How many teams can an agile coach have at once?

In a number of companies, people have recently started to fill themselves in the role of agile coaches on a large scale. For example, in connection with the Spotify “framework”, we often encounter questions about how the role of an agile coach differs from a scrum master. Is the difference between these roles really just in the title? Or do they differ in the content of the work? Or are teams expected to do without a scrum master and coaches to manage multiple teams at once? I’d like to look at the number of teams today. And not to disappoint you, do not expect exact numbers here, because the correct settings vary depending on a number of parameters. Instead, you can find some tips to help you get to the right settings.

It is quite common that when you start with agile in a company, many people do not really know what to expect from the role of an agile coach or scrum master. Some companies then logically decide not to invest as much in these roles as the position deserves and prefer to wait until time will tell. If the coaches manage to show their value after some time, the company may decide to recruit from the outside or educate other coaches of their own.

However, the lack of coaches can complicate the ongoing agile transformation. Coaches are the agents of change in agile transformations. There may not be enough coaches in such a situation to cover all the teams that need it in the company. Therefore, first set the expectations from the coaches, what they should deliver to you in the company and only on the basis of this solve the expectations of how many teams the coaches can manage in parallel.

Lack of trust or loss of context

What can a badly set number of teams per coach actually lead to? If you overdo it and set expectations for coaches across too many teams at once, problems will appear sooner or later. These issues are likely to include:

Lack of trust of the coach in the team: if the coach does not manage to devote enough time to the team to show his value, he will not gain the trust of the team. Overloading will fragment the coaches’ focus. It will limit their contribution to “a mere facilitator of ceremonies”. You can read more about this topic in the article 10 tips to earn trust with your team as a scrum master
Loss of context: if you already have a senior coach, it can help multiple teams at once at first, as the teams’ initial mistakes are repeated. It works in “look and see” mode. But, unfortunately, this is not a permanent solution to the situation. If there are many teams and they develop gradually, coaches will start to lose context. As a result, they will struggle to respond appropriately to each team’s needs. And again, maintaining context requires being with the team for a while. If the problem is not solved, the value of the coach may be limited to passing on theoretical advice to the team without context, or constantly asking how the team works (in the best case). You can read about other problems caused by breaking focus in the article Illusions about team performance and fragmented focus.

If you are not a flexible startup, do not expect an agile coach to support many teams at once. The team will not simply move forward on its own without a Scrum Master and with only occasional visits from a coach-consultant. Start by setting clear expectations with the coach. This will help you determine how much presence the team actually needs.

Expectations from the role of a coach

If you want to determine how many coaches you actually need, start by thinking about your expectations of the coach. Are these benefits that require being more with the team, or is an occasional visit enough? Some expectations are listed in the following table.

What else affects the determination of the number of teams per coach

Expectations from a coaching role aren’t the only factor you should take into account. Before you decide on setting the number of teams per coach, try to think about the following points:

How long your people have worked in the traditional way of development: the more they are used to the original style of work, the more effort and time it will take to change it.
Company size and team flexibility: Larger companies often have highly specialized roles. They also employ more process-oriented people. The transition to agility represents a major change for them. As a result, teams place greater demands on the coach.
Willingness to take responsibility: Not all employees, including external staff, welcome greater responsibility for what the team delivers to customers. Some people resist this change. The less willing they are to take responsibility, the more challenging the change becomes. This also increases the challenge for the coach.
Seniority of coaches: if an agile coach starts, he should not have more than 1 or 2 teams as well as a scrum master. The risk of losing confidence is quite high. This may discourage the team from being willing to change how it works.
If you have senior coaches in your company, consult them first. Discuss the number of teams with them. Do not rely on consulting companies for this decision. Consulting companies may not always have the right context for how your company operates and what your teams need.

What to do if you don’t have enough coaches

So what to do if we don’t have enough coaches and you can’t afford to hire more now? Here are some experiences that might help, at least temporarily:

Start teams gradually: when you no longer have a choice with a number of available coaches, start at least the teams gradually, so that the load is distributed over time. In the meantime, some teams may be able to stabilize a bit and make room to help other teams.
Educate your employee coaches: if you have senior coaches in your company, be sure to try to help you nurture other coaches internally. If you do not have senior coaches available, or if they are busy, seek support from companies on the market that specialize in agile development.Do not wait with the education of coaches, it will take its time.
It’s better not to combine crafts with a coach: if you’re not a startup, combining other work fields with a coaching role is usually not a good idea. Often this leads to a fragmentation of the coach’s attention, and one or the other suffers.

Team prioritization and coach rotation

Prioritize where the coaches will be and where they won’t: if you can admit that there are not enough coaches, then you can decide where the coaches will be now and where they won’t yet. It’s often a better solution than when you’re trying to get coaches everywhere and then they can’t do anything properly. If you are still fine-tuning your expectations of what coaches can bring to the company, give opportunities to teams that want agility. Support them actively in their development. This approach allows you to assess the coaches’ contribution earlier. At the same time, you create sample teams with agile setups.Sample teams can then serve as inspiration for others.
Coach rotation: coaches can also help each other across teams. For example, anyone who has good experience with an agile technique can help with its implementation in other teams. Here again, however, beware of fragmenting the focus. If a coach has too many teams, he will never earn their trust and there won’t be too many changes. A more senior coach can already prioritize their tasks. This may not be true for people who are just starting in the role and still learning it.

And how is it with you? I will be glad if you write to us in the comments or in the mail what experience you have in determining the number of teams for your coaches or scrum masters.