What are the qualifications required to be on a SCAMPI v1.3 Appraisal Team?

Mr. Appraiser, 

Sir, I was on your “Secrets of Scampi Appraisals” Webinar over the summer.  I believe you touched on the qualifications in the new SCAMPI 1.3 release about the make-up of the appraisal team.  Now that we are thinking about putting our team together, I don’t recall what you said about the new qualifications.

~ August A.

August, thanks for staying in touch.  I always encourage people who attend my CMMI webinars to come over to this blog at least once a week.  It’s a great way to keep the conversation going.

Your memory serves you right, August.  There was a big change in the method.  The Lead Appraiser’s qualifications are no longer factored into the appraisal team experience totals  For example, in previous versions of SCAMPI, with my 20+ years experience,  I could have met most of the experience requirements alone!  In the new release, however, the Lead Appraiser’s experience is not counted in - a smart move by the SEI IMHO.

As a result, your team will have to meet the 25-year experience criteria on their own.  Here are the qualifications I mentioned in the Webinar:

“Team members must have:

• An average of at least 6 years of field experience
• At least 2 years of experience performing the type of work addressed in each appraised Process Process Area they will be evaluating
• A team aggregate of 25 years of field experience relating to the content of each of the reference models in the scope of the appraisal.

The team (as a group):

• Must have a total of at least 10 years of management experience, and at least one team member must have at least 6 years of experience as a manager.
• Shall not be comprised primarily of staff that wrote the process being appraised.
• Shall not include the sponsor of the appraisal.
• Shall not include a senior manager who has supervisory authority over the entire organizational unit.
• Should not have any managers of the people being interviewed

AND . . . there should not be any reporting relationships WITHIN the appraisal team . . . just in case your boss is there to influence your "vote."

As you start to think about putting together your Appraisal Team, August, keep in mind that it still makes sense to hire the most experienced Lead Appraiser you can find.  His years of experience may not “count” with the SEI for Appraisal Teams, but it will certainly count with you.

 Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, Candidate SCAMPI Appraiser Observer, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations.  Jeff has taught thousands of students and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Learn more about CMMI Lead Appraisers and CMMI Appraisal Teams at www.broadswordsolutions.com