Coaching

Our iterations are led by a pair of coaches. These coaches play the part of project manager, cat-herder, and general mentor/helper to everyone throughout the three-week period.

Coaches work in pairs for the same reason that coders do: it helps us cross-train, prevents knowledge silos, and improves the quality of our work. Plus, it guards against one coach having an attack of life, which could make an iteration stall if there weren't a partner to pick up the slack.

Want to be a coach?
Anyone can be a coach. Here's what it involves:


 * at the start of the iteration, facilitate the planning process, choosing what stories to work on, etc.
 * help people pair up to work on stories
 * check in with people throughout the coding period
 * keep track of stories as they're committed and integrated toward the end of the iteration
 * help wrap up the iteration by facilitating a de-brief/retrospective, discussing potential improvements, etc.
 * measure the velocity of the project based on the iteration's work, and feed it into next iteration's planning
 * communicate regularly with your co-coach so you are both fully aware of how things are going
 * be available on IRC and the mailing list to help people as needed

Time commitment

 * You need to be around for the whole 3-week iteration (going away for a weekend is ok, but being offline for longer than that probably won't work)
 * You need to be able to check in daily (reading email, at the very least)
 * The work is heaviest at planning time, early in the iteration, and might take more than an hour a day for a few days
 * Throughout the coding period, work is intermittent but averages just minutes a day. This can be achieved by lurking on IRC and/or dealing with email regularly.
 * You'll need to do another hour or two of work during the retrospective period at the end of the iteration

If you have reasonably good people skills, can write a coherent email, and have the time free, then you could help coach us. Let Skud or the current coaches know if you're interested.

Notes for coaches
What follows is information for coaches.


 * Coaching/Iteration notes -- a place for coaches to keep notes/todos and co-ordinate work for the iteration