Shaping the Strategy: Consultative Coaching

Hackman and Wageman (2005) posit that there are three fundamental functions that determine the level of team effectiveness. The second of these is the appropriateness to the task of the performance strategies the group uses in it's work. Coaching that addresses performance strategy can be seen as consultative in character.

Self-organisation is at the heart of how Agile teams work. Teams are empowered to make, own and execute plans for getting it's work done.

In doing so, and in line with the theory of team coaching, the effectiveness of a teams performance strategy will be influenced by two key factors. Firstly, to minimise mindless adoption or execution of task performance routines in uncertain or changing task environments and secondly to foster the invention of ways of proceeding with the work that are especially well aligned with task requirements.

Hence, in order to shape an effective performance strategy understanding the nature of the task at hand is of critical importance. The use of sense making frameworks such as Cynefin may be of help with this, but specific frameworks aside, the key point is that different situations require different responses. Although self-organisation will be at the heart of that response in an Agile setting, consultative coaching functions can help a team recognise the nature of the situation with which they're faced and to tailor their approach and practices accordingly.

Consultative coaching is best placed at the mid-point of performance cycles when teams have existing data to reflect on and are arguably more open to altering their performance strategies. The multiple feedback loops in an Agile context again give rise to multiple opportunities for the reflective improvements that consultative coaching can help deliver.