The opportunities the last year has brought me at Aire

Agile Facilitator, Becci, shares how 2020 prompted an unexpected career change for her at Aire.

When I first applied to be Aire’s Office Manager in 2017 I was a little concerned.

I’d worked for a building society, I’d managed call centres, customer service functions and even run a pub for a couple of years — but I’d never managed an office.

At Aire we are very proud of our culture and look to strengthen and evolve it with each and every hire. I will always be grateful to those that took a chance on me and gave me that opportunity.

I loved the job from day one: it was varied, it played to my strengths and it was fun. So much that made up our everyday life at Aire fell under my remit; it was my job to look after the team so that they could do their best work and I felt proud to do it.

‘Aire saw something in me that made them believe I could do the job and could add to the culture’.

March 2020

Like it did for many, our change to office life started with what we thought would be just a short stint at home. But as time went on, I increasingly realised I was an Office Manager with no office. The decision then came that we’d be going remote-first more permanently — so what now?

I’d had conversations with our CEO, Aneesh, about what this would mean for me. There was a clear message that Aire didn’t want to lose me, especially in the middle of a pandemic. I am a ‘people person’ and the point was made that there are other parts of the business that could benefit from my touch.

Entering the uncomfortable forest

I spoke with Pete, Aire’s VP Product and Meena, our Agile Coach. With an emerging need identified in Agile Delivery to support Aire’s scaling squads, the idea of becoming an Agile Facilitator at Aire, with a longer-term goal of progressing to a Scrum Master position, was explained.

My first question was do we need an Agile Facilitator? I wanted to stay at Aire, but only if there was a genuine need. But with substantial hiring plans for 2021, our current Agile Coach would be unable to fulfil the Scrum Master role across all our squads.

My first worry was appeased.

Secondly, I didn’t know much about the role. I had a list of suggested reading around the subject. The more I explored, the more I considered how the role would fit me and vice versa — I began to see how my people skills could naturally be put to good use.

My second worry appeased.

Now, my third worry was more personal, can I actually do it?

‘Here’s where the entire Aire team came in. Everyone has supported me, completely, from day one’.

I dubbed myself a fake Scrum Master at the start, honing my skills and learning on the job. I shadowing sprint events and cracked on with a reading list and podcasts. I also worked with several squads, asking many, many questions and requesting feedback to see where I could improve.

I’ve been supported by my People Lead, Meena, who has been fantastic at helping to build my confidence and by Pete, who has always championed me in my journey at Aire.

Owning the monkey

Since taking on the role I have been able to see where my skills lend themselves to an Agile role.

Having completed the Clifton Strengths assessment, I know my top three are ‘Empathy’, ‘Developer’ and ‘Adaptability’.

• Empathy comes in every day when I understand and feel how others in the squad are experiencing situations.
• Adaptability allows me to go with the flow, to be present, to be able to respond to the demands of the moment — something I see in our squads but also in myself as I learn.
• Developer is the ability to see potential in others and to help them experience success. I currently support our squads by facilitating the removal of impediments and looking for teachable moments to enhance their experience of working in an Agile environment.

At Aire we live by our four values: ship v0.1, own the monkey, seek win-win outcomes and enter the uncomfortable forest — and I can honestly say I’ve leaned into all these values multiple times during the past year.

I’m grateful that Aire saw a new role that I could fulfil. They have supported my career change with this opportunity, both practically in providing me with training, but also emotionally, by being by my side and believing that I really can do this.

‘The squads I work with are forgiving when I make a mistake and go out of their way to help me learn’.

I completed the ICP-AFT (Agile Team Facilitation) certificate in February. I finish my Professional Scrum Master I training this month and look forward to concluding my PSM II later on in the year.

Curious about life the Aire way? We’re hiring.