Leading teams to higher levels of maturity requires the ability to ensure the team is working collaboratively. This includes planning and conducting effective team meetings. In an Agile environment, the team depends on the facilitation skills of the Agile Team Facilitator to lead the team to higher levels of performance.

The Agile Team Facilitator (ATF) role is broader than conducting meetings. The ATF must also guide the team through the paradigm shifts required in Agile team environments and lead them towards collaboration and self-organization. To do so requires a mindset shift for the team leader – the facilitator mindset.

ASPE’s Agile Team Facilitation course is the first step towards achieving the coveted expert level in ICAgile’s Agile Coaching track (ICP-ATF certification). The course gives you the much-needed skills to design and conduct collaborative meetings while leading teams toward higher maturity levels, more effective results, and self-organization.

The Agile Team Facilitation course focuses not only on skills and techniques but also on the mindset for the facilitator and the facilitator’s path towards becoming an Agile Coach. It includes group facilitation tools and techniques for effectively designing meetings and workshops that both engage the entire audience and drives toward agreed-upon outcomes. The learner will develop an appreciation for the art of facilitation as key to fostering collaboration and enabling self-organizing teams.

Gain Immediate Benefits from these Key Course Topics:

Development path of the Agile Team Facilitator

Agile Team Facilitator’s role on the team

Team Facilitator Mindset and Guiding Principles

Importance of Self-Awareness and Self-Management

Framework for designing effective meetings

Facilitation concepts and techniques

Working with Teams: Diagnostics and dysfunctions

Facilitating Meetings for collaboration and team decision making

Interactive Facilitation Techniques (Game Time!)

Active design and facilitation opportunities

Viewing outline for:

Part 1: Welcome, Introductions, and Course Logistics

A Team Facilitator is someone who helps a group identify common objectives and then offers group processes to achieve defined outcomes. A skilled facilitator consciously embodies self-awareness, self-management, and bias management, while conveying openness and enthusiasm. An Agile Team Facilitator (ATF) is about more than just meetings. An ATF facilitates participation, collaboration, engagement, and team growth.

Introductions and Housekeeping
Course Objectives and Agenda
ICAgile Certification Overview

Part 2: Development Path for Agile Coaching

The Agile Team Facilitator is on the development path to becoming an Agile Coach. To be effective, the Agile Coaching path requires that we take our development one step at a time, obtaining competence at each step along the way. We will review the development path and transition from Agile Team Facilitator to Agile Coach.

Development Path for Agile Team Facilitators
Competencies of an Agile Coach
Your Extended Team
Knowing When to Call on Help

Part 3: The Agile Team Facilitator Mindset

Becoming an Agile Team Facilitator requires a certain mindset to lead and serve the team. Learn the mindset required for the Agile Team Facilitator and gain an understanding of the paradigm shift that must occur to be successful in this collaborative environment. Understand how the Agile Team Facilitator is a role model for the team by exemplifying the Agile principles. Review the strategies required to be a servant leader and models for achieving self-awareness.

What is an Agile Team Facilitator
Team Facilitator Guiding Principles
Agile Team Facilitator Mindset
Self-Awareness/Self-Management
Servant Leadership

Part 4: Foundational Facilitation Skills

One of the essential skills for the Agile Team Facilitator is helping teams identify and achieve common objectives. The ATF facilitates the team events to ensure they are productive and move the team forward. This starts with understanding the purpose and expected outcomes of the various team events. A flow must be created to achieve those goals and ensure participation.

Arc of Facilitation
Understanding Purpose
Gather Planning and Design Information
Designing Meeting Flow for Collaboration

Part 5: Conducting a Facilitated Session

When facilitating a session, the facilitator is the holder of the process and the team holds the content. The facilitator must maintain neutrality to not unduly influence team decisions. They must make sure that the event is organized to encourage collaboration. This includes the physical setup, meeting organization tools, and driving collaborative conversations.

