From my experience coaching Scrum Teams, I’ve distilled my coaching approach to a simple 6 step model. I’ve termed this Scrum Master’s Coaching Model as PLEASE model. The PLEASE model is simple and helps me prepare everytime I’m starting to coach a new Scrum Team. It also helps me stay oriented to serve the team. The PLEASE model is:
Prepare for the coaching conversation
Learn about the customer’s need
Establish the environment of safety and openness
Accept expected behavior – A major portion of Agile Coaching involves helping people bring a change in their behavior. Before starting the behavior change, understand that most people’s behavior is a reflection of what is expected of them in the organizational environment. Simply stating a particular behavior is not Agile will not help your coachees. Help them see their behavior from a different angle and let them decide what they would like to do the same.
Specify behavior change – Accepting the current and expected behavior does not mean, your coachees should continue with the same behavior. The Scrum Master helps coachees understand the need for the behavior change as aligned with their own transformation goals.
Embed new behavior – It helps the team, the PO, and other people within the organization to embed new behavior in their daily way of working. The Scrum Master may facilitate the same. Hold the people accountable to continue making efforts. Challenge them if they slow down or feel exhausted as the new behaviors may require additional cognitive processing and discipline. The team may need a couple of reminders and bit of experiences that embed this new behavior. Like any change, make this change small and incrementally build up.
I like the PLEASE coaching model for its simplicity and effectiveness. What’s important is that it works for me.
I’ve refined it over the years to be simple yet powerful.
