Let’s see what’s new from my perspective:
1. This year’s report focus is on “How do agile coaches (and the organizations they serve) measure impact?”
- 29% General Performance Metrics (e.g. OKRs, KPIs)
- 16% Performance Reviews
- 15% Qualitative Feedback
- 15% Specific Agile Metrics (e.g. Agile Maturity)
- 11% Unsure / Not Measured
- 8% Customer Satisfaction Metrics (e.g. NPS)
- 3% Employee Wellbeing & Engagement Metrics
- 2% Leadership Style in Use
Top question for the consultants is how we evaluate if we haven’t wasted our money on you, and what coaches think they really have impact on:
- 32% Mindset / Culture Shift
- 20% Agility Improvements
- 12% Delivery Improvements
- 11% Performance Improvements
- 9% Process Improvements
- 14% Other
- 2% No Impacts / Unsure
Can you feel the difference? 🙂
2. How many certifications do coaches have?
- 33% 2 – 3 certifications
- 25% 4 – 6 certifications
- 22% More than 7 certifications
- 18% 1 certification
- 2% No certifications
As you can see, a coach without certifications is not a coach ☺. It makes sense, in my opinion, since the majority of certifications require formal testing (exams), it is meant to guarantee a certain level of quality.
3. How many days do coaches spend on their education per month?
Majority spend 1 – 2 days a month. Most time for education is spent in India 🙂 3-5 days a month.
4. Objectives for the coaches to study
- 50% Other knowledge and skills to better serve the wider Organization
- 50% Professional coaching skills
- 36% Broader and deeper knowledge of agile, frameworks, methods & practices
- 24% Facilitation skills
- 24% Other knowledge and skills to better serve the Product Owner & Business
- 24% Teaching and mentoring skills
- 21% Consulting skills
- 19% Other knowledge and skills to better serve Teams
5. Where do coaches work?
Majority is employed by their companies rather than work as independent consultants.
- 65% Employee
- 17% Independent on direct contract
- 18% On assignment from my employer (e.g. a consultancy)
6. How do they search for work?
- 45% Word of mouth or referral
- 29% Public jobs boards (i.e. LinkedIn jobs)
- 10% Through an agency
- 8% Sales team within consultancy
- 8% As an associate of a consultancy
7. How much do they earn?
The majority of respondents report earning between $50,000 USD and $200,000 USD per year (or $300 USD to $1,500 USD day rate). A small number of respondents, mostly from Latin America and the Indian Subcontinent (5%), report earning less than $20,000 USD per year ($120 USD per day).
An even smaller number of respondents (3%) report earning more than $300,000 USD per year, most of whom come from the USA, India, or Sweden.
The more experience a company has with agile, the more they pay their agile coaches.
8. What challenges do coaches face?
- 39% Difficulty changing culture / mindset
- 28% Organisational structure not suited to agile
- 18% Resistance from management / leadership
- 11% Not enough time allowed for agile transformation
- 4% Working remotely / COVID19
9. What certifications do they have according to their level?
We hope that this overview was useful for you. State of Agile Coaching 2022 is now available for you at this link.
If you wish to learn more about SAFe, welcome to our Leading SAFe 5.1 Online certification course.
