Sunday, October 30, 2011

New look and now we're mobile!

Dear Readers,

I hope you like the new look and feel of the "Ask the CMMI Appraiser" site.  We continue to offer you free, useful advice about the CMMI and Agile methods - all without ads or commercials!

We're Mobile!

Now you can access "Ask the CMMI Appraiser" optimized for your iPhone, Android, iPad or other mobile device.

I use it with my brand-new Android Bionic (awesome machine!) and it works great.

Today I'm spending the day finalizing my submission for the SEI's SEPG 2012 conference.  I've spoken at the conference every year since 2006 - so wish me luck!

As usual, thanks for reading, and keep those CMMI  and Agile questions and comments coming!


Saturday, October 29, 2011

What are some guidelines for process design that I can share with the rest of my team?



Dear Appraiser,


Last month some of the members of our scrum team attended your "Scrum + CMMI Learning Experience" workshop.  They mentioned you have developed an "Agile Process Manifesto" that helps guide companies as they develop their processes.  Would you mind sharing that with the rest of us?" ~Ed


Ed,


First of all, thanks for sending some of your team members to our Scrum + CMMI Learning Experience.  You missed out on a great time!


I authored the "Agile Process Manifesto" in 2006 after working with many clients (including "agile" organizations) whose approach to process improvement was straight out of the waterfall handbook.  ugh!


The first audience to see this was at the SEI's SEPG 2006 conference - I'm not sure they knew what the heck I was talking about.  Back then, Agile and CMMI together were, well . . .   misunderstood.


If you want to watch something funny, sit in on a session of "agile project managers" as they list all of the dozens of work products, templates, and meetings they are going to "force" their people to adhere to as they go through the process design stage of their project!  It's  hoot!  You've heard of "technical debt?"  We call this "process debt."


Inspired by the authors of the "Agile Manifesto" (but sans all the books, certifications, and conferences they've spawned), I've come up with with something that I think makes sense to software developers and project managers alike.  Similar in format - in that there are "things on the left and things on the right" - I've tried to help guide companies who become too focused on certifications and compliance - so focused that they completely waste their valuable time and money.


Like the "Agile Manifesto," I also want to remind you all that while the "things on the left" are most important, the "things on the right" are ALSO important - just not as important in the big scheme of things.


So here it is:

With appropriate attribution to Sutherland, Jeffries, Schwaber, Beck,  Highsmith, et al

So, when you develop your process, especially if your moving toward a CMMI Appraisal or planning on some CMMI training, check yourself against the Agile Process Manifesto - and keep it Agile!




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.

He has recently developed the "Scrum+CMMI Learning Experience" for Broadsword.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Where can I find white papers about CMMI and Agile?


Dear Appraiser, in our engineering division, we’ve got a CMMI champion and an Agile champion.  I’ve been reading your blog for a long time, and I know you say it is possible to improve as a company by applying Agile methods to the CMMI model.  Is there a detailed CMMI white paper I can share with my team on this? ~ Za Niam

Dear Za,

Thank you for being a long-time reader.  As you know from reading "Ask the CMMI Appraiser" a lot of engineers mistakenly believe that Agile development methods (such as Scrum and XP) and the CMMI  are at odds with each other.  As you already know, they aren’t.

I can point you towards a CMMI white paper on this.  Three years ago, I teamed up with four other industry luminaries to write a report ("CMMI or Agile: Why not embrace both?") that clarifies why the discord between Agile and CMMI need not exist.  The report shows that CMMI and Agile champions can work together to achieve great benefit from using both, and exploit synergies that have the potential to dramatically improve business performance.

Amazingly, even though it was written three years ago, the report is still timely.  In fact, it continues to be the No.1 download from the SEI web site.  Check it out here.

You can also download it (and other white papers about CMMI) here.

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.

He has recently developed the "Scrum+CMMI Learning Experience" for Broadsword.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

Monday, October 24, 2011

This Halloween, don't turn into a company full of CMMI Zombies!

Dear Appraiser, I am leading the effort to get the CMMI certification, but my team is reluctant.  They say they don’t want us to stifle their creativity and become robotic, like automatons.  What advice would you give management for how we can make this initiative more compatible with our team culture?  ~ Mr. R.

Mr. R,

I applaud your concern for your team's culture.  But it sounds like your team is a bit confused about what the CMMI is and is not.

What the CMMI is: the CMMI is an excellent tool to improve software and engineering product development.  It’s extremely useful in lighter, agile environments, as well as in larger, structured environments.

What the CMMI is not: the CMMI is not a death march that zaps your team’s energy and turns them into zombies. 

Don't turn yourself into a company full of CMMI Zombies!


As an executive leading this type of CMMI effort, you are right to give serious thought to the behaviors of people who are using these tools, techniques and methods.  After all, it’s easy for us to sit in a conference room with our team and dictate to them: “You have to be CMMI Level 3.  You have to have measures.  You have to have documentation.  You have to have all these things.”

But you are clearly a different type of manager, Mr. R.  You are willing to listen to your team, and guide them.  In that case, the first thing you should do is help them understand that the CMMI is not about certification.

Not about CMMI Certification?  What the heck?

