Agile in business and Agile for business. Lissa Adkins - Agile team coaching. Guide for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches and Project Managers in Transition Agile Coach Interview

Lissa Adkins

Agile team coaching. Guide for scrum masters, agile coaches and project managers in transition period

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

We thank ScrumTrek represented by Alexey Pimenov and Anatoly Korotkov for their help 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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Foreword by Mike Cohn

The hype at the 2008 Scrum Forum in Chicago was associated with a speaker who took part in the event for the first time. On Monday afternoon, she hosted a session titled "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 now hold in your hands, created this stir herself, delivering her talk on agile coaching with passion, skill, and remarkable erudition. A classically trained project manager and manager of a large corporation at the time of her introduction to Agile, Lissa is the perfect mentor for those who want to become a qualified agile coach.

Watching a highly skilled agile coach is as interesting as watching a magician. And no matter how attentive you are, you will still not 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 about sleight of hand or a card up your sleeve. Instead, you'll discover great practices that will increase your team's success. Lissa divides the magic of coaching into certain concepts. It not only explains the difference between training, coaching and counseling, but also shows when and how to move from one to the other. Lissa is ready to help you choose between coaching a single person or a whole team, as well as determine the chances of coaching to have a strong impact on the team.

Leading us like a magician past white rabbits and black hats, Lissa demonstrates how to start a difficult conversation by using specially designed questions to get team members to talk constructively about an issue. This is one of my favorite parts of the book. The author shares practical advice on 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 tool offered by Lissa is the ability of the coach to be consciously passive, observing the team and allowing it to solve problems on its own.

But sometimes agile coaches fail, so Lissa outlines eight options. difficult situations that we can get into. At the beginning of my career, being in the role of an expert and a "nodal component of the system", I often made mistakes.

I can honestly say that these situations have done no harm, but I still struggle with my evaluative work style.

Perhaps you, too, sometimes turn out to be a "spy", "seagull" or "butterfly" or suffer from other actions that lead to failure, which Lissa describes. Luckily, Lissa offers eight successful behaviors. Read Chapter 11, Agile Coaching Failures, Recovery, and Successful Behaviors, to find out where you might find yourself.

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

mike Cohn,author of Scrum. Agile Software Development»

Foreword by Jim Highsmith

First of all, this is a great book! I have read a lot of books about Agile, plans for future work, manuscripts, etc. They had a lot of good ideas, but there was no solid contribution to the development of this methodology. Lissa Adkins' book is not like that.

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

Some argue that Agile is nothing new, but the combination of specific practices and values in Kent's version looks original. When I first read Mike Cohn's Agile Estimating and Planning, I thought, "How can you write an entire book on this? Didn't Beck and Fowler cover the whole topic in Extreme Programming? I quickly realized, however, that Mike's book expanded on existing ideas and took them down a different path, as well as adding new ones.

Coaching Agile Teams provides 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 persuasive manner, with practical ideas and experiential examples.

One of Lissa's ideas that resonates with mine is that coaching is defined by multiple roles: teacher, mentor, person, problem solver, conflict navigator, performance coach.

Differentiating roles gives depth to the coaching work. For example, mentors teach the subject - agile practices, and coaches encourage the team and its individual members to learn their own. inner peace. Lissa's experience as a personal growth coach brings this rich dimension to her work and book. Many so-called agile coaches turn out to be just mentors teaching agile practitioners. The book will help them become effective performance coaches.

For those who consider themselves an agile coach, trainer, mentor, or facilitator, this book offers valuable insights, practices, and interesting approaches to help you improve. For example, here is one of Lissa's statements that stimulates the work of thought: “A Scrum master who goes beyond the implementation of agile practices, faced with a conscious and inspired desire of the team for high performance, this is the agile coach.” In Chapter 10, "The Agile Coach as Collaboration Conductor," Lissa explores collaboration and collaboration, valuable distinctions for improving team performance. Each of these ideas adds depth to the role of an agile coach.

The second category of readers for this book are those in leadership positions in an agile organization—a manager, product owner, scrum master, coach, project manager, or iteration manager. Although coaching is the main job of a coach, all leaders find time to do it. A lot has been written about self-organizing teams, but there is too little information on how to truly become such a team or help one emerge. Leaders provide big influence on others, so Lissa's book will help them ease the process of transforming into a self-organizing team, because they themselves are more flexible.

