10 Coaching Questions To Enable Self-Organization

As a recovering manager

I want to stop solving problems for teams

So that I can enable self-organization…

One of the biggest reasons I failed my first attempt at the Scrum.org PSM-1 assessment was that I had a habit of solving problems I had no business solving. Ken Schwaber taught me three magic words to disrupt the tendency and temptation to solve team problems – “Ask the team!”

Attending Co-Active coaching training with Lyssa Adkins, David Darst, Lottie Martinez and Cynthia Loy Darst taught me 10 coaching questions that I could “Ask The Team”. Here they are…

1. What do you see happening?
2. How is it impacting our ability to serve our stakeholders…
   • Improving Flow
   • Increasing Value
   • Decreasing Waste
   • Managing Risk
3. What would you like to see happen instead?
4. What have you tried so far?
5. How did it turn out?
6. What’s getting in the way?
7. What else might be possible?
8. How would we validate that it is helping our stakeholders by…
   • Improving Flow
   • Increasing Value
   • Decreasing Waste
   • Managing Risk
9. What would you like to try next? By when will you finish?
10. How can I help you keep your promise to yourself?

If you are a glutton for punishment 😉 read a longer version – 10 Questions, 1 Belief and 1 Goal: Navigating The Choppy Waters of Self-Organization

Scrum On!