When talking about agility, the terms agile coach and scrum master are usually not far away. These two are often compared or at least mentioned together.

The Scrum Master is a clearly defined role in Scrum - probably the best-known agile method. Among other things, they are responsible for ensuring that the Scrum rules are adhered to by everyone involved, thereby leading their team to peak performance. A Scrum Master manages their team in compliance with agile values, principles and practices.

Agile coaches also use the agile scrum method, but unlike scrum masters, they are often assigned to several teams and focus on the entire company in their work. They therefore adopt a kind of external perspective.

Yes, of course there are also Agile Coach training courses online these days. On our list of providers, you can even select the "Sort by type of course" function and narrow it down to "Online". You will then be shown the providers who offer Agile Coaching online courses.

Agile coach training also teaches you that there are classic and hybrid alongside agile. This is because some organizations cling too tenaciously to the classic approach and others view agility too idealistically. Clarity is not always black and white and the reality is often hybrid or even gray. As an agile coach, you have to build bridges between the cultures.

In principle, anyone can become an agile coach as long as they have a few years of professional experience. This could have been gained, for example, as a change manager, project manager, consultant, project manager, entrepreneur, HR manager, executive or in organizational development. It is of central importance to have gained a versatile insight into many different corporate cultures and structures. This is of fundamental value for the agile coach and their function as a consultant, supporter and companion.

Explicit industry and professional knowledge is not required.

The Agile Coach tasks are as follows:

• Spreading agile methodological knowledge
• Select and explain agile tools
• Planning and holding retrospectives
• Remove obstacles
• Enable and improve communication

No general statement can be made regarding the cost of an Agile Coach seminar. The price depends on the learning content, the scope of the seminar and other included services (such as accommodation, meals, etc.). The respective provider will be happy to provide information.

When talking about agile values, reference is usually made to the Agile Manifesto from 2001.

The agile manifesto (originally Manifesto for Agile Software Development, or Agile Manifesto) describes agile values and rules of conduct for agile teams and is considered a milestone in the modern agile movement. It was written by 17 renowned software developers, such as Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber. Although the agile manifesto refers to teams for software development, it can also serve as a point of reference for contexts outside of IT.

The agile manifesto is based on four guiding principles, which are as follows:

1. Individuals and interactions are more important than processes and tools
2. Functioning software is more important than comprehensive documentation
3. Cooperation with the customer is more important than contract negotiation
4. Reacting to change is more important than following a plan.

Twelve agile principles follow from this. A selection of these is as follows:

• Our top priority is to deliver valuable software to our customers through early and continuous delivery to ensure their satisfaction
• Changes at a late stage of development are also welcome.
• Developers and technical experts must work closely together throughout the entire process
• etc.

The Agile Manifesto should not be seen as a checklist that can be used to implement changes in the blink of an eye. Rather, it should be seen as a kind of code of conduct that can be used to reflect on one's own actions and realign them in line with agile values.

The various agile methods such as Scrum, Kanban or Design Thinking, to name the best known, provide a framework for the concrete implementation of agile values.

There are the following types of Agile Coach training:

• Agile Coach Certificate
• Higher vocational training as a postgraduate course HF
• University as CAS module like CAS Agile Coach

In an Agile Coach training course you learn:

• Developing a vision for a company
• Define vision goals
• Involving stakeholders in development
• Success factors for transformation in the organization
• Getting to know the distribution of roles in a team
• Gaining the trust of teams as an agile coach

No specific industry or professional knowledge is required to participate in an Agile Coach course. However, some providers require several years of professional experience (at least 3 years) in the areas of change or project management, project management, consulting, coaching, leadership, HR or organizational development. In the case of qualifications at higher vocational education or Universities level, a specialist CHE, Bachelor's or Master's degree is sometimes required or admission is "sur dossier".

Agile Coach Certification (Agile Coach Certified) means that the certificate meets the requirements and quality standards of international certification organizations. These are, for example

• Scrum Alliance
• Scrum Association
• Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• ICAgile

There are the following certifications with specialization in Agile Coaching, which are federally regulated and conclude with the school's own certificate:

• Agile Coach
• Agile Practitioner
• Agile Expert
• Agile Master

These are then certified coaching training in the sense of Agile Coach.

Further training as an Agile Coach can be completed in order to:

• Understanding and being able to reflect on New Work and the management system required for it
• Get to know a diverse toolbox with agile methods
• Experience the use of agility in a playful way
• Being able to design, accompany and support agile transformations
• Knowing the success factors and obstacles of agile transformation
• Take responsibility in development projects and participate as an agile coach or in agile projects
• Develop personal, social and methodological skills

An agile coach is a person who supports organizations in becoming adaptable and self-learning. So not only does he change processes himself, but the organization should also be able to change processes independently if necessary. In addition to the processes, however, the values, beliefs, skills and knowledge of the individual also change.

Alongside Kanban and Design Thinking, Scrum is probably one of the best-known agile methods (also known as frameworks) for agile product development and project management. Although Scrum, like most agile methods, originates from software development, it is also becoming increasingly well-known and popular in non-software projects.

Scrum was founded in 1995 by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, who were also instrumental in writing the agile manifesto.

Scrum provides a specific framework for team collaboration based on agile values and principles. It is continuously being developed and set out in the current Scrum Guide.

The work processes clearly defined in Scrum include roles and activities. The roles include the Product Owner, Developer and Scrum Master.

Scrum meetings, or rather Scrum activities, are characterized above all by their iterative, i.e. repetitive character. This repetitive process allows rapid adaptation in product development, which offers a major advantage in terms of competitiveness. Scrum activities include: Sprint, Planning, Daily, Review, Retro and Refinement.

Agile coaching involves supporting individual coaches so that they can find their way to agility. Coaches are here:

• The company as such
• Departments
• Teams
• Managers
• Individual team members
• Steakholder

The change process includes, for example, basic working methods, the mindset, tools, roles and communication, etc.