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Technical Agile Coaching with the Samman method
Agile Coaching helps an organization to be more successful, by increasing agility. Samman Technical Coaching is a kind of Agile Coaching that specializes in technical questions concerning how code is written. It's an aspect of agility that is often glossed over, and can be crucial for success. This book explains the best method I know of to increase agility amongst software developers. You help them improve coding practices and how they collaborate. It's fun and challenging for the coach too.
The first part of the method is working in an ensemble with development teams, programming in their production codebase. To complement this hands-on mentoring, the second part of the method is short daily "learning hour" sessions to practice particular techniques. In this book you will learn about the Samman coaching method and how to do it in practice. From the details of daily coaching work to marketing your services and how to find a suitable assignment. It is a practical handbook for an aspiring coach and contains fresh ideas for an experienced coach looking for new ways of working.
This book has an associated website where you can find supplementary materials: sammancoaching.org and a twitter handle you can follow: @coachingsamman
The first part of the method is working in an ensemble with development teams, programming in their production codebase. To complement this hands-on mentoring, the second part of the method is short daily "learning hour" sessions to practice particular techniques. In this book you will learn about the Samman coaching method and how to do it in practice. From the details of daily coaching work to marketing your services and how to find a suitable assignment. It is a practical handbook for an aspiring coach and contains fresh ideas for an experienced coach looking for new ways of working.
This book has an associated website where you can find supplementary materials: sammancoaching.org and a twitter handle you can follow: @coachingsamman
170 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 2021
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79 people want to read
About the author
Emily Bache
6 books32 followersEmily Bache is a software developer with an interest in community and lifelong learning. She has delivered working software with tests while working in organizations as diverse as small startup and large corporation. These days Emily is an independent consultant. Her blog is called "Coding is Like Cooking" and she has a company website at bacheconsulting.com. Emily is originally from the U.K. but now lives in Göteborg, Sweden.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 14, 2021
You can find lots of books on coaching. Maybe a bit less, but still a lot about agile coaching. But agile technical coaching? Well, you'd have a hard time finding books on that. I wonder why that is, as agile technical skills, such as test-driven development, refactoring or emergent design are something that took me at least several years to master sufficiently. And I usually don't work alone - my team members have different skillsets and learn at different pace. At the end of the day, though, we need to support each other in applying the technical skills.
Again, it looks to me like books about getting there would be valuable, would they not? So where are they?
Thankfully, this book is exactly about that - it covers a coaching method geared towards technical people - people who write code, create tests, slice the scope, fix the bugs. This alone makes this position noteworthy. But there is more.
The author's experience in coaching technical people pours from the (relatively not too many) pages. I must say I have only served as an internal technical coach for a year in my company and during many sessions I had with the teams I coached, I arrived at only a handful of the conclusions and tricks presented in the book. Believe me there is a lot here on topics that, if you didn't coach a team before, you would not believe are relevant. For instance, there is a longer section about introducing yourself to the team, which I found to be absolutely critical in coach's work. You can have the best tools, the best teaching methods and the most extensive knowledge, but if the team you coach doesn't like you, you may end up achieving very little. Apart from that, there's a lot of what I like about Emily's books - they are filled with practical stuff. So not only are you going to read about what to pay attention to when coaching a team, you will also get a number of example dialogs that show how team dynamics play out in certain situations and where you as a coach fit in. Likewise, you are going to read about how to prepare a learning hour (a teaching session that, in the Samman method, happens inbetween the coaching sessions), but you will also get several fully prepared learning hour descriptions that you can just pick and use or tune to your liking. Be wary though, that the book assumes you already know the skills you are going to teach, like refactoring, and doesn't explain them. I find that a fair move as if I didn't know the technical stuff inside-out, there would be little point of me trying to teach it to others.
