Grab a cup o’ hot cocoa and enjoy the “Agile Resiliency” Webinar, winter edition!

Dear Readers,

Winter is here, and your fun-loving CMMI Appraiser is throwing another virtual log on the fire and pouring virtual cups of hot cocoa for everyone who joins the presentation of our popular Webinar, “Agile Resiliency” on Thursday, February 12 at noon EST.

Registration is now open: "Agile Resiliency: Scaling Agile So That It Thrives & Survives."

Click HERE to register for the Live Webinar (Thursday, February 12, noon EST)

Why attend?

They say agile won’t scale due to opposition. We say, yes, it can! … as long as engineering and software professionals understand the concept of “Agile Resiliency.”

What is “Agile Resiliency?” It’s a term we’ve coined for a new way of thinking about scaling agile by taking a look at your agile methodology through the perspective of the “Agile Resiliency Architecture,” which keeps you focused on what's most important to your business and your process, and ultimately, your product. In this practical, interactive, fast-paced Webinar, you’ll learn the following:

• How to think of agile in terms of a 3-tiered Architecture consisting of your values, your methods and your techniques
• How to start with agile values and see them as guiding your work
• How to apply the Architecture as a method or framework for managing the work of Scrum
• How to use the Architecture to focus on the techniques for doing the work, such as Planning Poker, Continuous Builds, Story Time, Backlog Grooming, Retrospectives, etc.
• How to integrate the architectural strengths of the CMMI with your agile approach to bring about the transformation of the culture of your company

… Plus, many more strategies, tips and insights for improving ourselves and making our agile methodology scalable.

Space is limited ... sign up now!

Register for the FREE Live 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 about running a successful CMMI and performance improvement program.

Just the FAQs: SPECIAL EDITION! CMMI Institute Announces "Action Plan Re-Appraisal!"

[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 discusses the new "Action Plan Re-Appraisal." Take it away! ~ the CMMI Appraiser]

I heard that the CMMI Institute just released this thing called an “Action Plan Reappraisal.” What is it and why should I care?

PAT: Imagine that your organization just completed a maturity level 4 (ML4) SCAMPI A appraisal, but because you failed a goal in Organizational Process Performance (OPP) at ML4 and had an “Not Rated” goal in Risk Management (RSKM) at ML3, the SCAMPI A appraisal resulted in an ML2 rating. As Maxwell Smart might say, “You missed it by that much!”

Let’s assume that the ML4 rating was important to your team as a formal recognition of accomplishment and/or because a strategically important client requires it. In either case, you would want to remediate the goal‐impacting weaknesses, institutionalize the associated behavior changes, and be re‐appraised as soon as possible. Prior to the Action Plan Reappraisal being released, your organization would have to undergo another soup‐to‐nuts ML4 SCAMPI A appraisal – a very expensive and disruptive undertaking.

Now, however, the Appraisal Sponsor can elect to conduct an Action Plan Reappraisal (APR) – essentially a “delta appraisal.” An action plan is generated and executed by the organization to remediate the weaknesses and institutionalize the behavior changes, after which the appraisal team re‐evaluates the failed or not rated goals. If any of these goals are now rated “Satisfied,” the maturity level is regenerated. In the happiest of scenarios, both the OPP and RSKM goals would now be rated “Satisfied,” and ML4 will have been achieved!

Any questions?

Is there a time limit in which the Action Plan Reappraisal (APR) must be conducted?
The APR must conclude within 4 months of the SCAMPI A Final Findings presentation.

Why 4 months?
4 months was selected as an appropriate time frame for remediating minor goal‐threatening weaknesses; the APR is not intended for use when remediating major or systemic weaknesses.

Is there a limit regarding how many APRs may be conducted?
Only one APR can be conducted for a given SCAMPI A appraisal.

