This badge was issued to Suman Chakravarthi Penematsa on April 11, 2021.

Certified Agile Transformation Coach (CATC) from Chicago State University

What is an Agile Transformation Coach?

Agile Transformation coaches work at an enterprise level. The role of an Agile Coach at an “enterprise-level” is very different from a normal team-level “Agile Coach” role. An Agile Transformation Coach must possess knowledge of Agile culture, Agile mindset, Digital transformation, Business Transformation, Organizational design, Enterprise Change Management, Leadership in a VUCA world, Transforming culture, Agile Transformation, and Executive Leadership Coaching. Beyond the team-level Agile Coach role, an Agile Transformation Coach:

  • Helps companies design and come up with a roadmap to effective Agile transformation for their business utilizing Culture, Strategy, and Technologies in an integrated fashion.
  • Works at a more strategic level to implement the transformation using a structured approach and best practices.

At the same time, they also should have a good grasp of at least some enterprise Scaled Agile frameworks like Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Large-scale Scrum (LeSS) or Disciplined Agile Delivery (DaD).

An Agile Transformation Coach is less involved in the day to day tasks of helping teams to implement Agile and is more concerned with helping to change the overall structure of the company to facilitate the Agile principles. This task requires working with the senior leadership and helping them understand the benefits of Agile as well as the structure needed to make it sustainable within the organization.

Organizational benefits of an Agile Transformation Coach

Waterfall to Agile Transformation can help streamline processes, but it is not easy to make significant changes in an organization. Encouraging everyone to get on board with a new method requires significant effort on the part of management.

Having an Agile Transformation Coach in place to give guidance can help a team navigate through the rough patches in the early period when the team or management questions the value of agile.

Agile Transformation Coach helps organizations in several ways:

  • Outline requirements on the core processes, people, and technology to enable agility
  • Identify required changes in culture and mindsets
  • Decide on Agile Transformation Approach
  • Develop high-level road map to Agile Adoption and Transformation
  • Create backlog list
  • Prioritize for immediate next steps
  • Facilitate organizational impediment resolution pertaining to Agile Transformation

The Agile Transformation Coach serves as an objective party to help navigate common roadblocks and pain points in the adoption and/or transformation process. Before he or she leaves, the goal is to have a fully functioning agile organization that is energized and ready to embrace the Agile at all levels. In another words, he or she lays out a solid foundation for sustained Agile Transformation.

The Agile Transformation Coach Role

The role of Agile Transformation Coach can be temporary or permanent, depending on the organization’s needs. Larger businesses might want to keep an Agile Transformation Coach on staff to help oversee the sustained transformation on a long term basis, but the position is typically temporary or contracted. For most businesses, especially midsize and small organizations, it’s more useful to hire an Agile Transformation Coach on a contract basis to help get jump start the Agile Adoption and Transformation efforts.

Agile Transformation Coach Responsibilities

Part of [the job] for Agile Transformation Coaches is leveraging experience and teaching the basics to bring people up to speed with an agile way of working. Since some employees might be unfamiliar with agile, it’s important to focus on the fundamentals and to make the agile framework accessible to everyone.

As an Agile Transformation Coach, you’ll need to have strong communication and interpersonal skills, since you’ll be working closely with employees across the entire company, including leadership. Chances are, you’ll find it difficult to convert some workers to the agile methodology. In these instances, you’ll need to know how to navigate the corporate culture to help the organization realize its goals.

A good coach knows how to work with the team and the leadership to change the environment. Managers and management is often quietly resistant to agile because it fundamentally challenges their power and control. The coach works with the leadership to see the future and be patient along the journey. The coach also works with the team to help them transform to being self-managing and accountable. These are big changes.

Most common responsibilities for an Agile Transformation Coach include:

  • Encourages employees and stakeholders buy-in
  • Collaborates on the creation and evolution of the Agile transformation road-map and owns driving activities across the organization
  • Supports development and monitoring of Agile adoption/maturity metrics to aid in accelerating overall Agile transformation efforts and to gauge the maturity progress of new and existing teams
  • Helps define and ensure consistent agile standards and best practices in alignment with the organization’s vision
  • Advances best practices for scaling and optimizing the agile practice
  • Develops and monitors metrics to track progress of Agile adoption and maturity to aid in accelerating overall Agile transformation efforts
  • Develops training materials and deliver across the organization
  • Provides individual coaching to delivery team members, managers, executives, and other employees throughout the company
  • Participates, organizes, facilitates communities of practice to help foster lean and agile thinking Mentors Agile delivery teams, their coaches, stakeholders and leaders to help them adopt the mindset and practices needed to transform the organization

Agile Transformation Coach's Compensation

Agile Transformation Coaches earn between $125/Hour to $200/Hour ($237,500 to $380,000 annually) if they work on a contract basis. For full time employees, earnings between $135,000 and $260,000 with benefits is prevalent within the US. Demand for Agile Transformation Coaches is expected to rise much faster than other IT roles. Experience, training and certifications, location, and industry are several factors that would impact expected earnings of Agile Transformation Coaches.