It’s true.  Because the phrase, “CMMI certification” is commonly used by many people and it creates a lot of confusion.  We can thank our friends in the DoD for creating an environment where it looks and feels like a certification.  They put requirements in their RFPs and contracts that say, “You must be CMMI Maturity Level 2 or 3.”  But this is a problematic interpretation by the government (or even commercial customers) of what the SEI is trying to accomplish with the CMMI.

So what are we trying to do?  We’re trying to help you be better at what you do!  This is something we all want for ourselves, to be in a continuously improving environment, your team included.  However, as executives, when we put a “certification” mindset around this noble intention, we sometimes drive the wrong kind of behaviors. 

Instead of a death-march to certification, I suggest that you to focus your team on the fact that the CMMI is about the transformation of the culture of your company.  It’s about changing the way we behave, so that we build products that are better than other companies that are building similar, but inferior, products.

You can’t transform a culture by creating documents.  You can’t transform a culture by giving away certificates.  And you sure can’t transform a culture by turning everyone into zombies. 

But you can transform a culture by understanding that the CMMI is a model for how GREAT companies perform.

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 Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

How does Scrum support CM SP3.2 - Configuration Audits?


Dear Appraiser, I would like to comment on the CM SP 3.2

I learned a lot in your Scrum + CMMI Training presentation and per your suggestion, I've used my imagination to show that during the Demonstration at the end of a sprint, the Product Owner effectively does a FCA (Functional Configuration Audit) by accepting the work that was presented by the Agile team. By accepting the work, I am saying that the Product Owner recognizes that the user story has been completed satisfactorily, and that it has achieved the functional and quality attributes expected at this stage of development.  Is that what the practice is talking about?  Scrum doesn't seem support any type of "configuration audit."

First of all, it's great that you're looking at how Scrum+CMMI can work together.  That's awesome!

Integrity of the code, and of other work products (User Stories, charts, metrics, test results, designs),  is not specifically addressed in Scrum - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't make sure that we're not screwing it up!

As I say in my workshop "CMMI+Scrum Learning Experience" neither Scrum nor CMMI are suicide pacts!  Scrum doesn't address writing code either - are we going to "follow Scrum" and produce no code? Of course not!

The neat thing about CMMI is that it can (and should) be used to IMPROVE the teams who are using Scrum (or any other technique).  Scrum is a minimalist approach to developing products in an iterative and incremental way, but it does not cover everything required to successfully deliver software.  Many of those things exist within CMMI.

The trick it to make it "scrummy."  Iterative, incremental, and lightweight.  Conduct incremental reviews of the status of your baselines - the CMMI might use the language "Configuration Status Accounting" but don't let that scare you.  You can do it incrementally and in a lightweight (and useful) way.  Be creative and let your imagination take over!

Good luck!


 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

Sunday, October 9, 2011

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

What kind of projects should be included in our appraisal?

Dear Appraiser

Our team has been discussing (and haven’t agreed upon) what kind of development projects we should consider suitable to be candidates to go into the appraisal.

We all agree that software development projects should be included in our scope, but what about maintenance?  Is it possible to include these kind of “projects” in our “appraisable” portfolio?  I know this seems like simple question, but we really need help! ~Allan

Allan,


I love your question!  The reason this is such a cool question is that it drives many OTHER questions!  And you know what they say about a good consultant - they have no answers but all the right questions . . . 

The question of "appraisable portfolio" is a complex one.  So let me break this in to a few sections:

Organizational Unit: In most cases, project selection is tied to "organizational unit," a term in SCAMPI that refers to 1) the "group" to be appraised and 2) the group that gets to claim they're "Maturity Level Two."  Organizational units are further broken down by "sampling factors" like who the work is being done for, who controls the budget, the type of work being done, and so on.


So this means that (potentially) your Organizational Unit could EXCLUDE maintenance projects and, even though you should consider using the CMMI to help make those processes stronger, they would not be part of your appraisal.


If you choose to do this, make sure you've spoken with a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser (a qualified one . . . ) to review your decision - just in case.  If this is what you decide then jump to the end of the post.

Sampling Factors:  I alluded to them earlier, but these are the factors we as Lead Appraisers MUST consider when determining what the sample is WITHIN your organizational unit.  So if you choose to include maintenance projects in your OU, then the application of sampling factors would affect the number and analysis of projects within each "sub-group" are sampled.


Data Sufficiency Rules:  OK, so we've made the decision to include your maintenance group, and the sampling factors tell us how many of those "projects" need to be included.  The data sufficiency rules tell us what data gets collected from which projects.  This means, by definition, that not ALL the projects in the sub-group ("maintenance" in this case) have to be able to provide evidence for the full scope of the model.


On including maintenance projects in an appraisal


Sure, why not?


The real question here isn't whether you include them, it's whether you realize that the CMMI can help you just as much for maintenance projects as it can for development projects.  I've heard many a "consultant" and Lead Appraiser say that the CMMI is only a good fit for development projects.  ahem.


Hogwash.


What we have here Allan, is a failure of imagination.  In a maintenance project a "requirement" becomes a "ticket," a "plan" becomes a "backlog" and an estimate is almost always based on history.


It's this transference of concepts that trips most people up.  Don't let that happen to you.  Put your maintenance team on the Path to Greatness just like everyone else and don't leave them behind.  You'll be happy you did.



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 Appraisers at www.broadswordsolutions.com