Home > Articles

This chapter is from the book

Sharing the “Minimum Viable” Amount of Expertise

Many of us have had the experience of having something that we already know being explained to us in excruciating detail. When providing expertise, consider the saying “Less is more.”

We have found the following levels of choice useful for determining the minimum viable expertise to share. We have ordered the levels from providing the most choice to providing the least choice.

  • Share missing information. Sometimes the coachee has everything they need to move forward, except for one small piece of information. Because you already have that information, you may see a whole plan for moving forward in your head. By providing just the missing piece of information instead of the whole plan, you give the coachee the opportunity to do the rest of the work on their own.

  • Share a resource. When there are many possibilities for action, providing just a couple requires selection on your part, which then limits the coachee’s choice. If you provide a resource that offers a wealth of information in the area of the coachee’s interest, that gives the coachee more choice. It does require more effort on the coachee’s part to get to a plan of action, but it also gives them a reference to consult when they have a similar situation in the future—and it keeps their choices open.

  • Share relevant examples. When you don’t know of a relevant resource, or there is a time constraint, provide examples and anecdotes from your own experience. This usually affords the least choice for the coachee. However, by providing multiple relevant and viable examples and following the guidelines on sharing expertise, you can still maximize the coachee’s ability to choose.

Here is an example interaction that shows the application of these three levels of choice:

  • Scrum Master: “Our retrospectives are getting boring and useless. ‘What went well, what didn’t go well, and what ideas do you have?’ over and over again is mind-numbing. What should I do?”

  • Coach: [Shares missing information.] “The Scrum Guide only requires a retrospective, not a specific format.”

  • Coachee: “Oh! I didn’t know that. That’s awesome! In the future, I’ll take advantage of that flexibility, but I don’t know any other formats. What should I do?”

  • Coach: [Shares a resource.] “There’s a website called retromat.org that will give you a random format by choosing from a wide variety of options for the five stages of a retrospective.”

  • Coachee: “Oh! Terrific! But I need to run this tomorrow and I don’t have time to look into that. What should I do?

  • Coach: [Shares examples/experience.] “I find that when folks are first trying a different format, they have good results running ‘Best Team’ or ‘Timeline.’ I’ll send some information on those.”

  • Coachee: “Perfect. Thanks so much for your help.”

Feedback Is a Form of Expertise

As an Agile expert, you will notice things that others don’t. When you share your feedback, you are sharing expertise. Everything that applies to sharing other kinds of expertise also applies to feedback.

Observations Are Feedback

The simplest form of feedback is an observation: “You have tomato sauce on your nose.” It is the same as holding up a mirror to help the other person see something that they may be missing. It is just an observation; there is no reference to expectation. You don’t need to do anything beyond the observation; the person will thank you and take care of the issue on their own.

Saying “I noticed the standup went to 30 minutes today” is feedback in the form of an observation. If there is already a shared expectation around the length of the standup, a simple observation should suffice. On the other hand, perhaps members of the team came from another organization where the expectation was 30 minutes and they feel like everything is fine. In that case, there are mismatched expectations and a simple observation will not be enough feedback.

Comparing Expectations Is Feedback

Another way to provide feedback is via expectations. For example, you might be attending a standup for a team that is new to Agile. You notice lots of discussion on topics outside of the work that the team is focused on for the current iteration. With your teaching hat on you might say, “I notice there has been some discussion on subjects outside of the work for this iteration. There’s no issue with having those discussions. However, the expectation during the standup meeting is that we will limit our discussion to what we are currently working on for this iteration and discuss other topics later, perhaps right after the standup meeting.”

With this statement, you have provided feedback on the current situation consisting of an observation and a reminder of what is expected. Hopefully, that is all that is needed for the team to change their behavior. If that doesn’t work, you may need to provide more expertise to help the team produce the expected result.

Sharing the Minimum Viable Amount of Feedback

Just as with other forms of expertise, you can share the minimum amount of feedback. For instance, if you sense that a person is unaware of something that would be useful for them to know, make a single small observation and then stop. If you sense there may be a difference of expectations, just state your expectations and then stop. When you provide the minimum viable amount of feedback, it gives the other person the opportunity to make their own choice about what to do about the observation or new understanding of expectations, possibly removing the need for you to provide additional expertise. And if the expertise you have shared is not enough, you can always offer more.

Giving Praise and Criticism Is Like Playing a Game of Hot and Cold

Praise and criticism are often intertwined with observations and expectations. Praise and criticism are forms of judgment. Praise may make the coachee feel good about their performance. Similarly, criticism may make them feel bad. Neither provides much information about exactly what met or did not meet expectations.

Consider the children’s game “Hot and Cold.” In this game, an object is hidden and a seeker has to find it. The seeker is given clues about how close they are to the hidden object in terms of temperature. They are told they are getting hotter if they are closer and colder if they are farther away. The seeker depends on these clues to find the object.

Providing praise or criticism of a coachee’s performance is similar to a game of Hot and Cold. Without receiving specifics through observations and expectations, the coachee is less likely to learn how to do Agile well. If the person providing the feedback goes away, the coachee’s ability to continue on the path to Agility may also go away.

In our experience, the best results come from using only observations and expectations to provide feedback and avoiding praise and criticism. When people realize through your observations that they are meeting their own expectations, they will naturally feel good about their efforts.

Examples

The following examples illustrate the differences between observation, expectation, praise, and criticism.

  • Scenario: A Scrum Master conducts a retrospective. In the team agreement, it says the team picks the retrospective format and the duration is an hour. The Scrum Master brings two new formats for the team to choose from. During the retrospective, one of the topics that surfaces is to make a decision between two potential implementation technologies. After a facilitated discussion, the team makes their decision and then creates a plan for moving forward. At one point, Bob, a technical writer, tries to get the Scrum Master’s attention but fails. The retrospective runs one hour and fifteen minutes and some participants leave after an hour.

  • Praise: “Awesome retro! Way to go!”

  • Criticism: “The retro could have been better.”

  • Observation: “I see the retro ran over by fifteen minutes and people had to leave before the end.”

  • Expectation: “The team agreement says that the retrospective should be an hour, but that was an hour and fifteen minutes.”

  • Expectation [From Bob]: “I expected everyone to have a chance to speak.”

  • Advice: “Next time, consider checking in on the time throughout the retro and ask people what they want to do if it seems the conversation will run over time.”

Return to Professional Coaching as Soon as Possible

Part of sharing the minimum viable amount of expertise is returning to Professional Coaching as soon as you can. Think of Professional Coaching as your default mode, only venturing away from it when absolutely necessary and then for as short a time as possible. Set an intent to start with Professional Coaching, switch to something else when needed, then switch back to Professional Coaching. This approach is illustrated in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2

Figure 4.2 Staying in Professional Coaching mode as much as possible

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020