Mastery Domains: Technical, Business, Transformation

In addition to interpersonal and process competencies (coaching, mentoring, facilitating, teaching), the Agile Coach competency model highlights three knowledge domains in which a level of mastery or deep mastery is expected.

While mastery in at least one is suggested, a coach's effectiveness is enhanced by developing all three.

These domains - Technical, Business and Transformational - align closely with the idea of a holistic perspective and resemble PMI's Talent Triangle (Ways of Working/Power Skills, Business Acumen, Strategic Thinking), recognizing that an agile coach needs to understand the full context in which he or she operates.

Technical Expertise: Understanding the "What" and "How" of the Work

Technical Mastery refers to the ability and hands-on experience to be directly involved in the technical work of the team, whether designing, coding, testing, or applying other domain-specific practices (not just software).

It does not necessarily mean being the top expert, but having the credibility to "get your hands dirty" and promote technical excellence through example and hands-on teaching.

There is some debate about whether it is absolutely necessary to be a technical expert to lead Agile projects or coach; the PMI perspective, for example, considers it desirable but not strictly mandatory if you have a good team.

However, for an Agile Coach, a certain level of technical understanding of the team's domain is crucial to effectively guide, avoid "getting your eyes poked," and facilitate meaningful technical conversations.

Business Mastery: Aligning Agility with Strategy

Business Mastery involves the ability and experience to apply business strategy and management frameworks.

It is about understanding how to employ agility not only to improve internal processes, but as a business advantage.

This includes knowledge in areas such as Lean Startup, innovation techniques, business process management approaches and the ability to see the business as a whole.

A coach with business expertise can help align agile initiatives with the company's vision and strategy, ensure that prioritized work generates maximum business value, and facilitate strategic conversations with leaders.

It is critical to ensure that agility is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve business goals.

Master of Transformation: Guiding Organizational Change

The Transformation Mastery focuses on the ability to facilitate, catalyze and lead organizational change at different scales.

It goes beyond implementing an agile framework in a team; it involves understanding and applying change management principles (such as Kotter's models), understanding organizational culture, applying organizational development (OD) concepts, using systems thinking and other behavioral sciences.

A coach with this mastery acts as a true change agent, able to design and implement interventions that address not only processes, but also structures, culture and mindsets to achieve deep and sustainable agile transformation.

It is a vital competency for coaches working at the program, portfolio or enterprise level.

Summary

In addition to interpersonal competencies, the coach needs mastery domains. These are: Technical, Business and Transformational.

Technical Mastery involves hands-on experience to engage in the work of the team. It allows promoting technical excellence with credibility and guiding technical conversations.

Business Mastery aligns agility with business strategy. Transformation Mastery focuses on facilitating and catalyzing large-scale organizational change.