DNA in Action: Examples at the Team and Enterprise Level

The Agile Coach DNA model is not just theoretical; it translates into concrete actions and tools that the coach can use at different levels of the organization.

How the five elements (Catalyze Improvement, Promote Awareness, Increase Ownership, Develop Competencies, Facilitate Barrier Removal) are applied varies depending on whether the focus is on a specific team or the organization as a whole.

The following are practical examples of how these elements manifest themselves in the day-to-day practice of agile coaching.

Practical Applications for Teams

At the team level, the Agile Coach uses a variety of techniques and tools to apply the elements of the DNA:

Removing Barriers: Daily Meetings (Stand-ups) and Kanban Boards are facilitated to visualize work, identify impediments quickly, and manage flow.

The five dysfunctions of a team can also be addressed to improve collaboration.

Develop Competencies: Tools such as Feedback Canvas are used to encourage constructive feedback, concepts such as Learning 3.0 are introduced and collaborative learning is promoted.

Small experiments are encouraged to learn and adapt ways of working.

Sessions such as "Brown Bag Sessions" can be used for informal knowledge sharing.

Promote Awareness: One-on-one conversations are facilitated to understand individual perspectives, information radiators (such as Burndown charts) are used to visualize progress and problems, and open-ended questions are used to stimulate reflection.

Retrospectives are key to making the team aware of their own processes and areas for improvement.

Increase Ownership: Team building is encouraged, working agreements are established and tools such as delegation boards are used to clarify responsibilities and empower the team to make decisions about their work.

Practical Applications at the Organizational Level

When the approach is extended to the enterprise, the tools and strategies are adapted to a larger scale:

Catalyze Improvement: Large-scale continuous improvement approaches such as Kaizen are implemented, frameworks such as Lean Change Management are used and Theories of Constraints (TOC) are addressed to optimize the flow of value throughout the organization.

Developing Competencies: Management 3.0 principles are applied, Hackathons are organized to foster cross-functional innovation, Gamestorming is used for creative problem solving and systemic organizational learning is promoted. Formal training is also a key tool.

Eliminate Barriers: Scaling structures such as Program Management or Scrum of Scrums are implemented to coordinate multiple teams and manage dependencies.

Flow Management is applied at the value chain level.

Promote Awareness: One-on-one conversations are held with leaders, actionable metrics are defined at the organizational level, systems thinking is applied, PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycles are used, and open-ended questions continue to be used in broader contexts.

Increase Ownership: Social agreements are established at the organizational level, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are implemented to align objectives and encourage autonomy, and the no-blame culture is avoided.

In addition, Gamification is used to motivate, inter-team collaborative planning is facilitated and Agile/Lean Portfolio Management practices are applied to empower strategic decision making.

Summary

The Agile Coach DNA model is not only theoretical, but translates into concrete actions and tools. Its application varies according to the level (team or company).

At the team level, Daily Meetings are used to remove barriers and Feedback Canvas to develop competencies. Ownership is fostered through team agreements.

At the organizational level, improvement is catalyzed with Lean Change Management. Competencies are developed with Management 3.0 and systems thinking is used to promote awareness.