Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Will CMMI+Scrum work for us?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser – I have an agile background and am a new partner in a traditional engineering firm in Falls Church, Virginia. My senior partners are interested in your idea of taking an agile approach to CMMI, but there are some fears about Scrum. What’s the best way to evaluate whether CMMI + Scrum will work in our environment? ~ Billy A.

Hey, Billy. Congratulations on being made partner. It reflects well on your senior partners that they chose someone who would champion new ideas like CMMI + Scrum.

You say they have some fears about Scrum? I wonder what you mean by that. Do they think chairs are going to get broken?

It’s true that Scrum Teams can get a little wild and crazy … but so far, to my knowledge, there have been no furniture casualties.

Even so, you ask a great question. Every traditional engineering or software firm needs to ask it from time to time, especially those who have adopted the CMMI:


Will CMMI + Scrum work for you? If it were simply a matter of logic, the answer would be, “Yes, yes, yes!”

Unfortunately, I’ve found that people are not logical when faced with change. Human beings tend to fear new ideas. And CMMI + Scrum is definitely a new idea that a lot of people are uncomfortable with, at first.

You may know from previous posts that this CMMI Appraiser started his career journey as a classical musician, and that my first degree was in music. Hence I use a lot of musical references, including this quote by the pioneering American composer, John Cage:

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."

Actually, I can understand why people are uncomfortable with Scrum. The first time I worked on a Scrum Team, I was uncomfortable with it. Now I’m such a big fan that many of our PROCESS projects are using Scrum.

So I feel qualified to offer a couple of suggestions for helping your partners get comfortable with CMMI + Scrum.

First, ask them to take a look at the CMMI’s Generic Practices, specifically GP2.8 and GP2.10. These GPs guide us to review data about process performance with higher level management. In other words, let’s have a discussion about the following data:

How happy are our customers?
Do we have a lot of rework here?
How productive are our employees?
What kind of defects do we have?
Do we have over-budget projects or late projects?

The answers may surprise you. They may even frighten you. I was talking with one engineering executive recently who did not even know what the metrics he should be tracking, or even what questions to ask. He was flying blind.  Scary!

Scrum helps us solve some of those problems by building constructs that encourage "information radiation," collaboration, and rapid return on information. Yes, Scrum takes faith and trust to get used to it, but I’d rather do that than continue to do things that haven’t been working. Perhaps your partners would agree that it may be worthwhile to try something a little different.

Feel free to share the Virginia CMMI + Scrum training class we are conducting specifically on this topic. Click the links below for more details and to register for CMMI Training in Virginia:

September 14, 2012 in Fairfax, VA – CMMI + Scrum Learning Experience

Your partners and you will get a lot out of the CMMI + Scrum Learning Experience. In this 1-day workshop, I lead you through a series of games and exercises designed to help you learn how to use CMMI to improve your Scrum or agile implementation, and how to make CMMI work with Scrum.

Thanks for the timely question, Billy! Hope to see you and your partners in September.

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI 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.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Julie Calfin Named Director of Consulting at Broadsword

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

Our software engineering firm adopted the CMMI solely to meet a customer requirement. But we soon found out that we could use the Model to get a system in place for getting things delivered to the customer, making it routine, so that it was repeatable, which made delivering services faster and better in the long run. How common is this experience with other companies? ~ Grant P.

Grant, glad to hear you have had such a positive experience with CMMI. It’s helpful for everyone in the industry when CMMI users share their stories, so thanks!

Like you, many companies are using the CMMI as one of the tools that can help them establish the type of environment that can make them a great company. As a result, they have been able to improve all areas of the business, and reach their goals faster. I think it is becoming quite common.

WE even use the CMMI here at Broadsword to help us become a great company.

As a matter of fact, our firm recently named Julie Calfin Director of Consulting, to lead our growing consulting division. Julie will help our company deliver the highest quality to our clients, using our AgileCMMI methodology and collaborative consulting and coaching solutions.

Please read on and join me in welcoming Julie in her new role and wishing her great success!



With over 15 years of experience in management consulting, organizational change management, process improvement and program management, Julie’s career progression includes multiple promotions within five companies from Consultant to Director – most notably as a member of the Global Automotive Consulting Practice with Ernst & Young.

Since 2008, Julie has served as Senior Consultant for many of Broadsword’s best known and most successful clients. She joins the Broadsword leadership team as Director and Executive Consultant.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Broadsword’s Consulting practice,” Julie said, “and am looking forward to working with each of our consultants to establish the standard for Broadsword’s service delivery. By providing more support and training, we will help our consultants deliver consistent, high quality services to our customers.”

We are proud and excited to welcome Julie to the Broadsword leadership team.

Read the full press release here: Julie Calfin Named Director of Consulting of Broadsword Solutions Corporation.  