What happens if our current maturity level expires during this 4‐month period?
An appraisal result that exceeds its 3‐year validity period is no longer published on PARS. If the current SCAMPI A was completed and the associated APR is concluded within the 4‐month time limit, the Appraisal Sponsor can authorize the current results to be published in PARS. Publication in PARS would start after the ARP has been submitted to the CMMI Institute via the SCAMPI Appraisal System (SAS) and the CMMI Institute has concluded its Quality Audit.

How is the 3‐year validity period established for a SCAMPI A that had an APR?
Such an appraisal would expire 3 years after the delivery of the SCAMPI A Final Finding presentation.

Is it now required to conduct an APR if the target maturity level/capability level profile was not achieved in the SCAMPI A appraisal? If not required, who makes the decision to conduct an APR or not?
No, the APR is not required; it is an option available to the Appraisal Sponsor. The Lead Appraiser provides a good‐faith recommendation on whether an APR might be successful if pursued, but the final decision rests with the Appraisal Sponsor. If proceeding with an APR, this decision must be communicated to the CMMI Institute prior to submitting the SCAMPI A appraisal via SAS.

Typically, a goal fails due to one or more practices being characterized as “partially implemented.” or “not implemented.” Does the APR evaluate just these practices? Goals? Process area? Maturity level?
The APR appraises all of the “Unsatisfied” and “Not Rated” goals in the APR appraisal scope in the same manner as in a SCAMPI A: for each practice that supports the goal, documents are reviewed and interviews conducted to determine if that practice is fully, largely, partially, or not implemented on that project. These project‐level characterizations are then used to characterize the practice overall for the organization, or what’s referred to as the “OU practice characterization.” These OU practice characterizations are then used to rate the goal as “Satisfied” or “Unsatisfied.”

Note that it may be determined that additional goals need to be put in scope for the APR to properly evaluate the remediation. For example, if a Project Planning goal was rated “Unsatisfied” in the SCAMPI A, it might be appropriate to evaluate one or more goals from the Project Monitoring and Control process area as well. This decision is made by the Lead Appraiser.

Do we have to evaluate the remediated goals on the same projects, or can we do so on others?
The expectation is that the same projects will be evaluated. However, there may be cases where this is not feasible – for example, the project terminated prior to the remediation being applied, or the project is beyond the point in the lifecycle where the remediated practices are executed. In such cases, replacement projects with the same sampling characteristics may be evaluated instead.

What happens if some of the goals are still rated “Unsatisfied” or “Not Rated” at the end of the ARP?
In the example above, if the previously failed OPP goal was now rated “Satisfied” but the previously unrated RSKM goal was still “Not Rated,” the maturity level would be regenerated but the outcome would be the same – ML2. On the other hand, if the RSKM goal was now rated “Satisfied” and the OPP goal was still rated “Unsatisfied,” the regenerated maturity level rating would be ML3.

Must the organization have all failed and unrated goals re‐evaluated as part of the APR?
No, the Appraisal Sponsor can elect to conduct the APR on a subset of these. In the example above, the sponsor may decide to include only the unrated RSKM goal in the APR scope and, if the goal is successfully remediated, institutionalized, and rerated as “Satisfied,” ML3 will have been achieved.

Can the organization include new process areas in the APR? That is, in the example above, could they expand the model scope to include some or all of the ML5 process areas?
No, the model scope of the APR cannot be greater than that of the original SCAMPI A appraisal.

Do we have to use the same Lead Appraiser for the APR, and do all of the original appraisal team members have to be involved?
Yes, but... The original Lead Appraiser must be involved in all evaluation‐related APR activities, and with the exception of documentation review, these activities must be conducted onsite. In addition, for each failed or unrated goal in the APR model scope, to achieve continuity at least one member of the SCAMPI A mini‐team that evaluated the detailed evidence associated with that goal must also be involved in all of these onsite appraisal activities. In other words, there will be at least two members of the original SCAMPI A appraisal team, and maybe more, involved throughout. The other SCAMPI A appraisal team members must also be involved in OU practice characterizations and goal/capability/maturity level ratings, but they may participate remotely (e.g., via teleconference).

