Can a project manager make a good agile coach?

As companies become more agile and are no longer isolated IT islands following the peculiar SCRUM methodology, there is a growing demand for agile coaches and Scrum Masters. The cultural aspect of agile methods lies in team self-management. Instead of a central coordinating PM role, responsibility is shared among the PO, the team, and the AC/SM.

Who is Petr Novotný?

Petr Novotný is an agile coach who contributed to the agile transformation at ING in the Netherlands, served as lead coach for the transformation of the OHRA insurance company, collaborated with Arie van Bennekum (co-author of the Agile Manifesto), created and led the community of agile coaches at Česká spořitelna, and now supports the agile transformation of T-Mobile and Slovak Telekom. He views agility not as something dogmatic, but as a way to be more flexible in the market and to have happier, and therefore more effective, employees. In January 2020, he founded Agile academy, a company specializing in education in agility.

Who is Petr Lev?

Petr Lev is a long-time consultant at Symphera and has dedicated his entire professional career to project management and agility. Recently, he mainly trains Scrum and SAFe frameworks, coaches and mentors agile teams, trains, and tribes, and consults in agile product management. Everything Petr teaches and consults on is based on real-world experience in roles such as Scrum master, Release Train Engineer, SAFe Program Consultant, agile coach, and project manager. Petr is also a co-founder of Agile Race and founder and honorary chairman of the Students’ project management club.