapt to constantly changing market conditions. Agile transformations are often started without the support of experts, so that many companies stagnate during the change. This is where the Agile Coach is needed to support the company in overcoming such challenges.

Would you like to learn more about the Agile Coach training and find out what it means to be an Agile Coach? Then listen to our podcast "My path to becoming an Agile Coach"!