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

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation and the incoming Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board. He is a certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser and CMMI Instructor. While teaching thousands of students in CMMI trainings, he has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students. Jeff can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com.

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

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Can remote workers be in our Daily Stand-up?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser: I am a software executive for a Virginia health products engineering company that is rated CMMI Maturity Level 3. When we have remote team members, can they join the Daily Stand-up, as long everyone is looking at the same lifecycle? ~ Lydia W.

Hey, Lydia,

We've had a ton of questions about getting CMMI and Scrum to work together -- and that's good! People are curious about Daily Stand-ups (sometimes called "Daily Scrums"), although some of their questions can be pretty zany. Just the other day, somebody said, “Hey, CMMI Appraiser. If I work from home, do I have to be standing up during the daily standup?”  uhhh . . . .

This CMMI Appraiser will leave that one to the Agile Puristas to decide.

Besides, I am more interested in your question, Lydia. What you are really asking is how do you figure out who should be involved during your Scrum ceremonies.

As a company that has put itself on the path to greatness by adopting the CMMI, you can – and should – apply Generic Practice 2.7 to every aspect of your business, including building behaviors for Scrum Teams.  In fact, GP 2.7 is a great guide for figuring out who our stakeholders should be.  Use it to identify which people have direct, daily impact and direct involvement with the project.  Those are the ones that belong on your Scrum Teams.  It just so happens that it is usually THE Scrum team, with potentially some special guests (yes, yes, purists, I said it...send your complaints to getalife@hotmail.com).

In other words, yes, you can have remote people on Scrum Teams.

So who should be invited to your Daily Stand-ups, anyway?

Some Scrum Teams will insist that only the core team be invited. Some Scrum Teams will want product managers involved. And others may want the pizza guy.  Actually, the pizza guy might be a higher priority than the Product Manager, but I digress.

Who’s in and who’s out?

To help you decide, there’s a playful concept in Scrum called the chickens and the pigs. The story of the chickens and pigs is as old as farm life itself. It goes like this:

A chicken and a pig are walking down the street. The chicken says, “Hey, Pig, I’ve been thinking. Let’s create a breakfast restaurant.”

“What will we call it?” said the pig.

“How about Ham and Eggs?”

And the pig looks disdainfully at the chicken and says, “No, thanks. I’d be committed, but you’d only be involved!”

That’s how it is in every company, regardless of methodology.  You have chickens and pigs, and all too often, the pork is in the meeting, sucking up air and filling time, but is not fully committed  People who are directly involved, and those who have direct impact, are the best bet for the attendees. Both are important stakeholders, but in different ways.  You decide what works and what doesn't.

By the way, Lydia, are you registered for our CMMI + Scrum Learning Experience workshop?   It's September 14, 2012 in Fairfax, VA.  We'd love to help you and your team cone out and practice Scrum approaches to problem solving within the CMMI.

Details here:  CMMI + Scrum Learning Experience

Hope to see you there!

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI 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.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

How do I identify stakeholders for adopting our CMMI-based process improvement program?

Dear CMMI Appraiser, I have a follow-up question. As I mentioned previously, I have been selected to lead the effort to adopt the CMMI for our company, which provides health care support services in Maryland. Now that I know that one of my roles and responsibilities as CMMI sponsor is to allocate resources to the program, including people, can you tell me how to identify the people who will be stakeholders? ~ Paula R.

Paula, it’s a pleasure to hear back from you. The CMMI Appraiser has been rooting for you in your new role leading the effort to adopt the CMMI, and I’m happy to forward your question to Julie Calfin. As you know, Julie is a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword who does amazing work with companies that are undergoing large scale business transformation. Take it away, Julie! ~ The CMMI Appraiser 

Thank you, CMMI Appraiser!

Paula, I have a quick and easy template to help you identify the stakeholders of your process improvement program. The stakeholder analysis is a simple chart with seven columns, like this:




Stakeholder Group: We can either identify stakeholders by groups in the organization that they are in, or by teams or individuals. Use each row of the chart to describe a different Stakeholder Group.

Description of Group: Because the groups have different characteristics, it will be helpful to provide a brief description of each group of stakeholders.

Impact: The key to implementing change successfully is to understand how each stakeholder is going to be impacted by the change. Use the chart to quantify the impact with a simple scale assigning high, medium and low impact.

Level of Influence: We also identify their level of influence, which is their ability to have an effect on other stakeholder groups in the organization. We gauge each group’s level of influence by assigning a value of high, medium, or low. Keep in mind that some stakeholder groups have the influence in the organization to make the process changes succeed or fail.

Buy-in and Involvement Strategies: Here’s where the chart really adds value. Use the information you’ve collected to design strategies to involve them in the process improvement program and get their buy-in. We want to get each of the stakeholder groups involved in adopting the changes that your new CMMI-based process improvement program will bring.

