In my current gig I was originally hired to help the developers improve their ability to write software using agile (specifically XP) techniques. Rather cautio

In my current gig I was originally hired to help the developers improve their ability to write software using agile (specifically XP) techniques. Rather cautiously I put "Agile Coach" on my business card. I'm not one of those coaches who focusses on management interaction. I sit down with programmers and pair program with them. I help break down stories with program managers. I introduce techniques to people and sit with them while they are learning to use them. My main goal is not to introduce a system, but rather to work with people and wait for opportunities to show why one way of doing things will be more successful than another way. It's a bit like a sports coach who will watch you do something, then introduce corrections, but always showing you how that correction made things better. For family reasons, I had had to move back to Japan from the UK and ended up working on contract for the same company. In the end, coaching from 9000 km away is pretty difficult. The communication bandwidth just isn't there. So now I primarily write code. My boss encourages me to continue "coaching" individual people, but I have to limit myself to one person at a time. I don't view myself as a coach any more. In truth, I have very little influence over what generally happens across the team any more. I go months where I don't even speak to some people on the team. I suppose I am mentoring individual people and cranking out code, which is a contractor's job. My role now is "contract programmer" I guess. I still pair program about 50% of the time (and with a 8/9 hour time difference, that's fairly tough on the sleep schedule... but it gives me plenty of time to ride my bike during the day ;-) )