Monday, February 29, 2016

Our top competitor is investing in CMMI Training – should we?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser – we’re a fast-growing, goal-driven automotive software supplier that has achieved CMMI Maturity Level 3.  We just found out our top competitor is having every new hire trained in the Model.  What are some of the benefits of CMMI training that we should consider? ~ Dave A.

Hey, Dave,

You've revealed a lot in just a few words.  You are fast-growing, but haven’t protected your investment in your people.  You are a Level 3 company, but haven’t protected your investment in your Performance Improvement Model, the CMMI, which encourages us to train our people, thereby protecting our investment in them.  At this point, I'd say it doesn’t matter what your competitors are doing.  You need to focus on being a great company.

The good news is, that's what the CMMI is all about.  It's about making software and engineering performance better. It’s about improving and changing the way your company behaves, so that you can improve performance, build stronger products and have happier customers.  CMMI training is one of the ways your team learns new behaviors.  It helps you put your company on the path to greatness.

For other benefits of CMMI Training, check out my video, or read the text below:


Benefits of CMMI Training:

• Helps you improve software and engineering performance
• Offers you an approach to remedy consistently late or over-budget projects
• Provides an alternative to working in a "hero culture"
• Guides you to make your work sustainable or scalable

Who Should Take CMMI Training:

• You intend to participate in a SCAMPI Appraisal team
• You wish to become a CMMI Lead Appraiser

Why Our CMMI Training Classes Are Different:

• Learn new sizing techniques by playing Planning Poker
• Practice using Fibonacci sequencing for your estimates
• Form Scrum Teams and apply agile methods, from project planning to retrospectives
• Earn 21 PDU’s (professional development units) while learning about performance improvement

Where to Take a CMMI Training Class:

"Introduction to CMMI" in San Diego, CA
June 1st 8:30 AM – June 3rd 2016 5:00 PM (EDT)

"Introduction to CMMI-DEV Training w/optional Scrum Learning Experience" in Detroit, MI
September 20, 2016 at 8:30 AM - Friday, September 23, 2016 at 5:00 PM (EDT)

"Introduction to CMMI-DEV Training w/optional SVC Supplement" in Washington, DC
October 4, 2016 at 8:30 AM - Friday, October 7, 2016 at 5:00 PM (EDT)

Register for a class today!

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.

Monday, February 22, 2016

What is a PIID and where do we get one!

Hello!

I’ve read a few places that reference a PIID that we need to fill out before appraisal. Is this still part of the SCAMPI process, and if so, where can we obtain a PIID template to get started with?

Thanks,  Tyler.

Tyler,

Thank you for your question to “Ask the CMMI Appraiser!

The PIID, or “Process Implementation Indicator Document” is nothing more than a spreadsheet or database that has all of the practices on the left, some columns for text descriptors, and a column on the right to place a document link or name. 

The PIID is not a requirement, however.  Many Lead Appraisers do not use them, and some (like us here at Broadsword) have developed a great deal of automation and functionality in theirs.  The PIIDs we use here at the ‘sword all work together and roll-up into a master database that makes the appraisal more automated.  But there is no requirement in CMMI or SCAMPI to use one.

There are even some companies that have developed elaborate databases to manage appraisal data, but we prefer the faster, more accessible version using Excel macros. It doesn’t require programming, installation, or having any special software on your server or computer. Better yet - there is nothing to buy at all!


Your Lead Appraiser, when you’re ready to choose one, should be able to advise you on which PIID to use, and if they have one for you it should be included in your contract with them.

Best of luck on your appraisal!

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.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Can we bolt CMMI’s risk management onto our Scrum Teams?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser

It’s Bob, from a CMMI certified software engineering company in San Diego California. We’ve been using the CMMI to improve our Scrum Teams’ Daily Standup meetings, and that’s helped us understand what’s being done. Can we bolt on other aspects of the CMMI that don’t exist in Scrum, like risk management? ~ Bob A.

Bob, gee, "bolting on" sounds a little heavy and rigid for a Scrum Team, doesn't it? But I like where you’re going with this. Here’s a better way to say it: when we combine CMMI and Scrum, can we pick aspects of Scrum that we strengthen with the CMMI, based on the needs of our company? Now you’re talking, Bob! The goal is to make both frameworks stronger, in a way that makes sense for your company. Maybe not with bolts.




