Don't Miss This Webinar! “CMMI – Everything You NEED to Know!”

Dear Readers,

If you are an executive, engineer and/or business professional who needs to learn everything about the CMMI so you can create an environment in which your organization can manage its uniqueness in a structured way … wow … do we have a Webinar for you!

Join us for “CMMI - Everything You Need to Know” on Thursday, November 20, 2014 from noon to 2PM EST.

The action-packed Webinar, hosted by Broadsword, provides strategies, tips and practical, real-world solutions to today’s business problems using the leading framework for engineering performance improvement, the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).  And best of all, the information is absolutely FREE!

Are you new to CMMI? Welcome aboard! This fast-paced, in-depth Webinar shows you how to use CMMI to transform the culture of your company, so that you can say goodbye to chaos, “process debt” and unpredictable outcomes. You’ll learn to improve and change the way your company behaves, so that you build better products, win new business and retain the customers you have.

Have you been working with CMMI for a while? That’s great! You’ll still want to check out the Webinar, where you are bound to hear some ideas that you haven't considered before, that will help you get better at what you are ALREADY doing.

Your speaker is Jeff Dalton of "Ask the CMMI Appraiser." Jeff is a Certified Lead Appraiser and CMMI Instructor. He has conducted hundreds of CMMI Appraisals and taught thousands of students in his CMMI Training classes. He is a process innovation thought-leader and CMMI Consultant who has been a guest speaker at conferences and workshops around the world.

Don't miss this informative event! Register 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 running a successful CMMI program.

Subscribe to my CMMI-TV YouTube channel!

Dear Readers,

Here's a special gift for you on this holiday season - CMMI-TV!

Subscribe to my CMMI-TV channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/asktheCMMIAppraiser

Enjoy the show, and have a happy holiday season!

ABOUT CMMI-TV: CMMI-TV is a place where we can add value to the engineering and software development community by offering advice on engineering strategy, performance innovation and software process improvement. If you find this useful, please 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.

It’s time for another Webinar! CMMI – Everything You Need to Know

Need to learn EVERYTHING about CMMI? Now's your chance . . . and it's FREEEEEEE!

Join us for “CMMI - Everything You Need to Know” on Friday, July 20, 2012 at 2PM EDT, a free Webinar hosted by Broadsword Solutions Corporation.

Who should participate? If you are an executive, engineer and/or business professional who is trying to create an environment in which your organization can manage its uniqueness in a structured way, this Webinar is designed specifically for you.

Because what is the CMMI all about, anyway? The CMMI is about the transformation of the culture of your company. It’s about improving and changing the way your company behaves, so that you build better products, win new business and retain the customers you have. This fast-paced, indepth Webinar shows how to use the CMMI to reach these outcomes, and more.

Even if you have been working with CMMI for a while, you’ll want to check out the Webinar. You are bound to hear some ideas that you haven't considered before, that will help you get better at what you are ALREADY doing.

Your speaker is Jeff Dalton of "Ask the CMMI Appraiser." Jeff is a Certified Lead Appraiser and CMMI Instructor. He has conducted hundreds of CMMI Appraisals and taught thousands of students in his CMMI Training classes. He is a process innovation thought-leader and CMMI Consultant who has been a guest speaker at conferences and workshops around the world.

Don't miss this informative event! Register 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 running a successful CMMI program.

New look and now we're mobile!

Dear Readers,

I hope you like the new look and feel of the "Ask the CMMI Appraiser" site.  We continue to offer you free, useful advice about the CMMI and Agile methods - all without ads or commercials!

We're Mobile!

Now you can access "Ask the CMMI Appraiser" optimized for your iPhone, Android, iPad or other mobile device.

I use it with my brand-new Android Bionic (awesome machine!) and it works great.

Today I'm spending the day finalizing my submission for the SEI's SEPG 2012 conference.  I've spoken at the conference every year since 2006 - so wish me luck!

As usual, thanks for reading, and keep those CMMI  and Agile questions and comments coming!

This Halloween, don't turn into a company full of CMMI Zombies!

Dear Appraiser, I am leading the effort to get the CMMI certification, but my team is reluctant.  They say they don’t want us to stifle their creativity and become robotic, like automatons.  What advice would you give management for how we can make this initiative more compatible with our team culture?  ~ Mr. R.

