CoachingModesBest Practices

Expert, Mentor, Coach - When to Use Each Mode

By Pictor Team
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The hardest part of getting coaching isn't finding someone to talk to. It's knowing what kind of help you actually need.

When you're stuck on a team challenge, do you need someone to tell you what to do? Share wisdom from experience? Or ask questions that help you figure it out yourself?

The answer is: it depends. And that's exactly why Pictor gives you three distinct coaching modes.

Expert Mode: Tell Me What To Do

When to use it: You need a specific answer or practice to try right now.

Expert mode is for those moments when you're stuck and need a path forward. Your retrospective format isn't working. Your daily standups feel mechanical. Your team struggles with estimation.

You don't need philosophy or self-discovery - you need a concrete practice you can implement tomorrow.

What you get:

  • Specific frameworks and formats
  • Step-by-step approaches
  • Clear recommendations with rationale
  • Tactical guidance you can act on immediately

Example conversation:

You: "Our retrospectives feel flat. People don't open up."

Pictor (Expert): "Try the 'Start-Stop-Continue' format with a key modification: ask each person to share one 'Start' item first, round-robin style, before moving to other categories. This creates early engagement and psychological safety. Here's how to structure it..."

Expert mode gives you the answer. The practice. The next step.

Mentor Mode: Help Me Understand

When to use it: You need context, wisdom, and the "why" behind practices.

Mentor mode is for when you know that something works, but you want to understand why it works and when to apply it. You're building your judgment as an Agile practitioner.

Good mentorship doesn't just hand you answers - it helps you develop the mental models to adapt practices to your specific context.

What you get:

  • Wisdom from experience
  • The reasoning behind practices
  • Trade-offs and when exceptions make sense
  • Patterns that apply across situations

Example conversation:

You: "Why do some teams prefer story points while others use t-shirt sizes?"

Pictor (Mentor): "The estimation technique matters less than the conversation it creates. Story points work well for teams that have been together long enough to develop shared reference points. T-shirt sizes work better for newer teams or when you want to emphasize relative sizing over false precision. I've seen teams succeed with both, and I've seen teams fail with both. What usually determines success is whether the team uses estimation as a planning tool or a commitment device..."

Mentor mode builds your understanding so you can make better decisions independently.

Coach Mode: Help Me Think This Through

When to use it: You need to discover your own answer through reflection and powerful questions.

Coach mode is for when the best solution is the one you figure out yourself. Maybe you already have the insight but haven't quite articulated it yet. Maybe the situation is so unique to your context that no generic answer will fit.

Professional coaching uses questions to unlock your own thinking. It's slower than getting an answer, but the insights stick because you did the work.

What you get:

  • Powerful questions that reframe the situation
  • Space to think through your options
  • Clarity about what you actually want
  • Solutions that fit your specific context

Example conversation:

You: "Our team isn't self-organizing the way I hoped they would."

Pictor (Coach): "What does 'self-organizing' look like to you in this specific context? ... And when you picture your team in that state, what's different from today? ... What's one small thing that would signal movement in that direction?"

Coach mode doesn't give you the answer. It helps you find it yourself - which often means you find a better answer than anyone could have told you.

How To Choose

Here's a simple framework:

Use Expert mode when:

  • You're stuck and need immediate direction
  • Time is a factor
  • You're trying something for the first time
  • A proven practice exists for your situation

Use Mentor mode when:

  • You want to understand the "why" behind practices
  • You need to adapt something to your context
  • You're building your judgment as a practitioner
  • You're facing trade-offs and want experienced perspective

Use Coach mode when:

  • The answer needs to come from you
  • Your situation is unique or complex
  • You want to develop your own thinking
  • You're working through values or priorities

The Real Answer: All Three

Here's what we've learned: great coaching isn't about picking one mode and sticking with it. It's about moving fluidly between modes as the conversation evolves.

You might start in Expert mode ("What retrospective format should I try?"), move to Mentor mode to understand why that format works, then shift to Coach mode to figure out how to adapt it to your team's specific dynamics.

That's exactly how Pictor works. You're never locked into a mode. Switch whenever you need a different kind of support.

Because the goal isn't to receive perfect coaching - it's to get unstuck and move forward with your team.

Try all three modes: Each mode unlocks different kinds of insights. Experiment to find what works for your situation. Start a free coaching conversation →

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