I’m glad you brought up the Daily Standup example.  In a Daily Standup, every morning, for 15-20 minutes, the team stands together to discuss issues that are important to them. But there is no guidance around things that get talked about, and how things are going. As a result, the impact of the meeting, in terms of insight for management, is pretty weak. The format generally goes as follows:

“Here’s what I am doing.”

“Here’s what I plan to do.”

“Here are the kinds of problems I’m having.”

That’s fine, but it leads an opportunity for many things not being done – such as paying attention to the risk.

This is common everywhere. If you asked your Scrum team, “How do you understand to risk?” they would say, “We do that in the Daily Standup. If somebody has a risk they bring it up.”

This won’t cut it for executives who need solid information about risk to make business decisions. The CMMI offers categories of risks that are important to us (like technical risk, financial risk, and business risk) and provides for brainstorming within these categories, recording them and sharing them with the appropriate stakeholder.

Does that mean ditch Scrum? No! Keep Scrum, and add that type of analysis in Daily Standup maybe once or twice a week.

I’ll give you an example. Here at Broadsword we have clients who discuss risk once a week in their Daily Standup. They use the guided risk management within the CMMI to make their risk discussions more meaningful. And guess what? Management understands where they are with functional requirements. Sounds like a dream, right?

The trick to making this work is not to ditch Scrum or change how Scrum works, but to take the individual Scrum ceremonies involved (things like the Daily Standup or sprint retrospectives) and make them stronger.

We would never try to force a Scrum team to do BPUF, for example, or have status meetings simply because management wants information. That’s how it works in a Waterfall world, but not in Scrum. Take the Daily Standup and leverage it back to improve the information that is being gathered. Use the guidance that the CMMI gives to the constructs of Scrum, instead of trying to change the construct.

What I hope you’ve gained from this conversation, Bob, is that CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making your investment in agile both powerful and productive.

If you’d like to know more about applying the CMMI’s Risk Management guidance to Scrum, sign up for the latest webinar in our “Everything You Need to Know” series:

Webinar: “Everything You Need to Know: Managing Project Risk!”

Date: Friday, February 26, 2016 @ noon EST

Registration: Sign up here.


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, p

Friday, February 12, 2016

Will you be my CMMI valentine?

Dear Readers,

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In lieu of flowers, boxes of chocolates or Hallmark cards on this widely celebrated day of love, your CMMI Appraiser has something even more wonderful that is sure to sweep you off your feet …

Strategies for getting better at what you are ALREADY doing!


Yes, if you LOVE learning new ways to drive process innovation and performance improvement throughout your organization, here are some learning experiences that go right to the heart of the matter:

Monday, 2/15: “All About CMMI-- This is a great place to start. Find out EVERYTHING you need to know about CMMI by signing up for the introductory webinar.

Wednesday, 2/17: “Agile Transformation – Learn to take advantage of Agile for a lighter, leaner approach to solving business problems incrementally and iteratively.  Check it out!

Friday, 2/19: “Scaling and Strengthening Agile" -- By participating in this webinar, you'll come away with an understanding of the work that needs to be done to strengthen Agile in a way that makes sense for your organization, while staying true to Agile methods.

All of these learning opportunities are designed to help CMMI-focused companies that are looking for guidance on being lighter and more flexible, as well as Agile teams that are still seeking the kind of results they’ve been hoping for.

What's not to love?  We hope to see you at one or more of these useful learning events.

Do you ADORE 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.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Will the combination of CMMI and Scrum work for us?

Dear CMMI Appraiser, What’s the best way to evaluate whether the combination of CMMI and Scrum will work in our environment? We’re a traditional software company that has been appraised at Maturity Level 3.  We serve the federal government and its suppliers in the health care industry, many of whom are “going Agile.”  We want to stay ahead of the curve, but I'm worried that our leadership may be wary of this new idea. ~ Walter S.

Walter,

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 and 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 combining CMMI and Scrum is definitely a new idea that a lot of people are uncomfortable with, at first.