Finally, anyone who aspires to become an effective team member will benefit from this reading. 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 only the responsibility of the leader or coach, but of any team member. Lissa's book will help everyone become an agile coach for themselves - improving the team through self-improvement. Chapter 3, “Teach Yourself,” is relevant for both individual team members and agile coaches.

You have already met Scrum, XP, Lean and Kanban, you know what they have in common, and you understand what problems they solve. If you're working on software development, you've noticed at least a few things (practices, ideas, attitude changes) that can help your team.

Now go and do it. Push your team to Agile now!

It seems like an almost impossible task, doesn't it? There is a difference between reading about values, principles, worldviews and practices and implementing them.

Some teams, after reading books about Scrum or XP, adopt these practices and get great results right away. All of the previous nine chapters are dedicated to making you understand why this is possible: such teams already have a mindset that is compatible with the values and principles of the Agile Manifesto and methodology. They adopt Agile with ease because they don't have to change their mindset. If things in your team are exactly the same, then you have a much better chance of success.

But what if your mindset is incompatible with Scrum, XP, or other agile methodologies? Does the environment in which you work prevent you from being successful in applying agile values? What if the contribution of each individual participant is valued above teamwork, and severe punishment is due for mistakes? What if the environment stifles innovation or your team doesn't have access to customers and other people who can help you understand what software you're making? All of these are barriers to Agile adoption.

That's when it's needed agile coach- a person who helps the team implement Agile. Thanks to him, each team member learns about a new attitude, worldview and overcomes the psychological, emotional and technical barriers that hinder the implementation of Agile. Coaches work with each team member to understand not only “how” to apply the new practice, but also “why” to use it. They help the team overcome the natural resentment and even fear of change that comes with those who are asked to try something new at work.

There are many examples in this book of people getting better-than-nothing results: a team implements agile practices, but its members get only minor improvements because they don’t really change their views or attitudes about team work on creation. software. In other words, the team needs an agile mindset to get good results from the agile methodology. The Agile values and principles described in the manifesto help the team to acquire the right mindset, and for the same reason, each methodology offers its own values and principles. A team gets the best out of implementing Agile when the mindset of each team member is consistent with the values and principles of agile development and the specific methodology they are implementing.

The goal of an agile coach is enable the team to gain a more flexible mindset. A good coach helps you choose the methodology that best suits your existing mentality and introduces the team to the values, principles, and practices of the methodology so that it works for those people. Together with the coach, the team will begin to implement the practices and then use them to learn and internalize the values and principles, gradually change their attitude and acquire the right worldview, which will help them not be limited to getting a “better-than-nothing” result.

In this chapter, you will learn about agile coaching: how teams learn, how agile coaches help them change their mindset to make it easier to implement the Agile methodology, and how a coach can make your team more agile.

Description: A team working on a mobile phone camera application for an organization bought by a large and multi-disciplinary internet company

Katherine is the first developer

Understanding the Role of an Agile Coach
Interaction with teams, managers and stakeholders within the company
Launching agile tracks
Business Understanding
Working with top management and shareholders: metrics and facts
Best cultural, process practices, and agile organizational structure choices
Agile Coach is still a coach. Upgrading coaching skills (almost the whole day)
Transformation Tracking

After completing the training, you:

Understand who an Agile coach is and get an Agile Coach certificate :)
Get Value Streams Launch Format
Get the algorithm for creating and operating a transformation team
Learn how to better sell problems to business
Learn how to create a culture of responsibility and focus on results
Understand how to use agile values at the level of the entire organization to solve organizational problems and grow the company
Learn to ask powerful coaching questions and recognize people's MET programs like a professional coach.

Group discounts:

From 2 to 4 participants - 5% discount
From 5 or more participants - 10% discount

The cost of the training includes:

coffee breaks
Obtaining a certificate from the ICAgile - Agile Coaching consortium
Handout

You can pay for the training:

According to an account from a legal entity (an act on the provision of services is issued)
By bank card (an electronic cash receipt is issued)

Trainer

Activist of Agile thinking and processes. He has extensive experience in creating a trusting culture and atmosphere in teams.

