What should our New Year's resolution be for CMMI adoption in 2015?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, can you give us a good New Year’s resolution to help us get through the CMMI adoption we have planned for 2015? ~ Vera M.

Hey, Vera, I’d be happy to share my most powerful New Year’s resolution with you. But first allow me to lift a glass in your honor, wishing you and yours a very happy New Year and a prosperous CMMI program in 2015!

Now to your question. For organizations adopting the CMMI in 2015, or any time, there is only one resolution that you ever need to make: Just resolve to be a great company.

OK – but how do you do THAT?

To help you reach this most powerful and useful New Year’s Resolution, the CMMI provides 12 important behaviors that management needs to focus on for your CMMI adoption to be successful. These behaviors are provided to us by the Generic Practices (or GPs), which I consider to be the most important part of the CMMI. There are 12 of them. To make them actionable, each GP can be expressed as a question. And asking these questions – I call them “CMMI questions” – will put you on the path to being a great company.

Here’s how it works:

CMMI Question #1: What expectations are we going to set? (Generic Practice 2.1: Establish an Organizational Policy)

CMMI Question #2: What’s our plan? (Generic Practice 2.2: Plan the Process)

CMMI Question #3: What are the tools we are going to use? (Generic Practice 2.3: Provide Resources)

CMMI Question #4: Who is involved? (Generic Practice 2.4: Assign Responsibility)

CMMI Question #5: How are we going to train people? (Generic Practice 2.5: Train People)

CMMI Question #6: Where are we going to put all this stuff? (Generic Practice 2.6: Control Work Products)

CMMI Question #7: What stakeholders are involved? (Generic Practice 2.7: Involve Relevant Stakeholders)

CMMI Question #8: How are we going to know if the process is working? (Generic Practice 2.8: Monitor and Control the Process)

CMMI Question #9: How are we going to know if people are doing what we want them to do? (Generic Practice 2.9: Objectively Evaluate Adherence)

CMMI Question #10: How does management know that this is even working? (Generic Practice 2.10: Review Status with Higher Level Management)

CMMI Question #11: How will we use the right process for each project’s objectives? (Generic Practice 3.1: Establish a Defined Process)

CMMI Question #12: How will we share lessons learned? (Generic Practice 3.2: Collect Process Related Experiences

So that's what it takes to be successful with your CMMI adoption in the New Year, Vera. Resolve to be a great company, and stay focused on the behaviors that make you a great company by asking these 12 CMMI questions. Not only will you achieve CMMI Level 3 as a natural result, not only will you drive the software process improvement results you are looking for, but you’ll be on the path to greatness in 2015. And that’s a goal worth attaining.

Happy New Year!

NOTE: For those looking for CMMI training, we are offering the following two Intro to CMMI classes in the months ahead. Classes fill up quickly. Be sure to register today

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING: LIVONIA, MI
February 11-13, 2015
Register for "Introduction to CMMI-DEV" in Livonia

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
March 4-6, 2015
Register for "Introduction to CMMI-DEV" in Colorado Springs

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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.

To download eBooks about CMMI, visit Jeff’s Author Page on Amazon.