Note that some of our buy-in and involvement strategies might be to include stakeholders in designing your organization’s processes. Or, you may decide to use various stakeholders to pilot your processes.

Action Owner: To make these buy-in and involvement strategies actionable, we always assign them to a person. The action-owner is responsible for implementing these strategies, but they often have help from others to do so.

Time Frame: Last, we have a time frame, which describes the phase of the program or the calendar timeline for when you will be implementing your buy-in and involvement strategies.

This is an example of a tool that you can print out and populate.

To get started, I recommend looking at your company’s organization chart. Dissect the chart into different groups, divisions or teams within the organization, and give each one its own row in the template. Sometimes, it makes sense to create a row for specific people. For example, I’ve worked on projects where the CMMI sponsor will say, “I know this person is going to be especially difficult to get their buy-in and change their behavior.” In such cases, it makes sense to designate one row to that person.

You can use this information in other ways, as well, Paula. For example, when we write our Communication Plan, we want to make sure we reach everybody in the stakeholder analysis. This template can also be used to figure out what other tools and techniques, like training, will be needed to gain stakeholder commitment for the process improvement program.

I hope this helps, Paula – and please keep checking back. We love to hear from folks like yourself who are on the front line of putting their company on the path to greatness.

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

Julie Calfin is a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword Solutions Corporation. She has years of real world experience using OCM strategy and tactics to help her clients achieve their goals. Julie also uses the CMMI, in partnership with her clients, to set-up, monitor, and sustain process improvement programs.

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

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Register now for Virginia CMMI Training Classes

Hey, CMMI Appraiser – my business partner was one of the 100+ people who attended your CMMI + Scrum Learning Experience workshop at SEPG North America in Albuquerque last March. She loved it! Are you planning to do any CMMI training in Virginia any time soon, so that we can all attend? ~ Crystal B.

Hi, Crystal – I’m glad to hear that our CMMI+Scrum workshop was useful to your business partner. Yes, the CMMI Appraiser will be conducting Virginia CMMI training classes very soon. In fact, we’ll be "on location" in Virginia next month (details below). Are you ready to learn?



That's right!  In September, we are hosting a 3-day CMMI training class in Fairfax, VA, Introduction to CMMI-DEV v1.3, with an optional 4th day event if you sign on for the CMMI + Scrum Learning Experience that your partner enjoyed so much.

Click the links below for more details and to register for Virginia CMMI training classes:

CMMI Training in Virginia:

September 11-13, 2012 in Fairfax, VA – Introduction to CMMI-DEV v1.3 - Fairfax, VA
September 14, 2012 in Fairfax, VA – CMMI + Scrum Learning Experience

I really appreciate that you are thinking of bringing others from your firm to the Virginia CMMI training classes. Everyone who touches the process in your company is encouraged to join us.

And please feel free to invite colleagues from other companies. Whether they are an Agile shop, still seeking the kind of results they’ve been hoping for, or a CMMI-focused organization, looking for guidance on being lighter and more flexible, these practical, relevant CMMI training classes will give them new insights into addressing persistent problems, and help them improve upon what they are ALREADY doing. So share the news!

As you may know from your business partner, Broadsword is a different kind of organizational performance improvement company. We are the world leader in using Agile and Lean methods to drive high performance engineering, using our AgileCMMI methodology and collaborative CMMI consulting, CMMI training and CMMI coaching solutions. Executives, engineers, and business professionals (like your partner) have given us high marks for our training classes in cities all around the world. We’re looking forward to bringing our CMMI training back to Virginia.

See you there soon! 

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI 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.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

How should we present evidence to our Lead Appraiser?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, how should we prepare to present evidence to our CMMI Appraiser? We’ve always had an Agile software environment, but my partners and I have decided to adopt the CMMI for the structure and improvement it provides. Naturally, because of the cost, we want to do everything we can to assure we will pass the SCAMPI A Appraisal. ~ Joe C.

Hey, Joe,

Good decision to adopt the CMMI as a way to improve upon your agile software development practices. Some people claim the two are incompatible, but those people don't seem to understand that the CMMI is all about making what you ALREADY do, better, so it's a natural fit with agile (or any other projects).  Want to make the "Daily Standup" more effective?  CMMI can help you.  Want to get better results from "Planning Poker?"  CMMI can help.  You and your partners are correct that CMMI will help you add structure. But the value of the CMMI goes much deeper than passing a CMMI Appraisal. If you follow the intent of the CMMI, it can actually help you become a great(er) company.

Now, there are lots of ways to provide evidence to your CMMI Appraiser that you are doing great work. Here’s my favorite: Just show it to the guy!