He started his professional career in 2009 in a small investment company as a developer. Responsible for the implementation of 5 projects and the automation of the entire company, leading a team of up to 7 people. In 2012, he was invited to one of the largest Russian IT companies, SKB Kontur, to help create the company's internal billing. He went from Team Lead and Architect to Development Manager, helped manage a team from 5 people at the start to 50 and distribution to 3 offices (Yekaterinburg, Izhevsk, St. Petersburg).

Since 2014, he has devoted himself to corporate Agile coaching: scaling his own team; Scrum Master roles holding retrospectives, trainings and audits within the company, as well as making presentations at internal and external conferences.

In 2016, he decided to make the world a better place: he went beyond the boundaries of one corporation and joined the friendly ScrumTrek team. Since then, he has been taking about 1,000 hours a year in training/workshops and strategy sessions. Participated in the transformation of more than 20 companies, more than 50 pilots, as well as 4 transformations of entire companies. Raised over 50 agile coaches by the end of 2018.

Since 2018, he has taken on the role of CEO of ScrumTrek: he is focused on business, finance, branding, back office, management and business growth. Still working with people :)

Being a humanist to the marrow of my bones, could I ever think that I would be seriously interested in learning practical developments from the IT field?
But life is changing so rapidly that there is nothing left but to accept its challenge and try new approaches not only in optimizing production, inventing new technologies, products and services, but also in effectively managing people.
Increasingly, managers have to admit that the classic methods of working with employees are failing. Of course, there are a lot of factors that affect the effectiveness of management.

However, modern realities of life, such as multitasking, requirements for speed of execution, work in conditions of uncertainty, creation of innovative projects and products, require the manager and the project team to work clearly, well-coordinated and efficient, which is often only possible using new approaches to managing such a project. group.

And despite the fact that the agile approach originated and is actively used in the IT industry, its principles can be perfectly built into the work of any project teams that are working on solving new, not typical tasks. But first things first.

How did the agile approach appear and what is it?

Often, software developers have a hard time, especially if the product is not standard. This means that development requirements can change throughout the product development 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 term for developing 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 reconsider the approaches in which they worked. The fact is that the development was carried out before certain stages on the principle of cascading project implementation. 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 already in the process of developing the project, because everything rested on the original TK. This approach was not at all flexible and was associated with bureaucracy and a lot of documentation being developed, which often became irrelevant by the time the project was completed. That is why, instead of the classic ones, flexible approaches to project management were invented that do not require long-term coordination regarding the slightest changes in the project.
Thus, the concept was born agile as a philosophy, which combines the principles of all flexible software development methodologies. These include Scrum, Kanban, etc.

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

The key ones were:
1. People and their interaction is 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 in the process of product development is more important than the strict restrictions prescribed in the contract
4. Being responsive to change is more important than sticking to the original plan of action

As we can see, readiness for change, the value of people and a focus on results can be traced in these principles.
Moreover, the highest priority is the satisfaction of the customer / user with the help of frequent and continuous deliveries of a product that is valuable to him, so that feedback can be received for subsequent improvements to the project.

Isn't that what any team working on a project is aiming for?
Thank you, dear IT people, now we can safely learn from your experience!

Let's see what this approach looks like in practice. And what about coaching?

As we know, coaching is always work on building the desired future and always work for results. In the process of coaching, as a rule, asking questions are used, which allow a person to better understand the task facing him, see the resources and ways to achieve it. And if in the classic version coaching is individual work coaching with a client, then team coaching is used in the context of project development, which is very similar to facilitation. Also, agile coaching usually requires the coach's expertise in the area where he helps the team achieve results, so sometimes the agile coach can also act as a mentor and mentor.
The agile coaching process allows you to make the work of the team transparent, well-coordinated, and at the same time focused on specific goals.

