Did you know that as agile coaches, we are bound by a code of ethics? It’s true! We have a code for professional conduct, integrity, and ethics that regulates our profession.
The initiative is somewhat new and was codified by a group of coaches in the Agile Alliance. It can be found here: https://www.agilealliance.org/agilecoachingethics/#code. The code of ethics covers 9 areas, as well as an acknowledgement from Agile Alliance that this code was inspired by other codes, and scenarios to demonstrate the code in practice.
So today, let’s discuss why we have a code of ethics, what it looks like, and how we can put it into practice!
If you’d rather watch a video than read, check out my youtube video on this topic here:
Why a code of ethics?
The purpose of a code of ethics is to regulate the behavior, integrity, accountability, and level of professional commitment. Most careers have some order or college that they are attached to that helps regulate practice with a code of conduct or ethics. As a coach, you would have this if you are an ICF coach (like me!), but agile coaching specifically was missing that until the Agile Alliance created this initiative.
Having a code of ethics creates a high standard of what is expected of the agile coaching profession. It will help you in those difficult cases and gray areas in your career, when you might have a dispute with a client or a situation that you feel just isn’t right. The code of ethics can help back you up and inform your behavior on how to proceed.
Any sort of code of ethics and particularly this one, makes you a better coach. Even if you are not yet a certified agile coach, understanding the code can be a great place to start to help you understand the dos and don’ts of the profession.
So, let’s break down the 9 commitments!
#1: Protecting confidentiality, intellectual property, and information security
The first ethical commitment is about confidentiality and intellectual property. Basically, this says that you are bound by confidentiality. It doesn’t mean you can’t discuss anything about any client, but you can’t name a client or specific identifiers. As for intellectual property, as you work with a client there are things you might be co-creating or building with your client. It’s important in that case to keep clear boundaries and come to an agreement with your client about who owns those. It should be in your contract. Make sure to include tools that you bring to the table as well.
There is also a legal component here. You may get access to information that is sensitive and this is not something you should be discussing. Make sure you understand what can be shared across different teams, managers, and individuals before you go sharing details of private conversations.
#2: Acting within my ability
This commitment says that you should ask yourself if you are in your ability to be helpful in any given situation. Maybe you aren’t familiar with a certain framework or technique, with navigating conflict, or don’t have a certain technical expertise. If you don’t have the experience or knowledge, you should be open with your client about that. You and the client can then decide together how to proceed. Maybe it means you collaborate with another coach on the project or maybe you hand it over.
It may also be that as you’re coaching one-on-one, you uncover that there are certain complexities to do with anxiety or burnout that could be better handled by a mental health care professional. In those situations, you can mention to the person that this is not your area of expertise and help them get the qualified help they need.
You need to be able to detect those gaps, mention them, then follow through to give an alternative to your client. Remember, you can’t do everything for everybody! Especially when you are first starting out as an agile coach.
#3: Introspection and continuing professional development
This commitment says you should continue to develop yourself as a coach. Agile coaching isn’t a set of unchanging disciplines, it keeps evolving, and quickly! Join communities of practice (like the Lab of AllThingsAgile!), take courses, read books, and reserve some time after a session to reflect on what works and one doesn’t. These kinds of behaviors are expected of you.
#4: Navigating conflicts of interest
The fourth commitment says to make sure you are not allowing anything to affect your objective thinking or professional judgment in situations that could be detrimental to your client and beneficial to you. For example, if you offer both coaching and training services, you shouldn’t be pushing a training course to your coaching client that they don’t need just so you can benefit. This would be a conflict of interest. You also need to be very transparent with your client when recommending a product or service that you are a referral partner for. Let them know that you will receive compensation or a benefit. To avoid a conflict of interest, think about everything that could put your client at a disadvantage while you are benefiting from the situation.
#5: Ensuring value in the relationship
This commitment says that you have the responsibility of noticing if you are no longer bringing value to your client. You should be constantly assessing your progress or diminished value and then having that discussion with your client. Your client may not be the one who brings that conversation, even if they notice it, because it can be uncomfortable.
Your client is resourceful and we need to make sure they can survive without us. Everything you coach and offer is something that is supposed to help them move forward, but also learn and acquire new ways of doing and thinking so they can succeed without you. It is normal and expected that your client will at some point find a diminished value in your services. This is a good thing. This is true even if you are an internal coach. You might eventually part ways with a specific team or group and this means that you achieved something and it’s time for the client to move forward. Or maybe you didn’t exactly achieve what you wanted, but it’s time for them to pursue an alternative approach. But if/when you notice that things are not progressing, you need to have a conversation.
#6: Upholding social responsibility, diversity, and inclusion
This commitment requires that you make sure all voices are heard. It is your job to notice differences in culture, experience, level, personalities, etc, and make an effort to equalize conversations and create dialog. And of course, you don’t endorse or condone any form of discrimination.
#7: Agreeing on boundaries
The seventh commitment requires that you create clear boundaries. When you come in as a coach, make sure you understand the mission, who you can talk to, who you are coaching, and who you are not. Make sure to listen. The tools and frameworks aren’t important. Don’t push for a solution just because it’s your favorite. You may notice that the framework needed is not something you have knowledge in. This is when commitments 2 and 5 come back into play. You have to act in integrity here.
There are many types of coaches out there but you are an agile coach. Don’t listen to outside blabber about agile and the manifesto and whether they are good or bad. In agile, the manifesto is where we gauge a lot of what we do. For example, if you notice that a client is all about constant delivery but is also burning out their teams and skimping on quality, it is clear that they are only picking parts of agile. We also strive for technical excellence and sustainability. You can’t just pick your favorite principle and call it agile. As an agile coach, you come with the full picture. This is what the profession calls for and that’s what you should deliver.
#8: Managing differences in status and power
This commitment says that you should call attention to those using their power to hinder progress. You will probably be the one noticing when someone else who is influential is standing in the way of the mission that you are supposed to help your client accomplish. Those conversations need to be had. You aren’t necessarily the person who can fix it, but you can create awareness and start the conversation about the manager who is constantly undermining initiatives, won’t collaborate, or works outright against you.
Also, make sure you are not the one influencing and getting personal gain. This line can get blurred, especially if you are an internal coach because you are in the line of promotion and career development within your organization. But you need to be sure you are always acting with integrity. For example, don’t withhold a piece of information that hinders your client’s progress, only so you can later bring in the solution to save the day.
#9: Responsibility to the profession
This last commitment is about you walking the talk and being a respectful, professional agile coach. You are responsible for the reputation of the profession. Whether you are certified or not, how you conduct yourself is a reflection on the whole body of coaches. Bear your badge with a heavy weight. Everything you do, whether it is your accomplishments or missteps, is being represented as something agile coaches do. You represent something beyond yourself.
And that is the agile coaching code of ethics!
If you are interested in learning about how to coach for team development and success, check out my Agile Coaching Program! It’s a month-long course of learning by doing! We have recently amped up the conflict navigation, team development, and agile principles in practice areas of the course so it is truly better than ever. In addition, we are proud partners with ICAgile so you will receive a highly recognized certification upon completion that will set you up well for a career as an agile coach.
