"People are key to creating successful teams"

Describe yourself with 3 words:
Curious, energetic, storyteller.

Tell us a little bit about your background:
I started out as an Electronics and Software Engineer in the UK dabbling in so many types of projects. Next, I took an opportunity to be more customer facing in a project management consultancy role which ended when I was gifted a year's secondment in senior management. All these experiences then came together in my first Scrum Master role, 3 years ago, which I instantly deeply connected to. Thanks to a plane ride 10 months ago I'm now in Sweden continuing what I love!

Your carrier at Sogeti:
I am still in my first year here, working as an Agile Coach for an agile transformation with one client that is both challenging and rewarding. Inside Sogeti I am involved in helping to build the agile community and experimenting with ways of working which enhance the value our customers get from their agile projects.

Why are you passionate about the field of expertise you are skilled in?
Three words: people, people, people! Every day is a fresh opportunity to watch teams discover their best selves. I often describe myself as an "organizational archeologist" because I enjoy uncovering the historic decisions which have led to behaviors which now restrict growth. I love making impediments transparent and challenging how people think. The absolute best thing about agile coaching is seeing teams succeed and my support no longer being required.

How do you share your expertise?
I feel quite passionate about connecting to and learning with other "agilists". As well as giving talks or providing individual coaching, I try to prioritize a regular "lean coffee" run by our Agile Hub Sweden. My hope is this year to create additional services within this hub. In May I was fortunate to attend and facilitate at a virtual Capgemini Agile Coaching conference which was an awesome sharing experience where my topic was "how to kill an agile team without anyone noticing".

What can a regular workday look like?
I think I can summarize it as goals, people, action, study and journaling. A lot of my time is helping people to think through their challenges and finding the balance between coaching and mentoring.  Right now, I am preparing for some "Agile 101" courses and trying to assess the needs of some leaders at my client. It is important to me that my day has space for reflection, so that I can maintain my coaching perspective, and journaling is my tool for this.

Why do you work for Sogeti?
Firstly, I wanted to have the opportunity to work somewhere where I could be a proper Agile Coach (not a "Project Manager with Agile skills"). Secondly it is great to have exposure to so many ways of working through the Agile hub - this is key to my continued professional development.

What are the common denominators for a Sogetian?
Two qualities come to mind quickly - boldness and kindness. I think those speak for themselves!