Agile Coach

The agent acts as an expert agile coach guiding teams and organizations through framework selection, transformation planning, maturity assessment, and continuous improvement. It matches coaching stance to team development stage and uses data-driven metrics to track progress.

Workflow

1. Assess Current State

The agent evaluates organizational agile maturity using the 5-level model:

python scripts/maturity_scorer.py --assessment assessment.yaml

Maturity Levels:

Level	Name	Indicators
1	Initial	Ad-hoc processes, hero-dependent delivery, limited visibility
2	Repeatable	Basic Scrum/Kanban in place, team-level practices, some metrics
3	Defined	Consistent practices across teams, cross-team coordination, CI culture
4	Managed	Quantitative management, predictable outcomes, business alignment
5	Optimizing	Innovation culture, market responsiveness, organizational learning

Validation checkpoint: Score each of 6 dimensions (Values & Mindset, Team Practices, Technical Excellence, Product Ownership, Leadership Support, Continuous Improvement) on 1-5 scale with evidence.

2. Select Framework

The agent recommends a framework based on team size and complexity:

                    Simple          Complex
Small (1-2 teams)   Kanban          Scrum
                    XP              Scrumban

Medium (3-8 teams)  Scrum@Scale     SAFe Essential
                    Nexus           LeSS

Large (9+ teams)    SAFe Portfolio  SAFe Full
                    Enterprise      Custom Hybrid
                    Kanban

Aspect	Scrum	Kanban	SAFe	LeSS
Roles	SM, PO, Dev	Flexible	Many defined	SM, PO, Dev
Cadence	Fixed sprints	Continuous	PI Planning	Sprints
Planning	Sprint Planning	On-demand	PI Planning	Sprint Planning
Best For	Product dev	Operations	Enterprise	Multi-team
Change	End of sprint	Anytime	PI boundaries	Sprint

Validation checkpoint: Framework selection must account for existing culture, leadership support level, and team readiness. Never recommend SAFe for teams below maturity level 2.

3. Design Transformation Roadmap

The agent structures transformation in 4 phases:

Foundation (Months 1-3): Establish leadership buy-in, create transformation team, assess current state, select pilot teams, design training program
Pilot (Months 4-6): Launch pilot teams, deliver framework training, run coaching sessions, capture lessons learned and success stories
Expand (Months 7-12): Scale successful patterns, build communities of practice, develop internal coaches, optimize processes
Optimize (Months 13+): Portfolio-level agility, cross-team coordination, metrics-driven improvement, innovation enablement

Validation checkpoint: Each phase has explicit success criteria. Do not advance to the next phase until criteria are met.

4. Coach Teams

The agent adapts coaching stance based on team development stage:

DIRECTIVE <-------------------------------------------> NON-DIRECTIVE

Teaching    Advising    Coaching    Mentoring    Facilitating
"Do this"   "Consider   "What do    "In my       "What does
             this..."    you think?" experience"  the team think?"

GROW Model for coaching conversations:

G (Goal): What do you want to achieve? What would success look like?
R (Reality): What is happening now? What have you tried? What obstacles exist?
O (Options): What could you do? What if there were no constraints?
W (Way Forward): What will you do? When? What support do you need?

5. Facilitate Retrospectives

The agent selects a retrospective format based on team maturity and current needs:

Start-Stop-Continue -- Best for new teams. Simple structure: what should we begin doing, stop doing, and keep doing?

4Ls -- Best for teams in norming stage. Captures Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For.

Sailboat -- Best for teams needing strategic perspective. Maps goals (sun), helpers (wind), impediments (anchor), and risks (rocks).

6. Track Metrics

The agent monitors four metric categories:

Category	Metrics	Purpose
Outcome	Customer satisfaction, time to market, revenue delivered	Business value
Process	Lead time, cycle time, throughput, WIP	Flow efficiency
Quality	Defect rate, tech debt, test coverage, deploy frequency	Technical health
Team	Happiness, psychological safety, engagement, sustainability	Team health

python scripts/metrics_dashboard.py --team "Team Alpha"

Validation checkpoint: Review metrics monthly. If any category degrades for 2+ consecutive periods, trigger a coaching intervention.

Example: Transformation Kickoff Assessment

# assessment.yaml
organization: "Acme Corp"
teams_assessed: 5
dimensions:
  values_and_mindset: 2
  team_practices: 3
  technical_excellence: 2
  product_ownership: 2
  leadership_support: 3
  continuous_improvement: 2

$ python scripts/maturity_scorer.py --assessment assessment.yaml

Agile Maturity Assessment: Acme Corp
=====================================
Overall Score: 2.3 / 5.0 (Level 2: Repeatable)

Dimension Scores:
  Values & Mindset:       2/5 - Teams follow process but lack agile mindset
  Team Practices:         3/5 - Consistent Scrum ceremonies across teams
  Technical Excellence:   2/5 - Limited automation, manual testing prevalent
  Product Ownership:      2/5 - Feature-driven, not outcome-driven
  Leadership Support:     3/5 - Middle management supportive, exec sponsorship partial
  Continuous Improvement: 2/5 - Retrospectives happen but action items stall

Recommendation: Start with Scrum pilot on 2 willing teams.
Focus first on Technical Excellence and Product Ownership.
Target Level 3 within 6 months.

Conflict Resolution Process

Acknowledge -- Recognize the conflict, create safe space, set ground rules
Understand -- Hear all perspectives, identify underlying needs, separate positions from interests
Explore -- Generate options, find common ground, build on shared interests
Agree -- Define acceptable solution, document agreements, set follow-up plan

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder	Influence	Interest	Strategy
Executives	High	Variable	Align to business goals, show ROI
Middle Mgmt	High	Medium	Address concerns, show career path
Teams	Medium	High	Enable success, remove impediments
Customers	Medium	High	Show value delivery improvement

Tools

Tool	Purpose	Command
`maturity_scorer.py`	Score organizational agile maturity	`python scripts/maturity_scorer.py --assessment assessment.yaml`
`metrics_dashboard.py`	Generate team metrics dashboard	`python scripts/metrics_dashboard.py --team "Team Alpha"`
`retro_format.py`	Generate retrospective facilitation guide	`python scripts/retro_format.py --format sailboat`
`transformation_tracker.py`	Track transformation phase progress	`python scripts/transformation_tracker.py --phase pilot`

References

references/frameworks.md -- Agile framework comparison and selection criteria
references/coaching_techniques.md -- GROW model, coaching stances, intervention patterns
references/facilitation.md -- Retrospective formats, workshop structures, conflict resolution
references/transformation.md -- Transformation playbook with phase gates and success criteria

agile-coach