So in our example, if separate mini‐teams were responsible for evaluating the evidence and characterizing the practices for OPP and RSKM, then the Lead Appraiser and at least one member of each of these mini‐teams must participate in all evaluation‐related APR activities. All of the original appraisal team members must be involved in generating the OU practice characterizations and rating the goals.
Special provisions must be made with the CMMI Institute if any of the original appraisal team members, including the Lead Appraiser, cannot participate in the APR.

If there a limit on the number of failed goals that may be evaluated in an APR?
No, however, the Lead Appraiser must make a recommendation to the Appraisal Sponsor regarding the feasibility of achieving the objective. This may include reminding the sponsor that, for a goal to be rated “Satisfied,” the weaknesses have to be rectified AND the behavior changes have to be institutionalized.

Will the appraisal posting on PARS indicate that an APR was conducted?
No, the SCAMPI A and APR are considered a single appraisal event. The posting on PARS only indicates the final outcome of the appraisal; there is no indication that an APR was, or was not, conducted.

What do YOU perceive to be “the good, the bad, and the ugly” regarding Action Plan Reappraisals?
[Author’s note: Prior to this question, all answers were based on the changes introduced in the SCAMPI MDD v1.3b to accommodate the APR. In response to this question, Pat is providing his own opinion, which may or may not align with that of the CMMI Institute or his fellow Lead Appraisers!]

The Good:

Some organizations insist on being “rock solid” going into a SCAMPI A appraisal, as the fear and cost of failure is very high – in both financial and political terms. These organizations may conduct a series of Class C and Class B “dress rehearsals” until they have achieved 99.9% confidence that they will “pass” the SCAMPI A. The Action Plan Reappraisal option will allow such organizations to lower the overall cost by embracing more rating risk. The organization may forego one or more “dry run” appraisals if they know they can address any last potential goal threatening weaknesses over the ensuing four months.

Currently, some Lead Appraisers may struggle with the ethical decision to “flunk” an organization based on one or two marginal practices. They are torn between staying true to the model and method, and forcing the organization to incur the significant cost and disruption of another full SCAMPI A appraisal. The APR option makes the right decision much more palatable (for all “relevant stakeholders!”)

The Bad and the Ugly:

Some perceive that the introduction of the APR “tarnishes the brand.” That is, the SCAMPI A appraisal method is a rigorous evaluation of current organizational outputs and behaviors to determine if a predetermined set of CMMI goals is being satisfied. Appraisals bring focus to organizations that might otherwise be easily distracted. And since the SCAMPI A is typically perceived as the “gold standard” of appraisal methods, anything less, like the APR, is, well, less.

Some organizations may decide to accept too much risk. That is, rather than simply foregoing their 16th pre‐SCAMPI A dry run appraisal, they may throw prudence and caution to the wind and do NO pre‐ appraisal preparation, trusting that they can address any and all issues during their four month “grace period.” Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!

Finally, some CMMI‐adopting organizations may fear that an unscrupulous Lead Appraiser may see the Action Plan Reappraisal as a means of extracting even more revenue from them. “Oh gee, you failed a goal, I guess you’ll just have to pay me for another 4 or 5 days of service to get your level!”

Concluding Note
The SCAMPI Method Definition Document v1.3b, Section 4 is the Action Plan Reappraisal’s “official rule book.” If you would like a copy of this section, a copy of the full MDD, or if you have any additional questions or “Good, Bad, and Ugly” insights, please feel free to contact Pat at PACT.otoole@att.net.
Over time, I suspect that what “Dear Abby” said about birth control may also apply to the APR – “It’s better to have and not need than to need and not have.”

© Copyright 2015: Broadsword Solutions and Process Assessment, Consulting & Training
“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! 