As you might have guessed, I am very enthusiastic about this book, especially that I don't really have much to compare it to as I find the topic of coaching technical people underexplored. In this book, I found some theory, lots of practical advise and a number of ideas I haven't thought about earlier. So, if you are planning to become a technical coach, either external (i.e. contracted to do coaching work) or internal (coaching your team or other teams in your organisation), pick this book to fast-forward to some advice, tricks and ideas that could take you several hundred sessions to come up with on your own.
Again, it looks to me like books about getting there would be valuable, would they not? So where are they?
Thankfully, this book is exactly about that - it covers a coaching method geared towards technical people - people who write code, create tests, slice the scope, fix the bugs. This alone makes this position noteworthy. But there is more.
The author's experience in coaching technical people pours from the (relatively not too many) pages. I must say I have only served as an internal technical coach for a year in my company and during many sessions I had with the teams I coached, I arrived at only a handful of the conclusions and tricks presented in the book. Believe me there is a lot here on topics that, if you didn't coach a team before, you would not believe are relevant. For instance, there is a longer section about introducing yourself to the team, which I found to be absolutely critical in coach's work. You can have the best tools, the best teaching methods and the most extensive knowledge, but if the team you coach doesn't like you, you may end up achieving very little. Apart from that, there's a lot of what I like about Emily's books - they are filled with practical stuff. So not only are you going to read about what to pay attention to when coaching a team, you will also get a number of example dialogs that show how team dynamics play out in certain situations and where you as a coach fit in. Likewise, you are going to read about how to prepare a learning hour (a teaching session that, in the Samman method, happens inbetween the coaching sessions), but you will also get several fully prepared learning hour descriptions that you can just pick and use or tune to your liking. Be wary though, that the book assumes you already know the skills you are going to teach, like refactoring, and doesn't explain them. I find that a fair move as if I didn't know the technical stuff inside-out, there would be little point of me trying to teach it to others.
As you might have guessed, I am very enthusiastic about this book, especially that I don't really have much to compare it to as I find the topic of coaching technical people underexplored. In this book, I found some theory, lots of practical advise and a number of ideas I haven't thought about earlier. So, if you are planning to become a technical coach, either external (i.e. contracted to do coaching work) or internal (coaching your team or other teams in your organisation), pick this book to fast-forward to some advice, tricks and ideas that could take you several hundred sessions to come up with on your own.
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February 26, 2024این کتاب در واقع تجربه و مکتوبات خانم امیلی بیچ از کاری است که داره روزانه انجام میده
به نحوی سعی کرده که یه تغییری در پیاده سازی توسعه چابک ایجاد کنه و به روی تکنیکال اون اشاره کنه
یه جورایی سعی کرده همه چی رو بالغ تر کنه، در جای جای کتاب اشاره داره که از آدم های مختلف و روشهای اونها وام گرفته و مدل جدیدی معرفی کرده که به نظرم برای افرادی که می خوان تو این حوزه فعالیت کنند جذاب خواهد بود
مدل برنامه نویسی گروهی و تجربیات کنت بک تو در حوزه تست تو این کتاب مورد توجه بیشتر قرار گرفته
نکته مهم در این کتاب دقت به جزئیاته
واقعا بسیار عالی جزئیات کارها و حتی نحوه ثبت قراردادهاش رو توضیح داده
اگر توسعه دهنده هستید و فکر می کنید که حوصله تعامل با آدم های بیشتر و مربی گری رو دارید به نظرم مفید خواهد بود
اگر کتاب تیم توپولوژی رو هم خوندید می تونم این جوری بگم که این نقشی که در کتاب به عنوان تکنیکال اجایل کوچ معرفی میشه در حقیقت یه نوعی از تایپ تیم های enabler است
به نحوی سعی کرده که یه تغییری در پیاده سازی توسعه چابک ایجاد کنه و به روی تکنیکال اون اشاره کنه
یه جورایی سعی کرده همه چی رو بالغ تر کنه، در جای جای کتاب اشاره داره که از آدم های مختلف و روشهای اونها وام گرفته و مدل جدیدی معرفی کرده که به نظرم برای افرادی که می خوان تو این حوزه فعالیت کنند جذاب خواهد بود
مدل برنامه نویسی گروهی و تجربیات کنت بک تو در حوزه تست تو این کتاب مورد توجه بیشتر قرار گرفته
نکته مهم در این کتاب دقت به جزئیاته
واقعا بسیار عالی جزئیات کارها و حتی نحوه ثبت قراردادهاش رو توضیح داده
اگر توسعه دهنده هستید و فکر می کنید که حوصله تعامل با آدم های بیشتر و مربی گری رو دارید به نظرم مفید خواهد بود
اگر کتاب تیم توپولوژی رو هم خوندید می تونم این جوری بگم که این نقشی که در کتاب به عنوان تکنیکال اجایل کوچ معرفی میشه در حقیقت یه نوعی از تایپ تیم های enabler است
June 14, 2022
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started the book. But I gave it a try anyway as I greatly respect the work of Emily Bache, who is one of my role models in this profession.
