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.

What ELSE can CMMI do for an extra small company?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, I created this company out of nothing three years ago, grew it to 15 people so far, and it’s my baby. I have put everything I have into it, hired the best agile developers, trained them myself, and have the best small team in the business. We want a Maturity Level 3 rating, for bidding purposes, but what else can the CMMI do for us? ~ Tom B.

To read the rest of this post, please visit www.cmmixs.com

Is CMMI certification a “necessary evil”?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser – To compete for bigger contracts, we need to achieve a CMMI Maturity Level, which we see as a necessary evil because we are an agile shop, and I am clear that I don’t want CMMI dictating to us that we do various things. What’s the painless way to get a CMMI certification? ~ Dale W.

Hey, Dale, quick note for clarification: The commonly used phrase “CMMI certification” is a misnomer. Upon a successful CMMI appraisal, you’ll achieve a Maturity Level, such as ML2 or ML3. But the real value of the CMMI is that it helps us learn about the way we work, so that we can get better. With learning as your goal, you’ll stay on the path to greatness, and achieving Maturity Rating will be just one byproduct of your journey. 

So here's my question for you: How can we call ourselves great if we see performance innovation as a “necessary evil”?

Now, there is nothing wrong with being interested in capitalizing on the marketing value of achieving a CMMI rating – and there’s nothing unnatural about wanting to avoid pain – but I’m concerned that you are in danger of missing all the value that the Model promises.

You say you don’t want CMMI “dictating” to you? No problem. CMMI doesn’t do dictation. Here’s what the Model does do: CMMI helps you demonstrate how great you are. That’s the reason large corporations and government customers want you to have the CMMI rating in the first place: It allows them to understand how you know you’re good at solving their problems.

So the CMMI is a “necessary evil”? Does that mean agile project are full of rainbows, unicorns, goodness and light? Well, I don’t dispute that the agile community has got great ideas, but Purism is dangerous and damaging in any form. Whether you are a Tea Partier or an anarchist, Puritanism is dangerous because it chokes off the flowering of new thought. It eliminates the possibility that new, better ideas are out there. Isn't that kind of an agile "anti-pattern" in itself?

There has always been this sort of antagonistic relationship between the Agile and CMMI communities. So much so that that I co-wrote, along with several of my peers, a white paper called "CMMI or Agile? Why Not Embrace Both?" for the SEI. We examine why that perception is hurting the software community, and why the CMMI is an excellent fit for agile environments.  To this day, it remains the most downloaded white paper in the industry.

My advice, Dale, is to drop this us-versus-them mindset.  Embrace CMMI+Scrum as a tool to make your organization a great company. After all, every framework, including Scrum, has weaknesses, and you can use CMMI to make it even stronger.  

Rather than "necessary evil," you may come to see it as recommended greatness.

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.

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