We want to improve as engineers and as a company – where do we start?

Dear CMMI Appraiser,  my boss told me to put a CMMI Appraisal Team together for our first CMMI appraisal, and am looking for good a CMMI Training course to help us improve as engineers and as a company. Where do we start? ~ Sam C.

Sam, welcome to CMMI! It’s great that you know that your goal is to improve, both individually and organizationally. What better place to start?

A lot of beginners come to the CMMI thinking they need to “get a CMMI level” or “achieve a CMMI Maturity Rating” – but that’s not really the point. Yes, you’ll achieve those results with a proper adoption of the CMMI. But it’s far better for your company and your career to approach the CMMI as a tool that can help you improve and change the way your company behaves, so that you can get better at what you’re ALREADY doing. 

Now, as you know, the first step in your CMMI journey is CMMI training. There are good CMMI Training courses available through the CMMI Institute. You can also take a CMMI Training class with a CMMI Institute Partner, like Broadsword (www.broadswordsolutions.com).

The advantage of taking the CMMI Training with a CMMI Institute Partner like Broadsword is pretty clear cut. We are real-world practitioners of CMMI. We use real-life stories, examples, exercises, and case studies as we go. We even cover dynamic concepts like CMMI and agile, and the cutting edge approach of agileCMMI that we pioneered, which can help you accelerate your career.

I'd love to have you and your Appraisal Team in our upcoming CMMI training class, Sam. It's always a pleasure to have participants who are motivated to adopt CMMI for the right reasons.

Register HERE for “Introduction to CMMI-DEV,” September 24-26, 2014, in St. Louis, MO.

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 engineering strategy,performance innovation, software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.