31 Jul I’m Now an INQA Coach, Which Unlocks 80% Funded Support for Your SME
I’m now officially an INQA Coach. What does that mean?
It means I get to work with small and medium-sized businesses through INQA-Coaching, a well-funded program most companies in Germany have never even heard of. INQA-Coaching covers 80 percent of a multi-month, structured consulting process, the kind that most SMEs never get around to because of time or budget constraints.
The reason I went through the certification was pretty straightforward. I wanted the SMEs I work with to actually benefit from this funding. Many of them are dealing with real challenges: digitalization, new business models, their own leadership structure, team collaboration, or just too much effort for too little payoff. That’s exactly what INQA is there to support.
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What’s Actually Behind INQA-Coaching
INQA stands for the German government’s “Initiative New Quality of Work.” The name sounds bureaucratic. What it funds is anything but.
INQA-Coaching is the initiative’s flagship advisory program, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs through the European Social Fund Plus. Companies with fewer than 250 employees get 80 percent of up to twelve advisory days reimbursed.
Here’s what that looks like in practice: at a daily rate of up to €1,200 net, that’s up to €14,400 in total consulting costs. The government covers 80 percent of that, so if you use the full twelve days, that’s roughly €11,520 in funding. Your company covers the remaining 20 percent.
Before any of that starts, an official INQA advisory office checks whether your company qualifies, through a free initial consultation (more on that further down).
Once that’s settled, the actual coaching runs in three phases:
1. Initial Phase (about 1 month): Interviews with leadership and staff, followed by a joint kick-off workshop where you define the action fields for your coaching
2. Innovation Phase (about 3 to 4 months): A Lab Team of employees develops and tests solutions directly in day-to-day work
3. Learning Phase (about 1 month): A joint evaluation of the three work phases, plus an agreement on what happens next
Around three to six months after the coaching has ended, the relevant INQA advisory office conducts a final review meeting, in which I, as the coach, do not take part. The purpose of this meeting is to assess what has actually been retained within the organisation.
The program covers six action fields. You and your INQA advisory office jointly decide in the initial consultation which ones to focus on:
1. New business models and innovation strategies: new sales channels, digital add-on offers, responding to shifting customer demands
2. Production models and work organization: clear responsibilities, digital knowledge-sharing, agile processes instead of rigid ones
3. HR, employment, and qualification: targeted training, updated job profiles, digital learning formats
4. Social relations, trust, and culture: open communication, real participation from the team, feedback that actually lands
5. Leadership, career development, and career paths: modern leadership, shared leadership roles, more ownership
6. Future workplace, working hours, and performance policy: flexible hours, remote work, fair shift scheduling, healthier office setups
I’m authorized for all six. My deepest experience is in four of them: new business models, work organization, culture, and leadership. You can find all the details on my INQA-Coaching page.
What actually makes the difference for me isn’t the funding rate, it’s the approach behind it. Participation here isn’t a cultural aspiration, it’s a funding requirement. A coach who simply shows up with ready-made solutions doesn’t meet the program’s conditions, full stop.
In short, it always comes down to the same question: how does a company become future-proof without reinventing itself completely and without a massive budget.
Why I Became an Authorized INQA Coach
When I talk to SME leadership, the same questions keep coming up, no matter the industry:
“We need to go digital, but where do we even start?”
“Our processes are outdated, isn’t there funding for that?”
“We want to modernize, but we need help getting there.”
“Our team has grown, but our leadership structure hasn’t kept up.”
“We want to be more agile, but we don’t know where to begin.”
“We want to use AI in a way that actually helps, without getting lost in the hype.”
“We need new product ideas, but we don’t have a structured process for that.”
These questions are familiar to me because I’ve been working at exactly this intersection for years: in leadership development, in organizational and team development, and also in agile methods, product innovation, and helping companies use AI in ways that actually work. What’s new is that I can now offer many of these companies a concrete, government-funded way in, instead of just offering advice with no funding attached.
I wanted to offer this directly to the SMEs I already work with, not just as a general recommendation, but backed by real funding.
My Path to INQA Certification
Getting there meant going through a comprehensive selection process. I had to show proof of my consulting, coaching and facilitation experience, my working methods, and my understanding of the real challenges businesses face. My background isn’t limited to SMEs either, I’ve worked just as much with startups, scale-ups, and large corporations over the years.
Part of the selection process was also providing three major reference projects, along with contacts who could vouch for the work. The program reached out to those contacts directly and asked them to walk through what I’d actually done on these projects, how I approached them, and who I worked with. One of these projects was Blinkist, a Berlin company that grew into one of Germany’s most successful startups. I stayed on with their leadership team for 18 months as a strategic partner, coach, and consultant, from aligning around a shared vision all the way through execution.
None of this was a formality. The process makes sure that the coaches actually working in the program are properly authorized, not subcontractors, not a roll of the dice. For a publicly funded program with clear success metrics, that makes complete sense.
Going through it made clear just how much potential this program has, and how much leverage comes from supporting companies on their specific, concrete challenges.
What I liked most was how participatory the whole approach is. INQA-Coaching doesn’t mean I show up with ready-made answers, it means the team and I build and implement ideas together. That’s what makes the results hold up, and what creates real change.
Who INQA-Coaching Is Actually For
Whether you run a trades business, an agency, a service provider, or a manufacturing company, plenty of SMEs are realizing that something needs to change. What’s often missing is the entry point, the time, or the money.
With INQA-Coaching, we build that entry point together, structured, funded, and without the usual consultant jargon. It’s about real change that comes from the inside of your company and actually holds up over time.
The program is worth it if your company:
✅ has fewer than 250 employees and is based in Germany
✅ has been on the market for at least two years
✅ notices that growth or new demands have outgrown your current structures
✅ is ready to actively involve the whole team
INQA-Coaching isn’t a fit if you’re looking for a quick, one-off fix, want to use the coaching to prepare a workforce reduction, or you’ve already been through the program once. It’s a one-time opportunity per company.
Your local INQA advisory office checks the details during a free initial consultation. You can find yours through the map of INQA advisory offices.
Conclusion: INQA-Coaching Is a Funded Way In for SMEs Ready to Change Something
INQA-Coaching won’t hand you the answer to digitalization, new business models, your leadership structure, or whatever your biggest challenge happens to be right now.
What it does give you is something most SMEs don’t otherwise have: a multi-month, funded process where you and your team work out those answers together, backed by a consultant and coach with more than 20 years of experience in design, leadership, innovation, and organizational development, and a perspective that starts with the structure, not the symptom.
If your company meets the requirements, and you’re facing real challenges around digitalization, new business models, your leadership structure, team collaboration, or value creation, it’s worth taking a closer look at the INQA program.
Get in Touch
If you sense that something in your company needs to shift, but you’re missing the entry point, it’s worth talking through whether INQA-Coaching is the right way in for you.
The official first step for funding is a free initial consultation with an INQA advisory office. If you’d rather talk through your situation first, or just want to find out if we’re a good fit, you can reach out to me directly, anytime, whether or not you’ve already been to an advisory office.
In our first conversation, we’ll look together at where the real leverage points are in your organization. Free of charge, no pitch, no commitment.