Scrum Alliance Coach Certifications Changes and New Coach Tool

Some exciting changes are happening at the Scrum Alliance.

• The Scrum Alliance has created a new certification called Certified Team Coach (CTC).
• The Certified Scrum Coach is now called the Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC), to better reflect the breadth and scope of the certification.

I am very proud to be part of the review team for both of these. Although, my time has been focused on helping the CTC as it is in the pilot phase. It is amazing to be part of a volunteer team of coaches from around the world who care passionately about improving the world of Agile coaching.Reviewing applicants and my discussion with my team, it has also helped me reflect on where I need to grow as a coach, and has opened my eyes to new perspectives on coaching teams and the enterprise.

The CTC is for those who want to excel as a Team Level Coach, the next step in a ScrumMaster's journey. It is a certification worth pursuing in itself, but, is also a great milestone towards pursuing the CEC. I think the most important things about these certifications is not the certification, but, the clarity and guidance in the transformation as an Agile Coach.

Because of the changes in the certifications at the Scrum Alliance, I am updating the Scrum Competency Chart. This is not an official Scrum Alliance document in anyway, but, something I created to help you in assessing your own journey.




You can download the document here.
Please contact me if you have any questions. I would love to see examples of how you use it, too!

Thanks,
John Miller  
@agileschools
rightshifter.com
agileclassrooms.com
 ohn @ righshifter . com

Scrum Coach Competency Wheel

There are 5 core competencies to become a Scrum Alliance Certified Team Coach (CTC)® . or Scrum Alliance Certified Entperise Coach (CEC)® .
They are  described in the CEC® & CEC® Applications as:

Coaching Competency 1: Assess - Discovery & Direction

Scrum Coaches act as a mirror to the organization, surfacing the underlying systems which influence it for awareness, reflection and direction of increased agility and improved performance. They can see below the surface, expose challenging symptoms and isolate root causes.

Coaching Competency 2: Balance - Coaching & Consulting

Scrum Coaches balance their own agile expertise with their client’s goals and intent. They understand and respect the nature of a client-consulting relationship, whether as an employee or consultant. They ask powerful questions, lead by example, share their expertise, and guide client self-discovery.

Coaching Competency 3: Catalyze - Leadership & Organizations

Scrum Coaches are a change agent for their client organizations. They engage with the whole organizational system and the leaders who guide them. They enhance the client’s existing skills and capabilities. They connect interdependencies and impact organizational reflection, learning and growth.

Coaching Competency 4: Facilitate - Focus & Alignment

Scrum Coaches facilitate client agile adoption, implementation, and alignment. They engage stakeholders in focused pivotal conversations and alignment-building activities. They maintain non-biased views and leverage collaboration and resolution strategies in identifying creative outcomes.

Coaching Competency 5: Educate - Awareness & Understanding

Scrum Coaches guide the client’s agile learning through application and discovery. They focus on stabilizing principles and varying practices to situationally align the client’s maturity with effective application of agility. They are a mentor and leader in developing client understanding and awareness of agility.

For those looking to develop their skills as an Agile/Scrum Coach, assessing yourself in these areas is very important. The Scrum Coach Competency Wheel is a tool to help Mentor Agile Coaches and Certified Scrum Coach aspirants to help assess where they are and where they want to go next in developing their proficiency in these areas.

UPDATE 12/31/2015 to New Chart to reflect CTC and CEC certifications.

Download Your Scrum Coach Competency Chart

Mentor Agile Coaching Welcome Letter Template

If you are mentoring other Agile coaches, here is a welcome letter template you might use.
This is specifically developed in mentoring coaches that are pursuing the Certified Team/Enterprise Coach Coach® from the Scrum Alliance. Of course, you should change this to reflect your style and approach as a Mentor Agile Coach.

You can access this template as a Google Doc here:

CEC Mentor Coaching Welcome Letter

Dear [Candidate Name],

Welcome to your journey to becoming a Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Team/Enterprise Coach® (CTC/CEC)! Congratulations in your choice to focus time and energy on your own growth. I am passionate about supporting you to become an amazing coach so you can better help to transform the world of work.

I will support you on your authentic path as a coach, your: values, goals, work, balance, fulfillment, and purpose. We will design a plan that is specific to your needs and aspirations and provide accountability structures to keep yourself moving forward and to deepen your learning.

This is not about how to craft a better application, although articulating clearly who you are to others is an important skill we might work on together. I do not and will not focus on the CTC/CEC application, as, that will emerge naturally from your pursuing your own authentic coaching transformation. What Vikotr Frankl says about happiness is what I hold for the CTC/CEC, “'Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue”.  We will use the CTC/CEC, application as a framework to discover where you are on your path and where you want to grow.

My particular style is a deep stance in coaching, less as mentoring. Although I may mentor and offer some advice, I believe in coaching as the best method for you to build off your unique strengths. This is not for everyone, and, you might want to consider finding someone  else who might provide more mentorship if this approach is not for you.

Our initial appointment, the discovery session, is meant to jumpstart our coaching relationship. During our first session we will be designing our alliance (how we will work together), how you want me to coach— this is when you will train me on who you are, what you wish for in your as an individual what I am to hold for you as your vision. We will discover:

• Purpose as a Coach
• Development Goals
• Logistics

The discovery session will be for 1 hour by telephone. Please call me at 555.555.5555.

The date for our Discovery Session is [date] at [time, PST].

[Candidate], I am looking forward to working with you. If you have any questions or concerns call email or call at 555.555.5555

Yours in Transformation,

John Miller, CEC, CPCC, ACC, PMP

john@rightshifter.com

555.555.555

Welcome to MAC

Welcome to Mentor Agile Coaching (MAC)!
This blog is to help Coaches who are mentoring other Agile Coaches.
Currently, I am helping Agile Coaches who are pursuing the Certified Scrum Coach® from the Scrum Alliance. As I do so, I will be posting resources, tools, and experiences as I do.
If you have any resources you would like to share, please send them to me or perhaps consider posting an article about it on this blog.
MAC is here to help transform those who are transforming the work and lives of others.
I hope this helps to put a small dent in that mission.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope we can build a strong Mentor Agile Coaching community and do amazing things together.

John Miller, CSC, CPCC, ACC, PMP, SD2