The first part of the book is about mob/ensemble programming and details a lot of interesting ideas and concrete examples on how to lead a mob session. The next chapter was the most interesting for me. It explains the concept of the Learning Hour, an hour dedicated to enhance the development practice. This concept is not new per se, but again, numerous concrete and interesting examples are detailed. More importantly, the author shares its methodology to build a clear and effective training plan. The last chapter is about what it takes and what to expect in becoming an agile coach.
It was a very pleasant reading. Apart from all the interesting ideas I've discovered, I also really liked the tone of the writing. It reminded me of Kent Beck's wisdom and kindness.
Reading this book confirmed my desire to become a technical coach in the years to come. The road is long but for sure this book will be a stepping stone.
The first part of the book is about mob/ensemble programming and details a lot of interesting ideas and concrete examples on how to lead a mob session. The next chapter was the most interesting for me. It explains the concept of the Learning Hour, an hour dedicated to enhance the development practice. This concept is not new per se, but again, numerous concrete and interesting examples are detailed. More importantly, the author shares its methodology to build a clear and effective training plan. The last chapter is about what it takes and what to expect in becoming an agile coach.
It was a very pleasant reading. Apart from all the interesting ideas I've discovered, I also really liked the tone of the writing. It reminded me of Kent Beck's wisdom and kindness.
Reading this book confirmed my desire to become a technical coach in the years to come. The road is long but for sure this book will be a stepping stone.
November 2, 2021
I was first a bit sceptical about the book, but after a few pages I got interested in Emily’s method that is organised around ensemble programming. With everyone working together at the same problem we can learn together and create a shared understanding of the product we develop and the practices that make the code sustainable.
The concept of the Learning Hour as a deliberate practice session once every day followed by putting the newly learned concept into action with ensemble programming solves the most common problems of traditional approaches – developers try it on their own and fail or go back and work the old way until they forget everything.
The book offers a good solution should you have problems teaching your team new concepts.
The concept of the Learning Hour as a deliberate practice session once every day followed by putting the newly learned concept into action with ensemble programming solves the most common problems of traditional approaches – developers try it on their own and fail or go back and work the old way until they forget everything.
The book offers a good solution should you have problems teaching your team new concepts.
June 18, 2024
Emily provides a comprehensive guide to starting a career as a technical coach, offering plenty of practical details. This includes ten detailed learning sessions, advice on how to contact companies, build good relationships, and even what specific meetings to have before beginning the coaching process.
Regarding the coaching method, it primarily focuses on ensemble (also known as mob) programming and frequent, short learning sessions. While these techniques are beneficial for coaching, they are also excellent tools for the daily work of software engineers.
Regarding the coaching method, it primarily focuses on ensemble (also known as mob) programming and frequent, short learning sessions. While these techniques are beneficial for coaching, they are also excellent tools for the daily work of software engineers.
January 31, 2023
A very good book on Agile. Lot's of good ideas. Could possibly use a little fleshing out, but definitely gives you a very good starting point and lot's of things to investigate.
April 22, 2023
Enjoyable and easy read. Very practical tips.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews