Reason #3 to attend SEPG 2013: To Gain Control

The #3 Reason to Attend SEPGNA: To help you gain control

The afternoon shadows are growing longer.  Cool breezes are starting to blow.  This must mean it’s almost time for the industry’s premier CMMI Conference, SEPG NorthAmerica 2013 on October 1-2 in Pittsburgh, PA!

If you’ve just joined us, I’ve been counting down my list of Top 10 Reasons to attend SEPGNA.  Over the years, I have had so many highly useful experiences at SEPGNA, and have seen so many organizations receive value, it’s been tough to pare them down.  But now we’ve arrived at the final three.

Drum roll, please!  Reason #3 is …

To help you gain control.

Given this year’s high powered line-up of speakers, workshops and events, SEPGNA 2013 promises to be another excellent opportunity to come together and talk about continuous improvement and making our teams more productive using the CMMI.  I’m looking forward to hearing about real-life issues that organizations are facing every day in their quest to be a great company.

Like what?

By all indications, the biggest problem many companies are STILL facing is a lack of control over process.  They are dealing with late projects, over-budget projects, unpredictable results and unhappy customers.  In many cases, they have made small improvements, but nothing has given them greater control for the long-term.

Does that sound familiar?

If so, I can promise you, you’ll have your eyes opened up at SEPGNA.  This year, the sharpest minds in the industry will be discussing how to maximize the impact and business results of CMMI and performance improvement.  You’ll get new ideas for applying best practices for adopting the CMMI as a tool that can help you set up an environment that makes improvement possible.  And you’ll have the opportunity to discuss strategies with other leaders who learned to leverage the CMMI to establish a useful level of control over their process.

Great companies know that the key to process improvement and performance innovation is to know how you know the process works.  A proper adoption of the CMMI can give you data about that.  It can show you how the process is performing, whether you are getting the results you expected, and how you can make it better.

Why is this true?  Because the CMMI is a framework for life-long learning.  It helps you learn about yourself, your company and the way you do your work.  And there are practices within the CMMI that can help you apply what you’ve learned to make it even better.

The value of a great conference like SEPGNA is that it helps you learn about keeping these things in mind, so that you always know how things are going and how they can be made better.

So join us.  Online registration for SEPGNA is closed, but you can still sign up on site on October 1st.

If you want more reasons to go, please check back soon for Reason #2.

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation  and Chair of the CMMI Institute’s Partner Advisory Board.  

Reason #4 to attend SEPG North America 2013

The #4 Reason to Attend SEPGNA: To spend quality time with your customers

The days are getting shorter.  The nights are getting cooler.  And the opportunity to register online for SEPG North America 2013 – the CMMI Conference – is fading fast.

Still haven’t decided to come?  Then this post is for you.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been counting down my list of Top 10 Reasons to attend SEPG North America 2013 on October 1-2 in Pittsburgh, 

PA.  Today we’ve arrived at Reason #4.

Drum roll, please!  Reason #4 is …

To spend quality time with your customers.

We all know that one secret to success in business is building strong relationships with the customer.  This is especially true in the context of the CMMI, where we are focused on helping companies learn the proper approach to the CMMI, drive Process Improvement, and be the great companies they are striving to be.

If you are a CMMI practitioner or CMMI supplier, the CMMI Conference is more than an opportunity to acquire knowledge that can help you be a better resource for your customers.  It’s a rare chance for you to spend quality time with them off-site in a dedicated learning environment.  So consider the following question as a personal challenge:

Will you take the opportunity to build stronger relationships with your customers by bringing them to SEPGNA 2013?

As part of my commitment to the CMMI, I always invite my customers to the Conference.  Last year, I brought six companies.  The year before, I brought five.  Here’s why I am encouraging my fellow CMMI Institute Partners, consultants and suppliers to do so, as well:

SEPGNA allows you to spend quality time with your customers.  So often in our day-to-day work, we are on-site to solve problems.  There are subgroups to be evaluated and artifacts to be collected.  But during the 2-day Conference in Pittsburgh, you’ll be able to connect with your customers on a personal level.  You’ll eat together, attend sessions together and – with networking events scheduled for both evenings – you’ll be able to hang out and just talk.