What evidence should you show the CMMI Appraiser? How about a Scrum team room? They use “information radiators” for good reason - to share information! Look around you. Information is radiating everywhere. A well-run Scum team room can "radiate" information about 50+ practices from the CMMI!

Look at your white board. On that white board you’ve got sticky notes everywhere, with risks identified, carefully prioritized ('what keeps you up at night') with their sources associated with them.  Is that evidence?

Yes!

It’s OK to be creative in how you show evidence to your CMMI Appraiser. Photographs work. Tours work. Drawings work.  Even tattoos could work, if your team is so inclined (of course, getting a tattoo can cause infection, so always use a reputable artist).

This CMMI Appraiser likes to have companies give me detailed presentations about their projects before we even start. I tell them to go through and show me things so I can get the whole context. They show me white boards. They show me the comments in their code. Sometimes they even show me scanned napkins (please only use clean ones....).

That’s cool! The purpose of gathering evidence is not so you can check a box and say, “I have a document.” The purpose of evidence is so the Appraisal Team can reasonably (not beyond the shadow of a doubt, but reasonably) verify that you are indeed doing something like what is described in the CMMI book.  Of course, extra bonus points if you use a medium that OTHER people can benefit from.  A napkin is fine, as long as it can be stored, retrieved, shared, and used to make other projects better.

Bear this in mind as you get ready for your SCAMPI-A. You are not designing processes. You are creating environments to be productive. You are designing the way you want people to behave.

So do a little strategic thinking here.  How do you want people to behave? What are you trying to do as a company? Your CMMI Appraiser is asking you these questions too – at least this one is.

Being a great company is what you should focus on, Joe, not what you need to do to pass an appraisal.  Do THAT, and a nice certificate will likely be hanging on your wall.

Now that you know it – show it!

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI 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.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

How do I get a critical mass of people to adopt the CMMI?


Hey, CMMI Appraiser, I’m the CEO of a 90-person mobile products company in Fairfax, Virginia serving the health care sector.  We chose to achieve CMMI Level 2 recently, not because our clients required it, but because we value continuous improvement and innovation.  From reading past Ask the CMMI Appraiser, posts, I get that I need a critical mass of people to adopt the model and institutionalize it – but how do I make that happen? ~ Steve P.

Steve, it’s great that you value operational innovation so much that you’ve adopted the CMMI even though no customers are requiring that you do so.  The CMMIAppraiser hears from a lot of companies like yours who are passionate about making this change.  One of the leading experts on this topic is Julie Calfin, a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword.  Julie does amazing work with companies that are undergoing large scale business transformation. Take it away, Julie! ~ The CMMI Appraiser

Thank you, CMMI Appraiser!

Steve, providing the leadership to get a critical mass of people to adopt the CMMI – or any evidence-based improvement model – is a key piece of your Organizational Change Management Strategy.  But you don’t have to do it all yourself.  In fact, you can’t do it all yourself.  You need change leaders at all levels of the organization to make change happen. 

In an earlier post about business transformation, we talked about the steps involved in moving up the Commitment Curve to institutionalization.  It takes a special group of people to make that happen.  We call them change leaders.

Some change leaders are executives.  Some are middle managers or team leaders, and some are the current “heroes” who have respect in the organization.  Title doesn’t matter.  These are the go-to people on your team.  The ones that everybody relies upon to deliver under pressure.

How do you identify Change Leaders?  I recommend performing a stakeholder analysis.

First, sit down and identify all the people who will be impacted by the changes that your new CMMI-based processes will bring.  Describe them with characteristics (such as “well-liked,” “highly accountable,” and “natural leader”) and decide the degree to which they will be impacted by the changes.  Next, decide how much influence that they have on other stakeholders.   This gives you insight into who the Change Leaders will be.

Look for Change Leaders who are:

  • Executives who are accountable for achieving program goals
  • Middle and line managers who can lead and motivate their people
  • Informal change agents who have informal influence and respect

Once you’ve identified the people that you want to be Change Leaders, get them involved in specific activities, such as:

  • Being active SEPG Members 
  • Becoming process owners 
  • Joining a SIG (Special Interest Group) that designs or improves the CMMI-based processes
The wonderful thing about valuing performance innovation, as you do, Steve, is that your work is never done.  It’s not like you finish the initial stakeholder analysis and then you’re done identifying all the change leaders you will need for the duration of your program.  Not the case.  You will need change leaders with different skills and traits throughout your performance improvement program.

So keep updating your stakeholder analysis, and keep developing new change leaders.  That will keep you on the path to greatness!

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

Julie Calfin is a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword Solutions Corporation.  She has years of real world experience using OCM strategy and tactics to help her clients achieve their goals. Julie also uses the CMMI, in partnership with her clients, to set-up, monitor, and sustain process improvement programs.

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