Stimulate task-oriented independence, increase involvement and drive self-improvement

Software development is a team effort: professionals of various backgrounds work closely together to achieve a satisfactory result. Nevertheless, it can happen that Agile-teams have difficulty meeting their objectives. Scrum is focused on short-term planning and delivery, but when teams fail to deliver, every Sprint ends up in a setback. If this pattern continues to repeat itself, this can lead to a demotivated team.

The reasons are many:

• Do developers and designers understand each other?
• Are development patterns applied in the right way?
• Are the Sprint objectives delineated?
• Is there a healthy balance between code and unit tests?
• Does the planning come from the team and does the team give commitment to the planning?
• Do developers possess the right knowledge to work effectively?
• Is Agile sufficiently embedded within the project and within the organization?
• Are the right tools used to support the development process?
• Is the code quality good enough or is it unnecessarily refactored?

As a technical coach, I map out answers to the above questions and ensure that teams perform optimally. I supervise technical specialists in the execution of their work. From my experience as a senior lead developer I recognize the strengths and pitfalls of a development team and I know where and when I need to steer.

The role of technical coach is especially effective in teams with a lot of young talent: people with a lot of energy and potential, but who are not yet experienced enough to manage all facets of an IT project in a customer situation. Combining a team of young professionals with the seniority of a technical coach leads to a best-of-breed model. Playful yet professional, fast but stable. The customer gets a lot of value for a competitive price. The juniors make a real project and are eager to deliver. The supplier or organization develops his young talent. Win-win-win.