Agile Transformation Coaches do work in one or more of the following roles:

  • Enterprise Agile Transformation Coach
  • Agile Transformation Coach
  • Enterprise Agility Coach
  • Lead Agile Transformation Coach
  • Senior Transformation Coach

Past Participants

Past participants of our Certified Enterprise Agility Coach training program came from variety of industries, including healthcare, banking, finance, credit card issuers, retail, oil and gas, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, communication and internet, energy, computer manufacturers, consulting firms, credit bureaus, network manufacturers, software, hardware, government organizations, satellite manufacturers, credit unions, and oil refineries to name several. Here are few of the 140+ organizations that our past participants represented:

Walmart, Kroger, Target, Accenture, USAA, Shell, ExxonMobil, Citibank, Master Card, Visa, Duke Energy, Bank of America, IBM, FedEx, Aetna, Anthem, CVS, Walgreens, Tesla, Verizon, Infosys, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, CapitalOne, USPS, US Bank, Blackrock, CBRE, TD Ameritrade, Wipro, Micron, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Discover, Chevron, Ford, HP, Allstate, State Farm, Desjardins, Petrobras, Enterprise, US Coast Guard, US Department of State, UHG, FDA, SAIC, BCBS, HCSC, PepsiCo, Dell

Training opportunities for Agile Transformation Coaches

We at Chicago State University offer several career enhancing training programs for Agile Transformation Coaches. Agile Transformation Coaches can pursue to attend one or more of the following training offered by us:

  1. Certified Agile Facilitator (CAF)
  2. Certified Agility Coach (CAC)
  3. Certified Enterprise Agility Coach (CEAC)
  4. Certified DevOps Transformation Coach (CDTC)
  5. Certified Business Agility Coach (CBAC)
  6. Certified Agile Leadership Professional (CALP)
  7. Certified Agile Change Practitioner (CACP)
  8. Certified Servant Leader Practitioner (CSLP)
  9. Certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner (CEIP)

Agile Transformation Coaches can earn a Master’s Certificate in Agile Management (MCAM) by completing training programs 1-4 in addition to Certified Agile Transformation Coach (CATC) training. They can further their advancement by earning Advanced Master’s Certificate in Agile Management (AMCAM) by completing training programs 5–9. Both the Master’s Certificate in Agile Management (MCAM) and the Advanced Master’s Certificate in Agile Management (AMCAM) are the first and only such programs in the world!

Eligibility for Master's Certificate

Completion of this Certified Agile Transformation Coach (CATC) training program fulfills 20% of the requirement to earn Master’s Certificate in Agile Management (MCAM). Participants are required to complete total of five Agile Training Programs from Chicago State University (CSU) to earn their Master’s Certificate in Agile Management–The world’s first and only program in Agile Field!

Agile Training Programs from Chicago State University
Master's Certificate in Agile Management (MCAM)
Advanced Master's Certificate in Agile Management (AMCAM)

Certified Agile Transformation Coach (CATC)

Issued by Chicago State University

General Information:

Type: Certification
Level: Intermediate
Time: Weeks
Cost: Paid

Verification:

Name: Suman Chakravarthi Penematsa
Course Schedule: April 10 – April 11
Completion Date: April 11, 2021
Total Training Hours: 15
Certificate Number: 96-018-0803-26718

ISO Accreditation and Certification:

ISO 9001:2015: Yes
ISO 17024:2012: Yes
ISO 21001:2018: Yes
ISO 26515:2018: Yes

Information:

This Certified Agile Transformation Coach (CATC) training program and all other Agile training programs from Chicago State University (CSU) are ISO 9001:2015, ISO 17024:2012, ISO 21001: 2018, and ISO 26515:2018 accredited and certified.

What is the purpose of ISO?

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental, international organization that develops standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficiency of products, services, and systems.
 
How does ISO define quality?
 
The term “quality” has a relative meaning. This is expressed by the ISO definition: “The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs”
 

Benefits of ISO

Some of the main benefits of ISO 9001 certification include:
  • Suitable for both small and large organizations.
  • Better internal management.
  • Less wastage.
  • Increase in efficiency, productivity and effectiveness.
  • Improved customer retention and acquisition.
  • Consistent outcomes, measured and monitored.
  • Globally recognized standard.