SEPGNA allows you to guide your customers through the learning process.  Think about it.  Would you rather have your customers try to grasp the real meaning of the CMMI on their own, or with you by their side?  Would you rather leave them in the dark about the long-term value the Model provides, or help them see the light?  Clearly, you want to be there in the sessions with them.  You want to ask them about what they are learning.  And when questions inevitably come up, you want to be right there to answer with real-live examples from their current projects.

SEPGNA allows you to introduce your customers to the leaders of the CMMI Institute, as well as other adopters of the CMMI.  For me, this is one of the most rewarding experiences at the SEPGNA.  I love to see new friendships form when I connect my customers to others who have overcome the same problems they’ve been facing.  Plus, this will be my first opportunity to introduce several of my customers to the smart folks from the CMMI Institute, the new sponsors of the Conference this year.

In my opinion, missing the chance to invite customers to SEPGNA would be a mistake.  You’d only get half the value.  Sure, you’ll learn plenty of strategies, tips and techniques that can make you a better CMMI consultant or CMMI supplier.  But you will have bypassed the opportunity to integrate customers with each other, so that they can have a support system of their own.  And that would be to deprive them of something extremely valuable that they can’t get anywhere else.

Besides, as I said in a previous post, Pittsburgh ROCKS!  You and your customers are going to have a blast together.  What could be better for your relationship?

So let’s be generous.  Let’s share the love.  I urge each of you to invite at least one customer to come to Pittsburgh and take part in the conversation.  And don’t forget to register here.

Need more reasons to go?  Check back soon for Reason #4.

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation  and Chair of the CMMI Institute’s Partner Advisory Board.  

Top 10 Reasons to Attend SEPG 2013! Number 10 is up!

Friends,

The CMMI Institute has been gracious enough to host my annual "Top 10 Reasons to Attend SEPG 2013" this year on their site.  You can link to it here: http://sepgconference.org/the-10-reason-to-attend-sepgna-2013-helping-you-get-better-at-what-you-do/

Join us in Pittsburgh to hear User Stories from other companies, cutting edge tips on how to use the CMMI to make your company as great as it can be, and to establish or continue the connections made at North America's premier conference for Performance Improvement and the CMMI.

Broadsword will be there where I will be presenting my theories on "Agile Resiliency."

Enjoy - and see you in Pittsburgh!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff pioneered agileCMMI, the leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement. He 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.

Where Can We Catch the CMMI Appraiser's Show?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser - several of us have enjoyed hearing you riff on agile and the CMMI, and were wondering where can we catch your next CMMI show?  ~ Stan, Louis, Andy and Fern

Hey, Stan, Louis, Andy and Fern,

Welcome back my friends . . . to the show that never ends!

As the front man for the organizational process and performance improvement band called Broadsword, I do a lot of shows all over the world.  This platform gives me a pretty clear view of the changing landscape of our industry, which I’m always willing to share with you.  So if you want to move to the beat of the latest sounds, learn how to be more agile, and make agility even stronger with the CMMI, then you’ll want attend some of these rockin' events!

(Sunday!) March 4, 2012 online only -- SPamCast conversation with Tom Cagley

March 12, 2012 in Albuquerque, NM -- SEPG NA Conference 

April 4, 2012 in Fairfax, VA -- D.C. Software Process Improvement Network (DC SPIN)

April 5, 2012 in Vienna, VA -- D.C. Agile Leadership Network 

May 8, 2012 in Fort Washington, PA -- Philadelphia Software Process Improvement Network (Philly SPIN)

June 5-7, 2012 in Madrid, Spain -- SEPG Europe Conference 

Mark your calendar, and I’ll see you at the show!

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.

