What can a designer learn from an Agile Coaching Retreat?

5 key takeaways from the coaching world

Christina Bruce
Nov 3 · 5 min read
Photo by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash

Agile can be a touchy word for UX. Design is a critical part of product development, and we very likely sit on an agile team. But ultimately, it was created for development work, not design. We’re always sprints ahead. We have drastically different ‘definitions of done’. There is lots of great theory on how to integrate UX into Scrum, but in practice…well, it can be tough.

Last weekend I had the chance to experience an Agile Coaching Retreat. The company I work for, Nulogy, has a beautiful space and sometimes hosts events for the agile community. On a whim, I decided to join and help out when the offer was extended. Why? Part of Agile Coaching as a practice is facilitation, and that’s something with a lot of crossover into the UX sphere.

Despite my skepticism, I found the experience so enlightening that I decided I would share my perspective and the key takeaways.

What exactly happens at an Agile Coaching Retreat?

A full-day event, the retreat consisted of a presentation from a guest speaker for the morning, and a series of exercises and workshops during the afternoon that gave participants the opportunity to put their coaching skills into action. I’m told that this is a typical format for these types of events.

Guest speaker Caroline Sauve on her experience at the GTA Agile Coach Retreat

The purpose of this article is not to get into the details of that presentation or the problem space, but I encourage you to explore if you’re curious.

Rather, this is a reflection about attending this kind of event as a product designer.

Here were my 5 biggest takeaways

1. Agile Coaches really love what they do

Have you ever attended a design event that’s buzzing with the right kind of energy? Maybe it’s a panel, or a speaker at a conference, or a workshop. When someone makes a compelling point, or asks a questions, there’s a wave of head nods across the room. People are engaged. They relate, and connect, and add to the conversation. That shared understanding is one of the things that I love most about connecting with other designers.

💡 Key Takeaway 💡
That palpable, inclusive, warmth that seeps across a room when positive energy is shared across a community was noticeable and oddly familiar. A room full of Agile Coaches has a remarkably similar vibe as a room full of designers. Who knew?


2. Triads could be a useful technique for designers as well

This was my first exposure to the concept of a ‘coaching triad’, which is apparently a very common training construct.

Quite simply, this is just a means of practicing a skillset and receiving contextual feedback on what you did in a small group setting. Three people are split up into coacher, coachee, and observer. One person takes someone through a coaching conversation, someone else listens, and everyone talks about it afterwards. It’s a time-boxed way of practicing something that’s crucial for their jobs: not injecting yourself or your opinions into the conversation.

This is not something that’s easy to do without practice and intention. It’s also one of the most important skills you need to build as a designer. Interviews, workshop facilitation, user testing: all of them require you to avoid leading questions and to check your own intrinsic bias.

Most designers are just sort of thrown into workshop facilitation and somehow figure it out along the way.

💡 Key Takeaway 💡
What if we were able to use this technique as a means of practicing our own craft? As designers we spend inordinate amounts of time critiquing design work, but very little critiquing our human interactions.


2. Coaching is a skill that’s applicable for everyone

As I went through this coaching triad exercise in practice, it became remarkably clear that this concept could be used across many scenarios at work.

Not only for your direct reports or mentees, but for anybody you work with on a team, or have to collaborate with.

Learning how to actively listen and guide someone towards their own answers is valuable for anyone.


4. Designers and PMs give their teams headaches

Does your product owner drive you nuts? Or vice versa?

Are you and your product owner like peanut butter and jelly, or more like oil and water?

During the course of the day, at least 5 different people brought up issues on their respective teams between product owners and designers. And of course, each scenario described was a highly familiar one.

Some of the classic examples which emerged were:

  • PM and designer have very different opinions about workflow and butt heads all the time
  • Designer doesn’t deliver on time; PM is always irate and waiting for work, blames 100% of development delays on evil designer
  • PM dictates solutions and does not want to hear or consider alternatives
  • UX manager says to do one thing while PM direction is the opposite; designer is stuck in the crossfire

My friends, if you occasionally want to strangle your product owner, please keep this in mind: you are not alone. It’s very normal.

Designers and PMs are thrust into a complicated work relationship. Like it or not, your PM is your work spouse; you’re joined at the hip. There’s no other way it works. (And for those of you that are not married, 50% of the time you want to kill your partner, and the other 50% you can’t live without them.)

💡 Key Takeaway 💡
When you are living the conflict, it’s easy to forget about the perspective of others on your team. Hearing this so many times made me realize how little emphasis we put on this perspective. Our drama has a snowball effect on everybody else.


5. Ultimately, it’s all about people

Agile is a word that for me is always associated with software development. Yet throughout the entire day, I heard almost nothing about this.

The entire event was focused on people. How emotion triggers responses; how feelings drive conversations, and how organizations organize themselves around a collective set of beliefs and behaviours.

It’s not about development — it’s about people.

And isn’t what UX is really all about?

Christina Bruce

Written by

UX/Product Designer. I write about UX, content strategy, and other design-related things that bounce around my brain.

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