What is the meaning of ISO 9001:2015?

ISO 9001:2015 specifies requirements for a quality management system when an organization:

a) needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements; 

b) aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

All the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 are generic and are intended to be applicable to any organization, regardless of its type or size, or the products and services it provides.

What is the meaning of ISO 17024:2012?

ISO/IEC 17024:2012 contains principles and requirements for a body certifying persons against specific requirements, and includes the development and maintenance of a certification scheme for persons. The nature and complexity of the IT industry/Agile Industry has created hundreds of training courses and qualifications over the years. Many are vendor-specific and – in terms of training staff to configure and operate these products – provide a perfectly adequate demonstration of knowledge and skills. They are, however, often linked to the purchase of products and, as such, are subject to the commercial bias of a very competitive IT marketplace.

ISO 17024:2012 – recognized by employers worldwide
Independent and accredited exam bodies such as ISACA, (ISC)2, Chicago State University’s Agile Training Programs, CompTIA, APMG, and IBITGQ have been created to counteract the commercial bias of vendors, and to provide consistent and comparable qualifications on an international basis. But who verifies the independence and quality of the courses and exams offered by these organizations?

The ISO/IEC 17024:2012 standard (Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons) specifies that accredited exam bodies:

  • Meet a global, industry-recognized benchmark
  • Are consistent, comparable and reliable worldwide
  • Demonstrate that holders have the necessary knowledge and skills
  • Are validated to ensure they are recognized by employers and peers

Employers and training development managers recognize the value of ISO 17024:2012, and it’s no coincidence that the careers of Agile Practitioner are built on the foundations of ISO 17024:2012 qualifications.

What is the meaning of ISO 21001:2018?

ISO 21001:2018 specifies requirements for a management system for educational organizations (EOMS) when such an organization:

a) needs to demonstrate its ability to support the acquisition and development of competence through teaching, learning or research;

b) aims to enhance satisfaction of learners, other beneficiaries and staff through the effective application of its EOMS, including processes for improvement of the system and assurance of conformity to the requirements of learners and other beneficiaries.

All requirements of ISO 21001:2018 are generic and intended to be applicable to any organization that uses a curriculum to support the development of competence through teaching, learning or research, regardless of the type, size or method of delivery.

ISO 21001:2018 can be applied to educational organizations within larger organizations whose core business is not education, such as professional training departments.

ISO 26515:2018 Systems and software engineering — Developing information for users in an agile environment

This standard supports the interest of information developers and associated roles responsible for producing information for users of software and systems developed within an agile environment. This standard takes a process standard approach to specify the way in which information for users can be developed in agile development projects.
 

This standard provides requirements of information management and information development processes appropriate for software projects that are using agile development methods.

It covers:
  • The overall requirements for information in agile software development.
  • Requirements for the information development lead or project manager to plan an agile information development project and manage the information development activities in an agile environment.
  • Requirements for designing, developing, and providing information for users in an agile environment.
  • Describes agile development practices and methods.

Skills:

  • Activating Agile Culture
  • Agile Adoption and Agile Transformation
  • Agile Leadership – New way of thinking and new way of working
  • Agile Mindset
  • Agile Mindset – Doing Agile vs Being Agile
  • Agile Transformation
  • Agile Transformation Approach
  • Agile Transformation Coach – Roles and Responsibilities
  • Agility
  • Business Agility and Enterprise Agility
  • Change Management
  • Change Mindset
  • Coaching
  • Collaborative Culture and Create Culture
  • Core Cultures and the Leadership/Management Focus
  • Culture
  • Culture, Structure and Technology
  • Data Transformation
  • Digital Disruption
  • Digital Transformation
  • Enterprise Transformation
  • Holacracy vs. Hierarchy
  • How to Energize People
  • Intent Based Leadership (IBL)
  • Leadership
  • Leadership characteristics for Agile Leaders
  • Leadership in a VUCA world
  • Management vs Leadership
  • Mindset shifts for Organization Transformation
  • Mobilizing Organization Culture
  • Organization Health: The Four Disciplines Model
  • Organizing for Agility
  • Solution Transformation
  • Structure
  • The 5 cultures of culture
  • The Goals of Agile Enterprise
  • Transformation
  • Transformation Strategies
  • Transforming Culture
  • Transforming for Agility

Certificate Earning Criteria:

  • Attendance in the training course
  • Active participation in training course – Group Activities, Quizzes, Group Discussions, Q & A, Comments, etc.