Jeff's Top Ten Picks for SEPG 2012!

Hello Readers!

It's that time again.  Time for "Jeff's Top Ten Picks for SEPG 2012!"

Every year, at SEPG NA, there are dozens of great speakers.  This year in ABQ will be no different.  SEPG NA 2012 promises to be another fantastic, action packed event!

Here are my picks for the best Process Improvement and CMMI presentations at SEPG 2012.  Of course, they're all good, but this is where I'm putting my money.

Drum roll please!



1. Meet the International Improvement League: Fighting for Good Processes Everywhere with Rick Hefner


Are you tired of being terrorized by your process nemeses? Are you aiming the flashlight of process improvement in the night sky, wishing, just wishing a superhero of process would see your sign and rescue you from your process plight? Rest easy good citizens, the International Improvement League is here to fight process problems and save your day. 

Meet Measurement Man, the Contessa of Change, the Services Siren, Dr. SCAMPI and Mr. ATLAS to answer all your process improvement questions and solve all your process improvement problems. 


This sessions is co-presented by Rick Hefner, Pat O'Toole, Dave Zubrow, and Margaret Tanner Glover.


2. Organizational Change Management: The Key Differentiator for Sustainable Process Improvement with Julie Calfin


Is your organization struggling to get people to use your new processes? Did the commitment to your process improvement program wane after attaining your desired maturity level? Why do some organizations sustain their process improvements while others do not? The answers lie in the organization’s ability to get people to change their behavior. This presentation reveals the key elements of an organizational change-management strategy that will result in long-term, sustainable process improvement.


Julie is an awesome speaker and a world-class OCM consultant.


3. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger: My Process Improvement Lessons Learned with Bill Smith


Although several basic principles of successful process improvement are well-documented in textbooks and professional journals, experience often remains—for better or worse—the best teacher. In this talk, the presenter relates a series of brief anecdotes to introduce important process improvement concepts using an engaging “top ten” countdown approach.


There is a reason Bill is known as a "CMMI Entertainer."  Don't miss his hilarious, entertaining and informative presentation


4. SCAMPI B Appraisals: Not Just Dress Rehearsals with Heather Oppenheimer


Is a SCAMPI B appraisal just a “dress rehearsal” or “scaled down” SCAMPI A? Is a SCAMPI B just one of the required preparation activities for a SCAMPI A? If you think the answer is “yes” to either of these, come and learn how several organizations have used SCAMPI B appraisals as an effective means of initiating process improvement programs that resulted in business performance improvement - not additional paperwork and overhead.


Heather is a great Lead Appraiser and an entertaining speaker.


5.  Making CMMI Work in a Customer-Focused Government Service Contract: An Experience Report with James Peachey


Hear the story of how the Process Management Team (PMT) for ADNET Systems, Inc., an award-winning mid-sized government contractor with an excellent track record, was able to help ADNET boost its contract performance still higher. The approach and methods used and results attained by the PMT led to some striking insights into process improvement, the power of teams, and organizational dynamics.


Want to hear from one of NASA's top performers?  James is not only super-smart, but he's a great speaker (and fellow musician!).


6.  Scrum + CMMI Learning Experience with Jeff Dalton (hey, wait a minute!...) and Julie Calfin


Scrum versus CMMI? NO! Scrum+CMMI! 
 
Scrum is gaining in popularity in the software and engineering worlds, yet many companies are not getting the results they had hoped for. Those who are using the CMMI for process improvement struggle with how to integrate these two frameworks. This tutorial teaches attendees to use the CMMI to make Scrum better. 

Using Scrum to teach Scrum, the learning experience has been successful with practitioners as it helps them to imagine how integrating these two frameworks can radically improve performance. Attendees take meaningful tools and experiences with them that they can use right away.


Scrum+CMMI?  Absolutely!