Example 1

Imagine a work day morning that starts every day with a 15-minute Daily stand-up sessions. This is such a mini-meeting of all team members, where everyone stands. Yes, it's uncomfortable. On the other hand, 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 I did 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 the project, 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 of the voiced problematic points will occur later, not at the stand-up session itself.
The purpose of such a meeting is to keep the focus on the current stage and at the same time look into 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 running 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, in case the team works remotely.
If it is a physical task board, employees write their tasks on sticky notes and stick them in the appropriate columns, depending on the stage of the task. Thus, a general picture of the work on the project in the current period emerges, and an understanding arises at which stages of the project “bottlenecks” are observed, where, for example, the greatest accumulation of tasks occurs.

In its simplest form, project stages can be referred to as:
1. Need to do
2. In progress
3. Done

You can also break the processes down a bit, so the task board might look like this:

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

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

Based on such a visual analysis, “urgent tasks” can emerge that slow down the project as a whole. Such tasks are placed in a separate column on the visualization board.
This activity allows you to understand whether this project be implemented within the specified time frame or additional resources, including temporary ones, are needed. In this case, you can warn the customer in advance about the upcoming adjustment of the terms, and not report it at the last moment.

Example 3

Customer Requirements Prioritization Matrix

As mentioned earlier, it is very important for the project team to maintain constant contact with the customer. Customers, in turn, can quite actively offer a lot of ideas for implementation, not all of which are expedient or can be immediately implemented. In addition, the implementation of some ideas may require additional costs.
Therefore, it is necessary, together with the customer, to clarify 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 customer requirements priority matrix. Tasks are spread over all quadrants of the matrix, depending on their value to the customer and the estimated costs. After that, there is an analysis of which tasks we leave to work (these are tasks that fell into the high value quadrant at minimal cost), and which ones need to be thought about in terms of increasing value or reducing the required resources.

So, if suddenly one of you, reading this article, opposed 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 do not worry! These meetings will not exhaust your nerves, because, using this tool, you will not need to blindly rush to execute 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 a high degree responsibility for the result and were involved in the project implementation process. This will ultimately lead to well-coordinated work and the creation of a product that can satisfy the wishes of the customer, and possibly surpass them.
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 like traditional management styles, there are positive sides 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 is creative people who initially have an interest in the matter, a desire to realize themselves, a certain sense of responsibility and involvement.

We say that coaching is always work with awareness and with a 100% sense of responsibility. And if these qualities of your employees are not yet at the right level, then it will be quite difficult for you to apply Agile coaching in its purest form. Therefore, you can use mixed management styles, gradually "growing" your team to a level where 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 customers will never want to trade you for anyone else!

Ekaterina Kudryavtseva, business coach, coach

Fall 2016 Sberbank informed about startup programs transformation Sbergile(Sberbank+ Agile), which is based on the Agile software development methodology (“Agile 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 German Gref, head of Sberbank.

Agile coaches play a key role in the program, and below is a description of this vacancy in the “question-answer” mode.

Agile coaches: questions and answers

Question: Could you please let us know if it is possible to count on an extension of the deadline for accepting applications or on another iteration of recruitment into the group of coaches after some time?

The application deadline has been extended by 1 week (until June 20). At the moment, selection is underway for the team of agile coaches for the first wave of agile transformation. Decisions on how the selection of agile coaches for the second wave will take place have not yet been made.

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

Interviews with candidates have already begun. Each contestant who successfully passed the first stage of selection (based on a resume) will receive an individual invitation for an interview. Each candidate will 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 prospects for the development and career of an Agile coach?

You get a unique opportunity to develop one of the competencies most in demand on the market today. Regarding career growth: in Agile there is no hierarchy of positions (boss-subordinate), but there is a hierarchy of competencies (the one who is most useful to the team for solving the 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 user. While PSS units need to focus on process improvement and a culture of continuous improvement, help other units become more efficient.

Question: You ask to inform your manager in advance that you are participating in the selection. But do not indicate that it is required to obtain the approval of the head. Is it true that it is not necessary to obtain consent to participate in the competition; in case of successful selection, the manager will not be able to veto?

Yes everything is correct. But you must understand that the transition process must be made as painless as possible for the unit from which you are leaving.

Question: How many coaches are planned to recruit?

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

Question: What positions are considered for this position?