CMMI-TV: Are You Scrum or “Scrum-But”?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, what can I expect as a member of an Appraisal Team that is appraising an agile organization? ~ SEPG NA Conference Attendee

Dear Readers,

Today’s episode of CMMI-TV was filmed ON LOCATION at the most recent SEPG North America Conference in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, where I delivered the keynote address on “Values-based Engineering.” Earlier in the day, an attendee had asked what to expect as a member of an Appraisal Team that is appraising an agile organization. Below is a video clip with my answer, followed by a synopsis of my response. Enjoy!

OVERVIEW

The CMMI is an important tool for helping agile scale. Having a CMMI appraisal is a great way to test the strength and resiliency of your agile values, methods and techniques.

APPRAISING AGILE ORGANIZATIONS

Being a member of the Appraisal Team looking at an agile organization has many advantages:

• It is more interesting to appraise a good agile project
• You get to appraise actual behaviors, not just the documents they are producing 
• There is tremendous value for the company for you to appraise behaviors

QUESTIONS

As a member of the Appraisal Team looking at an agile organization, you will be asking questions, including:

• Are you really agile? After all, ceremonies are widely open to interpretation. There isn’t a 1:1 map. So we as an Appraisal Team have to figure out, are you really agile? Or, are you just Fragile?
• Are you Scrum – or are you “Scrum-But”? I use the term “Scrum-But” when people say, “Oh, we’re using Scrum, but …” For example, some misguided, would-be agile developers say, “We use Scrum, but we’re using Microsoft Project.”

FRAGILE VERSUS AGILE

Most organizations start off pretty fragile. The problem is that agile is an aspirational way of doing business. It’s not a methodology. Agile is something we are, while CMMI is something we use to make it better. If the desire to have an agile transformation is being pushed uphill from project teams, there is only one way this will end, and it’s not good.

CONCLUSION

Agile is aspirational. Agile projects have to be driven by aspirational values that come out of the leadership of the organization. It has to be part of the company culture. Because without that, you are Fragile … not agile … and you are “Scrum-But” … not Scrum.

CMMI-TV is the free video series with the answers you’re looking for about Agile, CMMI and Performance Innovation. As a subscriber, you’ll be notified when we add new episodes to CMMI-TV and you’ll get links to other premium content, as well. Sign up 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 and performance improvement program.

Broadsword Appoints Tim Zeller to Director of Strategic Solutions

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

Our mechanical engineering firm has attained a CMMI Level 3 to help us operate more efficiently in a Waterfall environment. The Model allowed us get a system in place for getting deliverables to the customer, making it routine and repeatable, which helped us deliver services faster and better in the long run. Now we find ourselves needing to transition to an agile enviornment at the request of customers. Can we expect the same results from CMMI in terms of making deliveries out of our new agile methodology repeatable and scalable? ~ Dan K.

Dan, it is great to hear that you have had such a positive experience with CMMI. When CMMI users like you share their stories, everyone in the industry gets the benefit, so thank you!

Short answer: Yes, you absolutely can (and SHOULD!) use CMMI to help you transform to an agile environment.  CMMI works just as well with Waterfall as it does with agile, and any other approach.  The cool thing about CMMI is it takes what you are ALREADY doing and makes it better.  That's why lots of organizations like yours are using the CMMI as one of the tools that can help them establish the type of environment that can make them a great company. As a result, they have been able to improve all areas of the business, and reach their goals faster. 

To respond to this fast-growing trend, our firm recently appointed Tim Zeller Director of Strategic Solutions. Tim helps identify and implement new opportunities to improve performance, and leads our clients through the transformation from where they are today to where they want to be. He guides them on the path to becoming a great company, using our agileCMMI methodology.

Please read on and join me in welcoming Tim in his new role and wishing him great success!

Tim is a former chief executive of government and non-profit organizations and has served as General Council and Director of Risk Management and Legal Affairs in higher education and the health care industry. He is a Certified ISO 9000 lead auditor and SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resource) and an attorney who received his Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Tim also has responsibility for growing Broadsword’s solution offerings, including further expansion of training programs, agile transformation, performance management and organizational change management.