Mr. R,

I applaud your concern for your team's culture.  But it sounds like your team is a bit confused about what the CMMI is and is not.

What the CMMI is: the CMMI is an excellent tool to improve software and engineering product development.  It’s extremely useful in lighter, agile environments, as well as in larger, structured environments.

What the CMMI is not: the CMMI is not a death march that zaps your team’s energy and turns them into zombies. 

Don't turn yourself into a company full of CMMI Zombies!

As an executive leading this type of CMMI effort, you are right to give serious thought to the behaviors of people who are using these tools, techniques and methods.  After all, it’s easy for us to sit in a conference room with our team and dictate to them: “You have to be CMMI Level 3.  You have to have measures.  You have to have documentation.  You have to have all these things.”

But you are clearly a different type of manager, Mr. R.  You are willing to listen to your team, and guide them.  In that case, the first thing you should do is help them understand that the CMMI is not about certification.

Not about CMMI Certification?  What the heck?

It’s true.  Because the phrase, “CMMI certification” is commonly used by many people and it creates a lot of confusion.  We can thank our friends in the DoD for creating an environment where it looks and feels like a certification.  They put requirements in their RFPs and contracts that say, “You must be CMMI Maturity Level 2 or 3.”  But this is a problematic interpretation by the government (or even commercial customers) of what the SEI is trying to accomplish with the CMMI.

So what are we trying to do?  We’re trying to help you be better at what you do!  This is something we all want for ourselves, to be in a continuously improving environment, your team included.  However, as executives, when we put a “certification” mindset around this noble intention, we sometimes drive the wrong kind of behaviors. 

Instead of a death-march to certification, I suggest that you to focus your team on the fact that the CMMI is about the transformation of the culture of your company.  It’s about changing the way we behave, so that we build products that are better than other companies that are building similar, but inferior, products.

You can’t transform a culture by creating documents.  You can’t transform a culture by giving away certificates.  And you sure can’t transform a culture by turning everyone into zombies. 

But you can transform a culture by understanding that the CMMI is a model for how GREAT companies perform.

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

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

What are the qualifications required to be on a SCAMPI v1.3 Appraisal Team?

Mr. Appraiser, 

Sir, I was on your “Secrets of Scampi Appraisals” Webinar over the summer.  I believe you touched on the qualifications in the new SCAMPI 1.3 release about the make-up of the appraisal team.  Now that we are thinking about putting our team together, I don’t recall what you said about the new qualifications.

~ August A.

August, thanks for staying in touch.  I always encourage people who attend my CMMI webinars to come over to this blog at least once a week.  It’s a great way to keep the conversation going.

Your memory serves you right, August.  There was a big change in the method.  The Lead Appraiser’s qualifications are no longer factored into the appraisal team experience totals  For example, in previous versions of SCAMPI, with my 20+ years experience,  I could have met most of the experience requirements alone!  In the new release, however, the Lead Appraiser’s experience is not counted in - a smart move by the SEI IMHO.

As a result, your team will have to meet the 25-year experience criteria on their own.  Here are the qualifications I mentioned in the Webinar:

“Team members must have:

• An average of at least 6 years of field experience
• At least 2 years of experience performing the type of work addressed in each appraised Process Process Area they will be evaluating
• A team aggregate of 25 years of field experience relating to the content of each of the reference models in the scope of the appraisal.

The team (as a group):

• Must have a total of at least 10 years of management experience, and at least one team member must have at least 6 years of experience as a manager.
• Shall not be comprised primarily of staff that wrote the process being appraised.
• Shall not include the sponsor of the appraisal.
• Shall not include a senior manager who has supervisory authority over the entire organizational unit.
• Should not have any managers of the people being interviewed

AND . . . there should not be any reporting relationships WITHIN the appraisal team . . . just in case your boss is there to influence your "vote."

As you start to think about putting together your Appraisal Team, August, keep in mind that it still makes sense to hire the most experienced Lead Appraiser you can find.  His years of experience may not “count” with the SEI for Appraisal Teams, but it will certainly count with you.

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

Learn more about CMMI Lead Appraisers and CMMI Appraisal Teams at www.broadswordsolutions.com