Maintaining Neutrality
Using Meeting Organization Tools and Interactive Facilitation Techniques
Facilitating Collaborative Conversations and Team Decision-Making
Managing Dysfunctional Behaviors
Reading the Room and Capturing Information

Part 6: Facilitating Collaborative Meetings

Facilitating typical Agile framework meetings is a requirement for the Agile Team Facilitator. We must plan these events and keep them engaging. To do so, the ATF must understand the purpose and underlying principles and values of the ceremonies. In this section, we will go through the ceremonies for an agile framework and design meetings to facilitate achievement of the desired outcomes. We will specifically design common sessions such as Retrospectives and Daily Stand-Ups. We will also look at the design of other key ceremonies.

Agile Framework Meetings
Facilitating Retrospectives and Daily Stand-Ups
Facilitating Other Agile Meetings

Part 7: Skillfully Facilitating Agile Practices

Teams will move in and out of patterns of behavior. The ATF needs to recognize team patterns and know when a team may need more, or less, intervention. We will look at how our styles need to change based on the team current state of knowledge and self-sufficiency.

Team Levels of Maturity
Changing Style Based on Team Phase
Levels of Team Intervention

Part 8: Active Facilitation

This section is devoted to putting our training into action! The ability to neutrally facilitate a session must be practiced. Attendees will have an opportunity to design and facilitate a team session based on scenarios from agile framework meetings.

Design an Agile Meeting
Facilitate an Agile Practice
Give and Receive Feedback

Part 9: Summary

Summarize key takeaways from the course and pull it all together.

Review Facilitation Tools
Review ICAgile Learning Objectives and Video
Survey Information

Part 1: Welcome, Introductions, and Course Logistics

A Team Facilitator is someone who helps a group identify common objectives and then offers group processes to achieve defined outcomes. A skilled facilitator consciously embodies self-awareness, self-management, and bias management, while conveying openness and enthusiasm. An Agile Team Facilitator (ATF) is about more than just meetings. An ATF facilitates participation, collaboration, engagement, and team growth.

Introductions and Housekeeping
Course Objectives and Agenda
ICAgile Certification Overview

Part 2: Development Path for Agile Coaching

The Agile Team Facilitator is on the development path to becoming an Agile Coach. To be effective, the Agile Coaching path requires that we take our development one step at a time, obtaining competence at each step along the way. We will review the development path and transition from Agile Team Facilitator to Agile Coach.

Development Path for Agile Team Facilitators
Competencies of an Agile Coach
Your Extended Team
Knowing When to Call on Help

Part 3: The Agile Team Facilitator Mindset

Becoming an Agile Team Facilitator requires a certain mindset to lead and serve the team. Learn the mindset required for the Agile Team Facilitator and gain an understanding of the paradigm shift that must occur to be successful in this collaborative environment. Understand how the Agile Team Facilitator is a role model for the team by exemplifying the Agile principles. Review the strategies required to be a servant leader and models for achieving self-awareness.

What is an Agile Team Facilitator
Team Facilitator Guiding Principles
Agile Team Facilitator Mindset
Self-Awareness/Self-Management
Servant Leadership

Part 4: Foundational Facilitation Skills

One of the essential skills for the Agile Team Facilitator is helping teams identify and achieve common objectives. The ATF facilitates the team events to ensure they are productive and move the team forward. This starts with understanding the purpose and expected outcomes of the various team events. A flow must be created to achieve those goals and ensure participation.

Arc of Facilitation
Understanding Purpose
Gather Planning and Design Information
Designing Meeting Flow for Collaboration

Part 5: Conducting a Facilitated Session

When facilitating a session, the facilitator is the holder of the process and the team holds the content. The facilitator must maintain neutrality to not unduly influence team decisions. They must make sure that the event is organized to encourage collaboration. This includes the physical setup, meeting organization tools, and driving collaborative conversations.