There are no special requirements for grade and position. The competition is open to employees of the Headquarters / PCP of the Technologies Block / Sberbank-Technologies in Moscow, who have the following qualities:

Able to rally a team to achieve results.
They create an inspiring atmosphere and help to develop.
Can listen and find mutual language with different people.
They understand the nature of conflicts and know how to resolve them.
Able to lead changes, have experience of participating in successful projects.
Have some experience in Agile (desirable).
Participated in projects with an IT component (desirable).

Question: How many teams will the Agile coach supervise?

One Agile coach will oversee 3-5 teams.

Question: What exactly will an Agile coach do? Is it team training or direct participation in project activities as a mentor-consultant? Will the coach's responsibilities be limited to the implementation of Agile, or will the new processes be set up to address a much broader range of issues?

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

Key responsibilities and powers of an Agile coach:

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

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

At the first stage, a decision was made to invite candidates from those employees who work in the Central Office and the SBT and PCR of the Moscow location. This is primarily due 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 vacant during this period. There are no such arrangements for territorial banks yet. In addition, the project budget does not include relocation costs at this stage.

Question: What format of work is planned? Is it full-time or is it possible to combine it with current activities? Is it possible to complete this program and stay in the current division?

After training, Agile coaches will devote 100% of their working time to new duties with a complete separation from the previous process. The option of combining with current activities is not expected. You can't go through training, but stay in your current unit.

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

During training and subsequent work, the permanent location of the Agile coach is the target audience (Moscow). Business trips are not included.

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

The selection will take place in three stages:

Consideration of resumes, essays, study of information about the candidate from the HR database
Interview with a recruiter
Interview with two members of the Agile Transformation Working Group, including an experienced Agile Coach

Question: When will the competition results be announced?

The results of the competition will be summed up at the end of July. But decisions on specific candidates can be made earlier

Question: Can I apply if I haven't completed my probation yet?

You can if you meet the eligibility requirements

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

Knowledge of English is welcome Intermediate level, as it will require the study of various non-translated texts, presentations, video materials.

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

Training of Agile coaches in the first wave of the project will begin on August 1 and will be held in modules for approximately two weeks. The curriculum 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 in the near future.

Question: Tell me, please, is it possible to go to 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. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the transition to the position of an agile coach involves the development of a 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 for Agile be formed? Will the coach work in this structure or will he 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 the three-month period mean during which you can return to your previous position and do the same things that you did before Agile? From what time is this period calculated?

A three-month period is given for those cases when an 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: “will devote 100% of their working time to new duties” in conjunction with “the former place of work will be assigned to Agile coaches”? For three months, coaches will be listed in their original department/department, but will perform coaching duties while receiving tasks from another manager?

Quite right. For the first three months, the candidate will be in the same division, but will perform new functions 100% based on the tasks that will be formed together with the new team. And the assessment of the work of coaches will be influenced by the assessment of the teams with which he works.

Question: Will the agile coaching field be connected to the original department after three months? Will the head of their original department have any relation to them after that?

The possibility of cross-functional interaction of Agile teams with the departments in which the candidates previously worked cannot be ruled out, but in general the work will be carried out independently.

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

The purpose of the training is to meet the needs of the bank in Agile coaches. After a three-month testing period, agile coaches will be transferred to a separate structural unit. If, for some reason, the candidate returns to his former 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 former leader.

Question: How will Agile coaches be compensated? What is generally 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 preserved. Then the system of material rewards 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, the compensation of Agile coaches will correspond to the conditions in their previous position. There is a great desire to become an Agile coach, however, by prior agreement with the Director of the Department, I expect to be promoted in the near future and be transferred to a higher grade. Do I understand correctly that if I pass the selection for an Agile coach, then I will not be able to get the promotion I expected before the end of 2016?

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

Question: What grades will agile coaches have?

The issue of grading Agile coaches will be addressed during the first phase of the pilot. The grading system in agile teams may differ from the current one in the Bank. The task of maintaining income is the task of confirming one's competencies and skills, and not of maintaining a grade. For now, at the first stage, the grades that we have now will remain, that is, until the end of 2016, compensation for 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 falls on the bonus part. How will this be accounted for in 2016?

Until the end of the year, the conditions of material remuneration will be preserved. Then there will be a system of material rewards for agile teams, which will be developed during the first wave of the project.