Comments on: Fan Mail

By: Courtney Kauzens

Courtney Kauzens — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:39:29 +0000

Lyssa – I want to thank you again for such a wonderful experience in your Coaching Agile Teams workshop – I found you and Michael to be very inspirational and I not only walked away with SO much information, but I truly believe I have a new attitude and approach that will hopefully allow me and my team to be much more successful with our Scrum implementation!

By: Giuseppe De Simone

Giuseppe De Simone — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:36:43 +0000

I attended Coaching Agile Teams – Course I a couple of weeks ago and I must say that Lyssa and Michael were simply great, both as coaches and as trainers by handling a very demanding audience with professionalism and openness.
I liked the fact that the course was really interactive, with a lot of chances to share views with others and practice things.
I don’t complain about the fact that there was not so much theory,
since I can read theory on the book anyway: did not need to go to Berlin for being read slides.
I also liked the introspective parts of the course, encouraging for improving ourselves as coaches: I normally like such chances of stop doing the daily work and see things a bit more in perspective.
One key learning I would like to share was one reflection that hit me particularly: coaching is all about coachee’s agenda, Agile coaching is also
about the coach’s agenda in terms of spreading Agile values and contributing to change our organization.
As we all experience, being a coach is hard job: thank you Lyssa and Michael for having inspired me to be a better Agile coach… all the time.

By: Eva Gysling

Eva Gysling — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 11:38:32 +0000

Dear Lyssa

First of all I am very excited about all the coaching you do and especially about the book you wrote.

At the moment I am part of a coaching circle which is led by Bachan. Unfortunately, in this case, I am living in Switzerland, Europe, far away from Bachan’s home. So, the Skype sessions take part when it is 3 o’clock or even 4 o’clock in the night here. That’s why I cannot take part in the online sessions. I hope to contribute to the discussed problems by e-mail. But some times it is really very difficult.

Bachan seems to be one of your greatest fans

I am very happy that you come to Europe in February. So for me it is an absolute MUST to take part in your workshop in Berlin (17. – 18.02.2011)

At the moment I am working as a Scrum Master, but I should and would start working as a coach of our SMs and POs who do not have much experience by now. This will be a new task but I am very keen on starting in this direction.

I am looking forward very much to meeting you in February in Berlin

Up to then, I wish you all the best and have great holidays and take care.

Warmest regards
yours Eva

By: Ted St. Clair

Ted St. Clair — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 03:46:26 +0000

I just completed the Coaching Agile Teams: Course 1 in San Francisco. I can’t express enough how much I appreciated all the information that was shared. Not only did Lyssa honor her book in the course she also added great examples that brought home the message and techniques even more. I greatly appreciated her ability to correlate her techniques to real world scenarios that provided insight on how to scale across organizations at enterprise level.

The next day after class I participated in my Team’s Retrospective and Planning sessions. Unfortuantely, due to the prior Sprint not going as well the Team would have liked, we addressed a number of challenging subjects. I received feeback that it was one of the best we’ve ever had. The Team attributed our collective success to the energy I brought back from the course and I couldn’t agree more. Great class.

By: Del Hager

Del Hager — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:50:14 +0000

The agile coaches circle has really been helpful to me. Working with Lyssa and other agile coaches has been an encouragement when going through difficult situations in coaching. Having a group of peers to work with has proved helpful in getting another perspective on the issues that are faced in adopting Agile in a large enterprise.

Lyssa does a great job of coaching the team so we can improve our coaching skills. She leads by example which is a very effective ways to coach.

By: Karen Greaves

Karen Greaves — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:15:57 +0000

I joined one of Lyssa’s coaching circles earlier this year, and we’ve kept it going because the learnings have been so rich.
Agile coaching is hard, and often it is difficult to find peers with the same level of dedication to improvement in your own organisation. Lyssa’s circle has exposed me to a group of peers to share my learnings with and to learn from them. I think that a large amount of the growth I have experienced as a coach this year, has been sparked by this circle.
I am also constantly amazed by Lyssa’s expert facilitation skills, and the safe space she manages to create telephonically. Observing her in action, helps me understand the kind of behaviour I need to model as a coach. I highly recommend her coaching circles to anyone looking to grow as a coach and a person. Another great thing is that you can join from anywhere in the world. I am thrilled to have access to such an awesome coach, all the way down here in South Africa!

By: Kathy Aragon

Kathy Aragon — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:36:12 +0000

I just completed a coaching circle with Lyssa and 5 others. We started in May and had six (I think!) hour and 1/2 telephone discussions regarding agile coaching. It was very helpful to me as a newbie SM and coach; there were rich insights, observations, and suggestions. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

By: Ryan Fullmer

Ryan Fullmer — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:22:51 +0000

I recently completed the Coaching Agile Teams class in Boston. Lyssa did a excellent job presenting the material, facilitating the exercises, and creating a supportive and fun environment to learn and grow. Lyssa helped us tackle real-world problems and build our personal backlogs for continued learning after the class. I found the two-days very rewarding and have already applied techniques learned in the class with my team. I plan on taking the second part to this training. I highly recommend this class to Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches!

By: Richard Marks

Richard Marks — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:08:56 +0000

I had the privilege of participating in a 1.5 hour coaching circle that Lyssa led, followed by her book signing and presentation to a large group. Lyssa models a much needed synthesis of practical, nuts and bolts experience with Agile teams, bolstered by her wisdom and huge heart. Her contributions to the fields of Agile and Scrum are much needed, given the importance of the human aspects of technology teams. I heartily recommend Lyssa’s work and her books to all Agile coaches and teams.

By: Karen Turner

Karen Turner — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:35:10 +0000

Lyssa did a great job teaching an agile coaching class on Boston this week. She aligned the material to the class needs. She was able to address many real work issues presented by the class in her examples. Many of the techniques were demonstrated using interactive exercises that kept the class fun. I highly encourage SCRUM masters and coaches to take this class to learn/hone skills. I look forward to part 2!

By: William Fraker

William Fraker — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:42:38 +0000

Lyssa,
Congratulations on your new book; information on Coaching Agile Teams was passed around last evening at Agile Richmond.
Bill