ICP ACC or Agile Coaching Certification is one of the reputed certifications provided by the International Consortium for Agile. It focuses on the roles, responsibilities and mindset of an Agile coach. This certification aims to help learners with Agile practices and principles for successful task execution. After completing this course or certification training program, learners will be able to spot differences between and among facilitating, mentoring, teaching and professional coaching. Moreover, they will also acquire the skills required to build a healthy and safe working environment for the team members free from disputes. This certification training introduces individuals to the foundational coaching skills and team building and development concepts for initiating and growing teams while aiming at organizations and teams as human systems.
What is Agile Coaching, and what is the goal of Agile Coaching training?
The term and meaning of the word “coaching” are often misunderstood. It is different from consulting, mentoring and teaching. Coaching creates a surrounding for the team and individuals to grow. It forms an environment of respect, trust and healthy collaboration. Agile coaching training focuses on the importance and roles of an Agile coach. Agile is a collaborative approach to software development through teams, and an Agile coach plays a significant role in leading these teams. This course includes chapters that cover differences between coaching, consulting, teaching, etc. Participants are also introduced to team development concepts keeping in mind the team dynamics of a company.
Why should individuals get ICP ACC certification?
The ICP ACC certification can help people become Agile coaches to meet the increasing demand for Agile practices and techniques across various industries. Hence, people can end up with a promising career in the Agile environment. Here are some reasons that push organizations to get Agile coaches to coach their Agile teams.
- When it comes to setting up Agile practices and methodologies in an organization, a great-quality Agile coaching or training program can help to boost the existing workflow.
- An Agile coach motivates teams to acquire, scale up and flourish on Agile practices by letting them understand the need for Agile methodologies.
- For companies switching to Agile practices, an Agile trainer plays an important role in providing training to the Agile teams.
- Agile coaches act as mentors to boost the adoption and identification of Agile within the company. Also, they fulfil the knowledge gaps by using the correct set of activities.
- An Agile coach is responsible for ensuring continuous improvement through regular monitoring checks for companies’ progress.
How to get ICP ACC Certification?
To start a career as an Agile coach, individuals need to understand the basic and advanced levels of Lean-Agile Practices, mentoring skills, strong skills for team facilitation and professional coaching. Here are the steps to get ICP ACC certification.
- Get training- Enrol for the ICP ACC training program offered by an authorized partner of the ICAgile organization. Attend the 24-hour course to become an Agile coach.
- Complete the training program- Individuals need to prove how much they have understood within the training program. There is no such examination for ICP ACC.
- Receive the certification- After completing the course and proving their abilities in the class, individuals will get an email with the certification offered by ICAgile.
What are the prerequisites for ICP ACC Certification?
To be eligible for the ICP ACC training certification program, candidates need to have prior experience in Agile practices, though it’s not compulsory. Also, they should be familiar with the Agile Manifesto and the Scrum Guide.
Who can get ICP ACC training?
Participants such as executives, team leaders, managers, scrum masters, project managers, iteration managers, aspiring coaches, agile coaches, product owners can get ICP ACC training.
What will candidates learn through ICP ACC certification training?
Through ICP ACC certification training, candidates will learn the following.
- Agile mindset- Learn how to create an Agile mindset to establish an Agile framework.
- Agile manifesto- Find ways to achieve targets and get desired results at program, team and project levels using Agile.
- Mentoring- Develop skills to coach Agile team members, provide feedback and suggest appropriate tips.
- The coaching arc- Learn planning skills to maintain the workflow and help the team achieve targeted business goals.
- The coaching contract and alliance- Learn how to use coaching tools such as active listening, powerful questions, creating coaching contracts and alliances.
- Conflict resolution- Solve disputes among team members and maintain a healthy working environment.
- Coaching formats- Learn different formats of coaching and build a skill of picking up the correct format suitable to the situation.
- Tuckman model of team development- Enable teams, leaders and managers to identify conflicts and modifications during team development.
- The change cycle- Understand the applications Kotter Change Cycle model and Kubler Ross model to help managers, leaders and teams deal with changes.
- Organizational hurdles- Know various organizational hurdles by adopting Agile methodologies.
- External and internal coaches- Understand the roles and responsibilities of external and internal coaches and build the ability to coach people.
- Social domains- Consider organizations and teams as human systems- shared experiences, relationships, interpersonal awareness.
- Become a facilitator- Learn the principles of self-awareness, neutrality, self-management, group awareness, etc.
- Desired traits or features- Get thorough with the desired traits or features of an Agile coach to mentor, support, guide and facilitate changes.
- Become a teacher- Learn how to create learning experiences using suitable Agile techniques as per learners’ preferences.
What skills will participants acquire through ICP ACC certification?
After completing the training course, participants will acquire various skillsets such as,
- Professional coaching
- Team facilitation
- Mentoring
- Conflict resolution
- Teaching
- Building a collaborative working environment
- Large group facilitation
- Time management
- Leadership
- Team building
- Motivation
- Agility
- Negotiation
- Problem-solving
- Risk management
- Change management
- Leading change
- Performance tracking
What is the future of Agile Coaching?
After the pandemic, the demand for Agile trainers has been increasing. Various industries including, large and medium cooperations are hiring Agile coaches to increase the performance of their existing Agile teams, maintain workflow, reduce costs and timely product delivery. Further, these trainers provide transparency by focusing on relationship systems within organizations and teams to make them work for a common goal. It seems that the future of Agile coaching will get brighter with time.
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