“I am excited about the impact we can have for our clients, not only with CMMI and Agile, but with all aspects of performance improvement,” Tim said.

Tim is well-known to Broadsword's clients, and has been working with us as a partner for more than three years. In his new role, Tim works with our existing clients to ensure they are getting all they need from our talented team. We're looking forward to introducing Tim to more engineering and software professionals who can benefit from the ideas and solutions Tim brings.

Read the full press release here: Broadsword Appoints Tim Zeller to Director of Strategic Solutions

And if you would like more information about using CMMI in your transition to agile, Dan, you are invited to participate in our upcoming Webinar: “Agile Resiliency – Scaling Agile so that It Thrives and Survives,” February 12, 2015 @ noon EST.

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.

Time for another CMMI Webinar … “CMMI – Everything You NEED to Know!”

Dear Readers,

What time is it? LEARNING time! For those who need to know EVERYTHING about CMMI, now is the time to sign up for our in-depth, practical and useful CMMI Webinar: “CMMI - Everything You NEED to Know!”

Registration is now open for our FREE presentation of “CMMI: Everything You NEED to Know!” on January 22, 2015 @noon.  Click HERE to register.

Who is the CMMI Webinar designed to help?

Executives, engineers, and business professionals are encouraged to join us. Whether you are an agile shop, still seeking the kind of results you have been hoping for, or a CMMI-focused organization, looking for guidance on being lighter and more flexible, this practical, relevant Webinar will give you new insights into addressing persistent problems, and help you improve upon what you are ALREADY doing.

Space is limited ... sign up now!

Register for the FREE Webinar.

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

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.

What reading material do you recommend for our new Appraisal Team member?

Dear CMMI Appraiser, wishing you and yours a happy 2015! I am writing on behalf of a colleague who is new to the Appraisal Team. He completed the necessary CMMI Training, but still has some gaps in his understanding of the basics, as I see it. I’m wondering if you could recommend some introductory-level reading to get him more comfortable in his role? ~ Carmen R.

Dear Carmen,

How thoughtful of you to look for information that can help your Appraisal Team member! I’m sure he will be successful in his new role with great people like you looking out for him. To help him, and as a last-minute gift idea for any other engineering or software professional on your list, I’d recommend the following high quality reading material for beginners to the CMMI:

CMMI eBooks Make the Perfect Holiday Gift!

Our CMMI and agile eBooks are the fastest way to get up to speed on the basics of CMMI, agile, and software process improvement. To download one of our free eBooks, check out our CMMI Resources Page, or purchase one of our latest books on Amazon.

It is our hope during the holidays, and all year round, to help passionate, proactive people like you increase performance and improve quality at your company.

Happy 2015!

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.

Can we use an agile approach to adopting CMMI?

Hey CMMI Appraiser, we are a CMMI L2 scientific, engineering, and technology applications company. We’re looking for an organizational performance improvement program that aligns with the way we do things. Can we use an agile approach to implementing the CMMI? ~ Bill B.

Bill, yes, you can. Agile and CMMI can and do work very well together.  To clarify something quickly though: CMMI is a framework for improving whatever it is you need to do. It isn't really something you “implement.” But you absolutely can (and SHOULD) use agile methods to design and deploy the processes and behaviors that you need to be a great company. Using agile and CMMI together gives you a “best of both worlds” approach to that noble goal.

Several years ago, we pioneered “agileCMMI,” an iterative and incremental method for designing and deploying process solutions. With agileCMMI, we helped organizations take a “Scrum-like” approach to understanding the CMMI framework, and apply it to whatever they were working on.

CMMI improves the teams that are using Scrum (or any other technique, for that matter) because, in the case of Scrum, you have a minimalist approach to developing products in an iterative and incremental way. But Scrum does not cover everything required to drive performance, organization-wide. Many such best-practices exist within the CMMI.

