Where can the "CMMI lady" learn more?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, I enjoyed your presentation at the PMI Forum in Detroit this week. I'm the CMMI lady whose boss wanted me to take on a Scrum-based project, so I could expand my repertoire as a project manager. Going in, I really thought Agile was too unstructured for us. Are you going to be giving that presentation again any time soon? I feel like I still have a lot to learn. ~ Julia W.

Hey, Julia – It was great to meet you at the Project Management Institute Forum for my CMMI+Scrum: Power Partners in Product Development” presentation on Monday. It's cool that you're still thirsty for more knowledge. Like the old saying goes …

But you knew that. There's a reason project management is one of the top skill sets demanded by organizations around the world today. You never stop learning.

I'm curious. What caused you to change your opinion about Agile? Don't tell me -- all my funny jokes, right?

But seriously, for a lot of project managers and executives, the great thing about CMMI is that it can (and should) be used to improve the performance of teams that are using Scrum (or any other technique). Scrum is a lightweight approach to managing the process for developing products in an iterative and incremental way. It's different than the "command and control" approach you're used to, and that’s probably why it felt “unstructured” to you. In Scrum, teams focus much more on "self-organization" and personal responsibility.  That's not to say that "waterfall" project team members are not responsible, only that the methodology does not address it.  The scope of Scrum does not include everything required to drive enterprise-wide performance, and fortunately, as I said, many such best-practices exist within the CMMI.  Just keep it light!

So whether your goals are to improve as a project manager, successfully deliver software, achieve a CMMI Maturity Level, or get on the path to becoming a great company, you can use the AgileCMMI approach to improve incrementally and in a lightweight, useful way, and reach your goals. AgileCMMI helps you get better at what you are already doing and increase the likelihood your project will be successful.

When will the CMMI Appraiser be back in Michigan? Not to worry. We're on location in Detroit all this week, conducting a CMMI appraisal with a great, agile engineering company ... and then I'm off to Madrid, Spain, for SEPG Europe on June 5, to teach an international audience about the benefits of AgileCMMI.  After that I'm off to Hong Kong.  The date of my return to Detroit will be announced this summer.

In the meantime, get your fill of timely, useful information right here.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

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

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.