Back by Popular Demand! Our “Process Quality Assurance” webinar

Hey, CMMI Appraiser,

One of the QA people in another division saw a webinar you hosted a few months ago that offered strategies, tips and techniques for improving the company’s quality program using CMMI. I hear it was very useful. Will this webinar air again, and if so, how can we get our people signed up? ~ Alan M.

Alan,

Great to hear someone from your company got value from the webinar! We invest a tremendous amount of time sharing our passion for performance innovation in the form of conference speeches, live seminars, blog posts, podcasts, videos, ebooks, articles, white papers and webinars, so it's always gratifying to get positive feedback. And your question comes at a good time – we’re providing the “Process Quality Assurance” webinar again this week!

Webinar: Everything You Need to Know about Process Quality Assurance!
Date/Time: March 23 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Registration: Click here

What’s the webinar about?

On this webinar, CMMI L2 and L3 companies learn an engineering strategy that helps them emphasize quality over compliance, establish a structure for collecting improvement data, align the processes with the people who are using them. The upshot? You’ll know what it takes to drive higher quality and get greater results from your quality program.

Who is the webinar for?

The “Process Quality Assurance” webinar is designed to help CMMI L2 and L3 businesses that are …

• Living in fear of the auditing process
• Improperly focused on tracking incidences of non-compliance
• Failing to get any better

What’s in it for YOU?

The “Process Quality Assurance” webinar helps businesses that want to …

• Transform your quality program into something that actually helps the company improve
• Gain visibility on how work in your company gets done
• Understand what tools and standards your people really want to be successful
• Create an environment in which quality resources are valuable partners on projects
• Reduce the number of risks on your projects and forget the number of non-compliances game 
• Build better products than your competitors who have a lot of chaos, late and over budget projects, too many meetings and unhappy customers

... and much more!

Take the first step to having a quality assurance program that works for you, not against you. Sign up for “Process Quality Assurance” 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.

Is CMMI just one giant headache?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, you know what I don’t get? Why people like you are convincing people like my boss that we should look at adopting CMMI, even though, our customers are not requiring that we adopt it. Who needs this headache? Seriously! ~ Tom B.

Tom, you know what I don’t get?

Even in this age of instant, worldwide communications and knowledge-sharing, I don't get why some really smart engineering and software professionals operate as though they have not heard the news that CMMI is 100% about solving business problems.

News flash, Tom!  CMMI doesn’t cause headaches. It cures them!

Look, let's not raise our voices.  I'm not trying to convince you or your boss to do anything. You seem to be laboring under the misconception that the CMMI is this heavy, command and control, document-centric cauldron of hard, dreary work and pure nonsense that tells you how to do your job.

C'mon, man! CMMI has none of that! CMMI does not tell you HOW to do anything. CMMI doesn't “require” anything. CMMI is simply a tool designed to help you solve business problems, including:

• Change and improve requirements churn and volatility, so that you can spend less time and money on requirements
• Be on-time and on-budget
• Motivate your staff and make them better at what they do
• Understand and deal with risk before it hurts you
• Avoid having too many meetings, unhappy customers and unpredictable projects

And CMMI can do this whether you choose to be agile, Waterfall, or use any other set of methods.

That's probably why your boss is interested in CMMI, Tom.  Why not get ahead of the curve? Educate yourself on process improvement, performance innovation and CMMI by signing up for our FREE webinar, "All about CMMI” on Monday, March 14.

Click here to sign up.

Hope to see you 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, 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.

A single program for CMMI, ISO and A-SPICE -- how does that work?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser. Our team has been reading your CMMI ebooks, and we have a question.  As a CMMI Level 3 supplier to the auto industry, we want to know more about aligning CMMI, ISO/TS and Auto SPICE into a single program for performance innovation. How does that work? ~ John M.

Hey, John,

Thanks for reading my CMMI eBooks!  I really love sharing my passion for performance innovation in conference speeches, live seminars, webinars, blog posts, podcasts, videos, ebooks, articles, white papers and more.  It's so cool that you're finding the ebooks useful!