As you may know from previous posts, this CMMI Appraiser started his career journey as a classical musician.  My first degree was in music.  Hence I use a lot of musical references in my books and keynote speeches, 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 organization get comfortable with combining CMMI and Scrum.

First, 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 stuff!

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.

To learn more about combining CMMI and Scrum, check out our upcoming FREE webinars:

Monday, 2/15: “All About CMMI” -- This is a great place to start. Find out EVERYTHING you need to know about CMMI by signing up for the introductory webinar.

Wednesday, 2/17: “Agile Transformation” – Learn to take advantage of Agile for a lighter, leaner approach to solving business problems incrementally and iteratively.  Check it out!

Friday, 2/19: “Scaling and Strengthening Agile" -- By participating in this webinar, you'll come away with an understanding of the work that needs to be done to strengthen Agile in a way that makes sense for your organization, while staying true to Agile methods.

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. 

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Need to Know Everything about Implementing CMMI, ISO and Agile?

Dear Readers,

I get this a lot.  An executive at an engineering or software organization attends one of my trainings. At the break, he pulls me aside and says, “Hey, CMMI Appraiser, we’re dealing with trust issues between the “ISO/TS side of the business” (management) and the “CMMI and Auto SPICE side of the business” (engineering), and it’s causing a lot of waste.  What should we do?”

My first piece of advice is to realize that this is nobody’s fault.  It’s most likely the natural byproduct of a misguided implementation.  While the multi-model approach seemed effective at the time it was introduced, ISO/TS, CMMI and Auto SPICE have been poorly integrated in many organizations throughout North America, and as a result, management and engineering are acting like independent entities.


This has to stop, and you can make it stop.  Learn how to introduce alignment and put an end to the friction between management and engineering by attending “Integrating Multiple Process Models.”  The webinar, hosted by Broadsword, and part of our popular Everything You Need to Know series, airs Friday, February 12th, at noon Eastern. 


Integrating Multiple Process Models is an engineering strategy that integrates CMMI, Auto SPICE and ISO/TS into a single program for performance innovation.  Designed specifically for organizations that have a CMMI Maturity Level 2 or Level 3 rating and want the benefits of aligning CMMI, ISO/TS and Auto SPICE, “Integrating Multiple Process Models” gives you everything you NEED to get started.

Join us on the webinar!

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff pioneered agileCMMI, the leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement. He 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. 

Monday, February 8, 2016

Don’t miss the action! Announcing Capability Challenge – Round 3

Dear Readers,

Round 3 of the Capability Challenge is starting soon, and we don’t want you to miss a minute of the action.  Click below for ringside tickets!


If you’re just joining the fun, the Capability Challenge webinar series, hosted by the CMMI Institute, pits successful organizations against one another as they compete to tell the best capability story.  In Round 3, we’ll hear the stories of building capability from our next four Challengers:

  • CGI
  • Halfaker and Associates
  • Honeywell Tech Solutions
  • L-3

As a participant in the webinar, you get the unique opportunity to hear real-life examples of engineering performance improvement in our industry, which can help your business and your career as you learn to be successful by doing the things great companies do. And at the end of the webinar, you’ll vote for the story you think is the best.  So join us!

What: 2016 Capability Challenge Webinar Series: Round 3
When: February 17th at 11:00 am EST
Registration: click here

See you at ringside!

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.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Is the trend of CMMI Appraisals slowing down? Guess again!

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, are a lot of organizations still choosing to adopt CMMI, or is the trend slowing? ~ Jose J.

Hey, Jose –

The CMMI Institute’s data on the adoption of CMMI tells us that the trajectory continues its upward climb.  This year, the CMMI Institute reports another RECORD YEAR, with the most appraisals delivered.


As you see in the chart, fueled by the demand to improve organizational capabilities and drive business results, 1,913 organizations earned a CMMI maturity and capability rating in 2015. That’s a 15% increase over the previous year, and a cause for celebration!

Why get so excited?  Well, you hardly need a reason to cheer when you see the CMMI as we see it - as an ongoing celebration, a model for changing and improving behavior in the quest for becoming a great company.  As more organizations embrace the Model, and put themselves on the path to greatness, it raises the standard for everyone, and our entire industry improves.

Here's hoping the trend continues!

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.