What is the difference between a Certified Enterprise coach and a Certified Team Coach?

A Certified Enterprise Agile Coach (CEC) is an Agile coaching certification awarded to individuals who have demonstrated competence and capability working at the enterprise level of an organisation by the Scrum Alliance.

A Certified Team Coach (CTC) is an Agile coaching certification awarded to individuals who have demonstrated competence and capability working at the team level of an organisation by the Scrum Alliance.

In short, both coaches actively work with teams.

A Certified Enterprise Coach would be working with leadership teams throughout the organisation to help bring about change that leads to increased Business Agility.

In many organisations, leadership consists of individuals who operate independently of one another despite being a part of a leadership team.

A Certified Enterprise Agile coach will look to change that. They will actively work with individuals to forge a leadership team that shares information, expertise and collaborates across cross-functional departments to create products and services that truly delight customers.

They will break down the old silos and fiefdoms which are a common part of the organisation and seek to help leaders work together toward a shared and common vision, purpose and mission.

A Certified Team Coach would be working with individuals at the team level. Effective organisations often consist of creative, collaborative and cross-functional teams rather than lone individuals.

A Certified Team Coach embraces the contribution and creative capability of an individual but works to merge those individuals into strong, focused and aligned teams.

They work to create a strong team environment that empowers the individual to thrive and unleash their creativity and passion. They work to forge rock-solid teams that are committed to solving complex problems and create products/services that truly delight customers.

In essence, both coaches are performing the same role but at very different levels of the organisation. Some coaches prefer working at the team level whilst others prefer having a broader, larger impact at the leadership level of the organisation.

There isn’t a hierarchy that separates them. A Certified Enterprise Coach is not senior to a Certified Team Coach and vice versa.

They simply work at different levels of the organisation and help improve decision-making, capability development and critical analysis within the environments they serve.

Both coaches use influence rather than authority to achieve their goals and objectives.

They seek to create self-organising, cross-functional teams that empower people to do their best work. They seek to empower individuals to strive for a shared vision, mission and purpose and help them achieve that reality through a range of coaching techniques, conversations, and interventions.

Often, team coaches will collaborate with enterprise coaches to help align the organisation with Agile values and principles.

Both coaches interrogate lines of reasoning and help individuals achieve clarity around what they are doing, why they are doing it and how to best go about doing it.

Both coaches work to bring about change. One does so at the team level whilst the Enterprise coach does so at the organisational level. Often, both are experienced at working with leaders within team environments and help those leaders articulate a purpose that others can get behind.

If you are interested in becoming a Certified Team Coach or Certified Enterprise Coach, visit our Certified Scrum Master, Advanced Certified Scrum Master, and Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master course pages followed by the Agile Coaching Academy course page.

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