You know, like you, a lot of companies that are CMMI ML2 or ML3 have been asking about integrating CMMI, ISO 9001 and A-SPICE into a single program for performance innovation.  So many that we created a webinar expressly for this purpose.  On "Integrating CMMI, ISO 9001 and A-SPICE," you'll learn to combine these frameworks and methods innovatively for greater results.

Webinar: Integrating CMMI, ISO 9001 and A-SPICE
Time: Friday, March 11 @ 12-1PM EST
Register: Click here

Why participate in the webinar?  You’ll learn to address practical, real world business problems, such as …

• How to streamline and strengthen the way you so business
• How to gain visibility into every aspect of the business
• How to eliminate duplication and overlap in reporting
• How to attract and retain top employees
• How to prevent the loss of business and intellectual capital to competitors

Take the first step to aligning ISO/TS, CMMI and Auto SPICE and having better quality products and greater customer satisfaction. Sign up for “Multi-Model Improvement” 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.

Our 8th eBook Is Now Available on Amazon: “Just the FAQs”!

Dear Readers,

We’re excited to announce the publication of our 8th agileCMMI eBook: “Just the FAQs, Second Edition”!

In “Just The FAQs, Second Edition” my good friend Pat O’Toole and I join forces to share a series of short stories from different perspectives about CMMI, process improvement, and Agile development. We address common misconceptions, myths, and fundamental misunderstandings that persist with the software and engineering professions. And we have a good time doing it!

Click here for your copy of "Just the FAQs, Second Edition".

“Just the FAQs, Second Edition” is a compendium of stories written in 2015 that have been distributed individually as part of a series, right here on Ask the CMMI Appraiser. The ALL NEW stories are now available in eBook format as a collection. To purchase for 99 cents on Amazon, click here.

What you’ll find in the book:

• How do the generic practices make us better?
• What is training capability?
• How do we develop good PPQA habits?
• How can we REALLY know how things are going?
• ... And much, much more!

Get the facts!  "Just the FAQs"!

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

© Copyright 2016: Process Assessment, Consulting & Training and Broadsword Solutions

“Just the FAQs, Second Edition” is written/edited by Pat O’Toole of PACT and Jeff Dalton of Broadsword. Please contact the authors at pact.otoole@att.net and jeff@broadswordsolutions.com to suggest enhancements to their answers, or to provide an alternative response to the question posed. New questions are always welcomed!

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.

It’s About the Skills, Not Just “Training”

[Dear Readers, our good friend Pat O’Toole, CMMI expert and seasoned consultant, is collaborating with us on a new monthly series of CMMI-related posts, "Just the FAQs." Our goal with these posts is to provide answers to the most frequently asked questions about the CMMI, SCAMPI, engineering strategy and software process improvement. This month Pat talks about the importance of having the necessary skills and competencies, not just meeting a requirement for “training.” Take it away, Pat! ~ the CMMI Appraiser]

In order to address GP2.5 (Train People), we’ve developed 2 hour PowerPoint presentations for each process area and have sign‐up sheets that show we’ve trained all personnel on the processes relevant to their roles. We should be golden in an appraisal, right?

At the risk of being labeled a radical, let me suggest that we forget about the CMMI for a minute…

If I’m the current occupant of the corner office, I don’t care if my people have been “trained,” I care that they have the skills and knowledge to perform the work for which I am paying them. I recognize that in order to achieve a high degree of proficiency, my people need competencies in four skill dimensions:

1. Fundamental skills

2. Domain/product skills

3. Process/tool skills

4. Supplemental/soft skills.

When filling a project management position, the interview process will explore, among other things, the candidate’s knowledge of, and experience in project management. If the person happens to be a Project Management Professional (PMP)® this is pretty easy, as they have achieved an industry-recognized certification that attests to their fundamental skills. They have demonstrated the knowledge and ability to plan and manage projects using such foundational concepts as Work Breakdown Structures, Earned Value, risk management, etc.