Maintaining Neutrality
Using Meeting Organization Tools and Interactive Facilitation Techniques
Facilitating Collaborative Conversations and Team Decision-Making
Managing Dysfunctional Behaviors
Reading the Room and Capturing Information

Part 6: Facilitating Collaborative Meetings

Facilitating typical Agile framework meetings is a requirement for the Agile Team Facilitator. We must plan these events and keep them engaging. To do so, the ATF must understand the purpose and underlying principles and values of the ceremonies. In this section, we will go through the ceremonies for an agile framework and design meetings to facilitate achievement of the desired outcomes. We will specifically design common sessions such as Retrospectives and Daily Stand-Ups. We will also look at the design of other key ceremonies.

Agile Framework Meetings
Facilitating Retrospectives and Daily Stand-Ups
Facilitating Other Agile Meetings

Part 7: Skillfully Facilitating Agile Practices

Teams will move in and out of patterns of behavior. The ATF needs to recognize team patterns and know when a team may need more, or less, intervention. We will look at how our styles need to change based on the team current state of knowledge and self-sufficiency.

Team Levels of Maturity
Changing Style Based on Team Phase
Levels of Team Intervention

Part 8: Active Facilitation

This section is devoted to putting our training into action! The ability to neutrally facilitate a session must be practiced. Attendees will have an opportunity to design and facilitate a team session based on scenarios from agile framework meetings.

Design an Agile Meeting
Facilitate an Agile Practice
Give and Receive Feedback

Part 9: Summary

Summarize key takeaways from the course and pull it all together.

Review Facilitation Tools
Review ICAgile Learning Objectives and Video
Survey Information

The course will help you build your facilitation toolkit with practices and techniques to facilitate team activities.

This is an intermediate/advanced level workshop. Participants should have completed basic Agile training - such as an ICAgile accredited Agile Fundamentals course, a Certified Scrum Master course, or an equivalent or have completed 6 to 12 months of working with Agile teams. If you are unsure if you meet this prerequisite, you should give us a call and ask.

ICP-ATF Certification

This course has been approved by ICAgile to award students the Certified Professional in Agile Team Facilitation (ICP-ATF) upon successful completion of the course. The ICP-ATF is also a prerequisite to earning the ICAgile expert in Agile Coaching certification (ICE-AC).

Anyone who strives to lead teams towards greater efficiency and achieve tangible results will benefit from the essential leadership skills of team facilitation. This includes:

Anyone wanting to improve their team facilitation skills
Anyone on their path to becoming an Agile Coach
Team Facilitators
Scrum Masters
Agile Project and Program Managers
Agile Coaches wanting to improve their skills
Business Analysts
Value Managers
Team Leaders
Product Owners
Iteration Managers
Anyone wanting certification in ICAgile Agile Team Facilitation (ICP-ATF)
Anyone wanting to become an ICAgile Certified Expert in Agile Coaching

Agile Team Facilitation (ICP-ATF)

Course Overview

Scheduled Classes

What You'll Learn

Outline

Part 1: Welcome, Introductions, and Course Logistics

Part 2: Development Path for Agile Coaching

Part 3: The Agile Team Facilitator Mindset

Part 4: Foundational Facilitation Skills

Part 5: Conducting a Facilitated Session

Part 6: Facilitating Collaborative Meetings

Part 7: Skillfully Facilitating Agile Practices

Part 8: Active Facilitation

Part 9: Summary

Part 1: Welcome, Introductions, and Course Logistics

Part 2: Development Path for Agile Coaching

Part 3: The Agile Team Facilitator Mindset

Part 4: Foundational Facilitation Skills

Part 5: Conducting a Facilitated Session

Part 6: Facilitating Collaborative Meetings

Part 7: Skillfully Facilitating Agile Practices

Part 8: Active Facilitation

Part 9: Summary

Prerequisites

Who Should Attend

Next Step Courses