Scrum Alliance® offered two different coaching certifications to distinguish individuals as an agile coach: Certified Team Coach (CTC) and Certified Enterprise Coach™ (CEC™).
The basic difference between the two credentials is the scope of applied coaching. A CTC applies coaching skills at a level above and beyond a single team; they work with multiple scrum teams, stakeholders, and management to improve performance and outcomes. A CEC applies coaching skills at the organizational level; they help leadership remove the barriers so that the company can embrace and sustain a company-wide agile transformation.
A successful CTC candidate demonstrated years of experience coaching across multiple scrum teams. As a CTC, they:
- Focus on a subset of an organization in a project or program, or across multiple teams;
- Work with scrum teams, stakeholders, and management to improve performance and outcomes; and
- Effectively impact department, project, and program agility.
A successful CEC candidate becomes a hands-on change agent working with leadership to identify organizational boundaries using professional coaching frameworks and practices. As a CEC, they:
- Partner at the leadership level to help navigate the ambitious process of becoming an agile organization;
- Use a customized approach to remove the barriers so the company can embrace the transformation;
- Understand that sustainable agility doesn’t happen overnight; it requires commitment and shift in perspective; and
- Working across multiple departments within an organization supports an Agile transformation.