How do I identify stakeholders for adopting our CMMI-based process improvement program?

Dear CMMI Appraiser, I have a follow-up question. As I mentioned previously, I have been selected to lead the effort to adopt the CMMI for our company, which provides health care support services in Maryland. Now that I know that one of my roles and responsibilities as CMMI sponsor is to allocate resources to the program, including people, can you tell me how to identify the people who will be stakeholders? ~ Paula R.

Paula, it’s a pleasure to hear back from you. The CMMI Appraiser has been rooting for you in your new role leading the effort to adopt the CMMI, and I’m happy to forward your question to Julie Calfin. As you know, Julie is a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword who does amazing work with companies that are undergoing large scale business transformation. Take it away, Julie! ~ The CMMI Appraiser 

Thank you, CMMI Appraiser!

Paula, I have a quick and easy template to help you identify the stakeholders of your process improvement program. The stakeholder analysis is a simple chart with seven columns, like this:

Stakeholder Group: We can either identify stakeholders by groups in the organization that they are in, or by teams or individuals. Use each row of the chart to describe a different Stakeholder Group.

Description of Group: Because the groups have different characteristics, it will be helpful to provide a brief description of each group of stakeholders.

Impact: The key to implementing change successfully is to understand how each stakeholder is going to be impacted by the change. Use the chart to quantify the impact with a simple scale assigning high, medium and low impact.

Level of Influence: We also identify their level of influence, which is their ability to have an effect on other stakeholder groups in the organization. We gauge each group’s level of influence by assigning a value of high, medium, or low. Keep in mind that some stakeholder groups have the influence in the organization to make the process changes succeed or fail.

Buy-in and Involvement Strategies: Here’s where the chart really adds value. Use the information you’ve collected to design strategies to involve them in the process improvement program and get their buy-in. We want to get each of the stakeholder groups involved in adopting the changes that your new CMMI-based process improvement program will bring.

Note that some of our buy-in and involvement strategies might be to include stakeholders in designing your organization’s processes. Or, you may decide to use various stakeholders to pilot your processes.

Action Owner: To make these buy-in and involvement strategies actionable, we always assign them to a person. The action-owner is responsible for implementing these strategies, but they often have help from others to do so.

Time Frame: Last, we have a time frame, which describes the phase of the program or the calendar timeline for when you will be implementing your buy-in and involvement strategies.

This is an example of a tool that you can print out and populate.

To get started, I recommend looking at your company’s organization chart. Dissect the chart into different groups, divisions or teams within the organization, and give each one its own row in the template. Sometimes, it makes sense to create a row for specific people. For example, I’ve worked on projects where the CMMI sponsor will say, “I know this person is going to be especially difficult to get their buy-in and change their behavior.” In such cases, it makes sense to designate one row to that person.

You can use this information in other ways, as well, Paula. For example, when we write our Communication Plan, we want to make sure we reach everybody in the stakeholder analysis. This template can also be used to figure out what other tools and techniques, like training, will be needed to gain stakeholder commitment for the process improvement program.

I hope this helps, Paula – and please keep checking back. We love to hear from folks like yourself who are on the front line of putting their company on the path to greatness.

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

Julie Calfin is a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword Solutions Corporation. She has years of real world experience using OCM strategy and tactics to help her clients achieve their goals. Julie also uses the CMMI, in partnership with her clients, to set-up, monitor, and sustain process improvement programs.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

How do I get a critical mass of people to adopt the CMMI?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, I’m the CEO of a 90-person mobile products company in Fairfax, Virginia serving the health care sector.  We chose to achieve CMMI Level 2 recently, not because our clients required it, but because we value continuous improvement and innovation.  From reading past Ask the CMMI Appraiser, posts, I get that I need a critical mass of people to adopt the model and institutionalize it – but how do I make that happen? ~ Steve P.

Steve, it’s great that you value operational innovation so much that you’ve adopted the CMMI even though no customers are requiring that you do so.  The CMMIAppraiser hears from a lot of companies like yours who are passionate about making this change.  One of the leading experts on this topic is Julie Calfin, a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword.  Julie does amazing work with companies that are undergoing large scale business transformation. Take it away, Julie! ~ The CMMI Appraiser

Thank you, CMMI Appraiser!

Steve, providing the leadership to get a critical mass of people to adopt the CMMI – or any evidence-based improvement model – is a key piece of your Organizational Change Management Strategy.  But you don’t have to do it all yourself.  In fact, you can’t do it all yourself.  You need change leaders at all levels of the organization to make change happen. 

In an earlier post about business transformation, we talked about the steps involved in moving up the Commitment Curve to institutionalization.  It takes a special group of people to make that happen.  We call them change leaders.