CEUs Eligibility:

  • PDUs from PMI – 15 [PMP, PgMP, PfMP, ACP, and PBA certifications]
  • SEUs from Scrum Alliance – 15 [CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO certifications]
  • CDUs from IIBA’s – 15 [CCBA and CBAP certifications]

Course Description:

About Training

The Agile Transformation Coaching Workshop is a training program focusing on the factors/traits/skillsets necessary to accomplishing Enterprise-wide Agile Transformation. This is a highly interactive workshop that makes ample use of discussions and exercises to help participants learn the soft skills necessary to have a successful and sustainable agile transformation/transition. Participants will learn and refresh their knowledge of Agility, Culture, Structure, Leadership, Agile Mindset, Business/Enterprise Agility, Change Management and other necessary components to lead Agile Transformation within an organization.

The course focuses on four distinct aspects in an integral fashion: Leadership, Change Management, People, and Culture. These aspects equip agile transformation coaches and leaders to have smoother agile transformation. The training also focuses on enhancing a learner’s skill in servant leadership, organizational change, organizational health, people, transformation and agile enterprise.

Some of the elements that participants will learn during the workshop:

  • How organizational culture, structure and dynamics impact agile transformation efforts and how an Agile Transformation Coach could adjust his/her strategy to achieve and sustain Enterprise Level Transformation.
  • What the goals of an Agile Enterprise are and how to organize/transform to achieve Agility.
  • How to successfully achieve Waterfall to Agile transformation at the Enterprise level.
  • Examine what failures in Agile Transformation look like and how to overcome such failures.

Learning Objectives

Mastering agile transformation coaching skills will require both time and practice. This workshop will enable you to:

  • Learn about transformation, agility, culture, structure and leadership and how it relates to successful agile transformation.
  • Understand and utilize the key skill areas and knowledge areas applied by the best agile transformation coaches.
  • Gain an understanding of organizational change, types of changes, resistance, and how to successfully achieve a higher degree of enterprise agility via agile transformation.
  • Learn how to energize people and drive them towards agile transformation.
  • Differentiate between agile adoption and agile transformation.
  • Learn the Agile Transformation Approach through a step by step process.
  • Learn what successful Enterprise Agile Transformation looks like.
  • Identify challenges in Agile Transformation.
  • Recognize the broader context of an organization to determine the best interventions and actions to create a positive impact.
  • You’ll walk away from the course with your personal agile transformation coaching improvement backlog – a tangible plan you can use to thoughtfully improve your coaching when you’re back on the job.
  • You’ll have many new things to try with your organization and you will probably depart with a few provocative ideas to chew on or to wrangle with for a while. All these outcomes add up to your ability to become the excellent agile transformation coach your organization need.

Topics Covered

  1. Transformation
  2. Agility
  3. Culture
  4. Structure
  5. Leadership
  6. Agile Mindset
  7. Business Agility and Enterprise Agility
  8. Agile Adoption and Agile Transformation
  9. Change Management
  10. Organization Health: The Four Disciplines Model
  11. The Goals of Agile Enterprise
  12. Organizing for Agility
  13. Transforming for Agility
  14. How to Energize People
  15. Transformation Strategies
  16. Agile Transformation Coach – Roles and Responsibilities
  17. Agile Transformation Approach
  18. Waterfall to Agile Transformation
  19. Successful Enterprise Agile Transformation
  20. Examining Failures of Agile Transformation
  21. Challenges during Agile Transformation and how to overcome

Pre-requisites

  1. Knowledge of Agile Manifesto and Agile Methods (Scrum, Kanban, XP) would be very helpful.
  2. Interested to work with Senior Leaders and Executives in terms of achieving Enterprise Agility.
  3. Willingness to learn and apply softskills and people skills.
  4. Strategic thinker.
  5. Curious, eager, patient, and calm.

Who should attend?

  • Project, Program, and Portfolio Professionals who aspire to take up the role of an Agile Transformation Coach or Enterprise Agile Transformation Leader.
  • Experienced Scrum Masters, Agile Project/Program Managers or Iteration Managers who want a more comprehensive understanding of the complete range of enterprise agile transformation skills.
  • Current Agile coaches who want to enhance and improve their professional skills to achieve career progression to Agile Transformation Coach/Leader.
  • Coaches who wish to increase the ability to break through seemingly insurmountable problems with their organizational issues, changes, and resistance.
  • Agile managers, Product Owners and others wishing to access a broader range of skills in working at organizational level.
  • Agile Transformation Leaders, Change Agents, Agile Managers, Portfolio Managers, Agile Business Leaders, Process Improvement Professionals, and other Agilists wishing to learn/enhance their organizational capacity and leadership to support continuous and sustainable agile transformation.

Contact Information:

Phone: (800) 417-4940
Email: info@agility4all.com

Corporate Training Inquiry:
training@agility4all.com

Course Calendar:

Chicago State University’s Agile Training Programs Calendar