7.  Software Horizons: What's Beyond CMMI? with Mark Paulk and Mike Konrad


What are the issues on the frontier of identifying and formalizing software engineering best practices as captured in frameworks such as CMMI for Development? Why are these topics not addressed in CMMI? Should they be? Or left outside their scope? What about topics that may need a fuller discussion, whether in the model or in other assets? Specific issues include innovation, reuse (including product lines and domain engineering), Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD), agile methods, culture, and practitioner attention management.


You won't find two guys with more history and vision in our industry than Mark Paulk and Mike Konrad!


8. Top Ten Ways to Make Process Improvement Fail with Mark Rabideau and Judah Mogilensky


The presenters have a combined 40 years of process improvement consulting experience, and they have seen many organizations attempt process improvement. Some succeed, but many fail. This presentation, with a slightly humorous tone, describes several of the key mistakes that people commonly make, often in combination, which tend to lead to implementation failure. Watch out—you may discover that some of them are things you are doing right now.


Talk about a powerhouse!  This one is not to be missed (and have you heard Judah sing?).


9.  Pilot Testing: A Practical Method for Validating New Processes with Laura Adkins


Would you like to accelerate process institutionalization in your organization? Would you like to be confident that new process assets will meet the needs of process users? If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, process validation may be for you. This presentation teaches a practical method for pilot testing new processes. Real-world examples and tips will be shared for planning and conducting process pilots.


Laura has song great "hands-on" stories about process pilots that you'll want to hear about.




and my number 10 pick is.....




10. Achieving High Maturity with CMMI-SVC: A Practical Panel led by Eileen Forrester


The CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC) has now been in use for improvement and appraisals for more than two years and many organizations are on the path to high maturity with CMMI-SVC. Eileen Forrester, leader of the CMMI-SVC work at the SEI, will moderate three panelists who can give perspectives on CMMI-SVC and high maturity from practical experience. K Subramanian from TCS, Lynn Penn of Lockheed Martin, and Karen Smiley from ABB will describe their experience in achieving high maturity and high quality in large and small settings.


So that's it!  These are my picks, and I'm sticking to 'em!


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.

Why I'm coming to SEPG 2012 this year - Reason #9

The #9 Reason to Attend SEPGNA: To Form Strategic Partnerships

Howdy, Partners!  My name is Jeff, but most people call me … Jeff.

Now, I know some of y’all cow-punchers saw my last hitchn’ post – I mean blog post – about the Top Ten Reasons for coming to the SEI's big shindig "SEPG 2012" on March 12-15, and are already on that dusty trail down to Albuquerque to pick up your badges.  But I reckon some are saying, “Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!”  And so it’s time once again for me to drop my phony cowpoke accent and give you Reason #9.

Whew, it almost hurts my jaw to talk like that!  So now, in plain English, allow me to continue present my list of Top 10 Reasons to attend SEPGNA 2012.

Drum roll, please!  Reason #9 is …

It’s a great place to form successful business partnerships.

Let’s face it, we’ve all got one thing in common.  We’re all trying to make our companies as successful as possible.  That’s why it’s good to have strategic relationships with compatible companies when you need them.  And there’s no better place to form these relationships than at SEPGNA!

You want proof?  At last year’s SEPG conference in Portland, I had a discussion with another SEI Partner about his service offerings and our service offerings.

This Partner runs a very successful and innovative training business and we run a CMMI consulting firm.  We discovered our offerings were complimentary, so we struck an informal agreement to refer some business to each other when it made sense for our clients.  Nothing fancy, just a handshake.

Since then, I’ve referred him a number of class participants.  And, just recently, he referred us to a great new client, an information technology company.  Although we were already in discussions with this company his referral helped them make a decision that was right for them – and we earned their business.

That, my friend, is a first-hand account of the type of relationships and partnerships that are formed at every SEPGNA conference.  That alone is a good enough reason to go, isn’t it?

Need more?  Check back soon for Reason #8.

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation and the incoming Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board.  He is a CMMI SCAMPI Lead Appraiser and CMMI Instructor and  can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com.