Some change leaders are executives.  Some are middle managers or team leaders, and some are the current “heroes” who have respect in the organization.  Title doesn’t matter.  These are the go-to people on your team.  The ones that everybody relies upon to deliver under pressure.

How do you identify Change Leaders?  I recommend performing a stakeholder analysis.

First, sit down and identify all the people who will be impacted by the changes that your new CMMI-based processes will bring.  Describe them with characteristics (such as “well-liked,” “highly accountable,” and “natural leader”) and decide the degree to which they will be impacted by the changes.  Next, decide how much influence that they have on other stakeholders.   This gives you insight into who the Change Leaders will be.

Look for Change Leaders who are:

• Executives who are accountable for achieving program goals
• Middle and line managers who can lead and motivate their people
• Informal change agents who have informal influence and respect

Once you’ve identified the people that you want to be Change Leaders, get them involved in specific activities, such as:

• Being active SEPG Members 
• Becoming process owners 
• Joining a SIG (Special Interest Group) that designs or improves the CMMI-based processes

The wonderful thing about valuing performance innovation, as you do, Steve, is that your work is never done.  It’s not like you finish the initial stakeholder analysis and then you’re done identifying all the change leaders you will need for the duration of your program.  Not the case.  You will need change leaders with different skills and traits throughout your performance improvement program.

So keep updating your stakeholder analysis, and keep developing new change leaders.  That will keep you on the path to greatness!

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

Julie Calfin is a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword Solutions Corporation.  She has years of real world experience using OCM strategy and tactics to help her clients achieve their goals. Julie also uses the CMMI, in partnership with her clients, to set-up, monitor, and sustain process improvement programs.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

What are the steps to achieving a Maturity Level of CMMI?

Dear CMMI Appraiser:

For years, I have heard that the CMMI was a framework for helping us take action to improve engineering, and through that process, become a great company. We never did become a great company, but now our customers are saying we have to do this. Where do we start? ~ Carla F.

Carla, you could start by thanking your customers. They want you to do the things you’ve known you should do anyway. It reminds me of my relationship with my personal fitness trainer – except your customer is paying you!

In many ways, the journey to adopting the CMMI is similar to the journey to becoming physically fit. Companies that work with Broadsword go through a predefined, fully detailed progression in their quest to achieve CMMI Maturity Level 3, for instance, and put themselves on the path to becoming a great company. Here’s a graphic of the progression we take you through:

Step 1: SCAMPI C – The SCAMPI C (Gap Analysis) is first and foremost a way for your company to find out about itself and how you stack up against the CMMI model.  It’s also an opportunity for your CMMI Appraiser to learn as much about your company as he can, and for your company to learn about the CMMI Appraiser. This is important because you will be spending a lot of time together, generally a year or two, making decisions that will have an serious impact on the behaviors of your people. And so, helping both sides feel more comfortable with each other is one of the most beneficial aspects of the SCAMPI C.

As a result, you will hopefully realize that the CMMI isn't a paper-chase, it's about making your company great!

Step 2: Training – There are a number of training courses that need to take place in your journey to becoming a great company. First is the introduction to CMMI training course, followed by training on how to become expert process engineers.  We teach you how to execute our AgileCMMI methodology, and how to design and develop processes. Your entire appraisal team goes through the training, plus anyone who plays a key leadership role in the company in terms of how they want the work performed, such as project managers, program leaders and line managers.

Step 3: Tune-up – After the SCAMPI C, and often concurrently with the training, we will provide you with a plan that identifies all the tuning up or development of processes that must occur in your company. The plan includes everything you need to do in the context of AgileCMMI, the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to be created, as well as all of the releases and iterations that must take place between now and your SCAMPI B Appraisal.

Step 4: SCAMPI B – After you’ve done the training and the tune up, you are ready for the SCAMPI B Appraisal. The SCAMPI B is an formal appraisal that serves as a tool to give you the information you need to completely understand your current state in relation to the CMMI. It gives you the information you need to determine whether you will succeed in the formal SCAMPI A, as planned.

Step 5: SCAMPI A –After you’ve satisfactorily completed your SCAMPI B, you are ready for a formal SCAMPI A appraisal, and you’ll want do all you can to assure a positive result. If your SCAMPI A is successful, congratulations!

But don’t party too hardy and forget everything you’ve learned. To return to the fitness metaphor, once I’ve achieved my target weight, I don’t want to celebrate by eating a gooey chunk of chocolate cake. Being CMMI Maturity Level 3 doesn’t make you a great company. It just means you are sufficiently equipped with the infrastructure and tools you need to become a great company. Whether or not you make the changes in your company – and make the commitment to long-term health as an organization – is up to you.

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.