Lean-Agile places a premium on communication between people. It reduces waste and delay caused by miscommunication and waiting on others. We like to say, “Use the highest bandwidth communication you can. And if, after three tries, you are still not communicating effectively using one medium, then bump up to the next level (from texting to email, from email to voice, from voice to face-to-face, etc.).” (We call this the “Rule of Three.”)

One consequence is that in Lean-Agile, there are a number of meetings. They tend to be shorter and focused and they happen at a regular cadence. Some common meetings in Lean-Agile include Iteration Retrospective, Product Demonstration and Review, Scrum of Scrums, and the quarterly review of the portfolio.

Effective meetings require some level of facilitation and often that falls to the Team Agility Coach. Thus, facilitation is an important skill for Team Agility Coaches.

The Facilitation Reading Path introduces some helpful insights into facilitation: concepts, attributes of a good facilitator, tips, meeting planning, and offers some helpful resources.

After going through this reading path, explore the Team Agility Coach Reading Path.

Note: Some of this information in this article is from Bens, Ingrid M, and Janet MacCausland. Facilitation at a Glance! A Pocket Guide of Tools and Techniques for Effective Meeting Facilitation. Boston, MA: Goalqpc, 2012.