OK, so the new hire has fundamental project management skills, but can they apply their skills in our little corner of the world? What do they know about banking systems, EFT, check imaging, and the associated industry standards and governmental regulations? Do they understand the products and services that we offer to meet the needs of our demanding marketplace, and how our customers use our offerings to perform their work? Do they understand the competitors’ product offerings and why we occasionally lose out in a competitive bid situation? 

Without such insight, they will not be able to employ their fundamental skills in an optimal manner on OUR projects. If there are gaps in domain/product knowledge, they need to be addressed for this new hire to become proficient.

In addition, I want to make sure that my people can use the processes and tools that our organization is providing to enable them to perform their work. If they don’t know how we move a project from Point A to Point B, they won’t be able to move their project along in an efficient manner. Such kinks in the system need to be identified and addressed to keep the products and services (and therefore the revenue) flowing seamlessly. 

Better yet, rather than “identified and addressed,” I would prefer that such kinks be “anticipated and avoided,” moving from the reactive state of problem resolution to the proactive state of problem avoidance.

Finally, various roles may require some supplemental skills, a subset of which we typically refer to as "soft skills.” My new project manager may have tremendous fundamental, domain, and process/tool skills, but if they have a cosmic meltdown and a bad case of the sweats every time they present to management or the customer, then we have a problem. Or maybe they write really badly, or they don’t delegate, or they’re not a team player, or… (BTW, an example of a supplemental skill that is NOT a “soft skill” is the ability to read and write Japanese.)

Notice that I didn’t need the CMMI to tell me that my people should have appropriate skills in each of these four dimensions – it’s simply smart, pragmatic management. When interviewing people for an open position, we are trying to match their skill profile to the position’s skill requirements – the more of the required skills they already have covered, the quicker they can contribute to our success.

Rarely do we find the ideal candidate – one that has the perfect combination of fundamental, domain, process/tool, and supplemental skills – so there is nearly always a need to address skill and knowledge gaps. We may use coaching, mentoring, and stretch assignments to address some of these needs. We may place them on a team where they will have the support of other practitioners to help them ramp up quickly. Oh, and we may provide them some formal training as well.

So if management in an organization that doesn’t use the CMMI knows this, shouldn’t management in an organization that uses the model be at least as good? Assuming the answer is “Yes,” doesn’t the 2 hour PowerPoint presentation approach seem a bit underwhelming? Such an approach appears to be much more focused on passing an appraisal than on ensuring employees have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their work effectively and efficiently.

But let’s be realistic, as soon as you generate an appraisal finding indicating that the 2 hour PowerPoint approach is insufficiently robust, you should fully expect the CMMI Legal Lawyers (who graduated from "Certify U”) to crawl out of the woodwork and strenuously object. “Show me in the model where it says that training is required to cover fundamental skills, domain/product skills, process/tool skills, and supplemental skills!” they protest – and truth be known, given the letter of the law, they are right – the model doesn’t say that.

However, as a top notch defense attorney, you will have already had this discussion with the appraisal sponsor, asking if she is satisfied with a minimalistic approach to “training,” or if she would prefer a more comprehensive approach to competency management – an approach that would provide real value by evolving new hires from marginally adequate to demonstrably proficient. Once she nibbles on the bait, you can tell the CMMI Legal Lawyers that their objection has been overruled.

For those of you that feel more comfortable having model basis for such a finding, remember that

Organizational Process Focus specific practice 1.2 suggests, “Appraise the organization’s processes periodically and as needed to maintain an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.” Unfortunately, most people interpret this last bit as “… an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses with respect to the CMMI.”

But it needn’t be that way! One could just as easily interpret this as “… an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in accomplishing organizational and project objectives.” Interpreting the model in this way encourages the lead appraiser community to break free of its own compliance mindset and constraints, thereby empowering us to help our clients appreciate and exploit the value the model is truly intended to provide.

© Copyright 2014: Process Assessment, Consulting & Training and Broadsword Solutions

“Just the FAQs” is written/edited by Pat O’Toole and Jeff Dalton. Please contact the authors at

pact.otoole@att.net and jeff@broadswordsolutions.com to suggest enhancements to their answers, or to provide an alternative response to the question posed. New questions are also welcomed!