So whether your goals are to successfully deliver software, achieve a CMMI Maturity Level, or get on the path to becoming a great company, the agileCMMI approach helps your organization improve incrementally and in a lightweight, useful way -- and reach your goals in a brave new world.

If you would like more information about using CMMI to strengthen agile, Bill, you are invited to participate in our upcoming Webinar: “Agile Resiliency – Scaling Agile so that It Thrives and Survives,” February 12, 2015 @ noon EST.

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 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.

How to Get Even Better in 2015?

Dear Readers,

Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoyed the holidays and are prepared for an outstanding year of continuous improvement!  To start 2015 off right, you are invited to participate in a strategy for driving performance innovation throughout your organization. Our CMMI training courses are a great place to learn how to transform from where you are now to where you want to be.  Sign up below!

As you know if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, our fervent wish is to help software and engineering professionals use the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) as one of the tools that can help make you a great company.  Our hands-on, interactive learning experiences are designed to do exactly that.  So check out the first two CMMI training courses we are offering for the New Year, and sign up today!

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING

February 11-13, 2015

Livonia, Michigan

Register for "Introduction to CMMI"

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING

March 4-6, 2015
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Register for "Introduction to CMMI"

In the Introduction to CMMI training class, you’ll learn about CMMI, process models, and how to use them to be a great company. Professionals can earn 21 PDUs towards your PMP Certification (or 2.5 CEUs) while learning to improve software and engineering performance with the CMMI. And along the way, you’ll learn about the way you work, so that you can get better at what you do.

Every journey begins with a single step. As you begin the journey along your path to greatness in 2015, make CMMI training part of your plans for success!

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.

What should our New Year's resolution be for CMMI adoption in 2015?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, can you give us a good New Year’s resolution to help us get through the CMMI adoption we have planned for 2015? ~ Vera M.

Hey, Vera, I’d be happy to share my most powerful New Year’s resolution with you. But first allow me to lift a glass in your honor, wishing you and yours a very happy New Year and a prosperous CMMI program in 2015!

Now to your question. For organizations adopting the CMMI in 2015, or any time, there is only one resolution that you ever need to make: Just resolve to be a great company.

OK – but how do you do THAT?

To help you reach this most powerful and useful New Year’s Resolution, the CMMI provides 12 important behaviors that management needs to focus on for your CMMI adoption to be successful. These behaviors are provided to us by the Generic Practices (or GPs), which I consider to be the most important part of the CMMI. There are 12 of them. To make them actionable, each GP can be expressed as a question. And asking these questions – I call them “CMMI questions” – will put you on the path to being a great company.

Here’s how it works:

CMMI Question #1: What expectations are we going to set? (Generic Practice 2.1: Establish an Organizational Policy)

CMMI Question #2: What’s our plan? (Generic Practice 2.2: Plan the Process)

CMMI Question #3: What are the tools we are going to use? (Generic Practice 2.3: Provide Resources)

CMMI Question #4: Who is involved? (Generic Practice 2.4: Assign Responsibility)

CMMI Question #5: How are we going to train people? (Generic Practice 2.5: Train People)

CMMI Question #6: Where are we going to put all this stuff? (Generic Practice 2.6: Control Work Products)

CMMI Question #7: What stakeholders are involved? (Generic Practice 2.7: Involve Relevant Stakeholders)

CMMI Question #8: How are we going to know if the process is working? (Generic Practice 2.8: Monitor and Control the Process)

CMMI Question #9: How are we going to know if people are doing what we want them to do? (Generic Practice 2.9: Objectively Evaluate Adherence)

CMMI Question #10: How does management know that this is even working? (Generic Practice 2.10: Review Status with Higher Level Management)

CMMI Question #11: How will we use the right process for each project’s objectives? (Generic Practice 3.1: Establish a Defined Process)

CMMI Question #12: How will we share lessons learned? (Generic Practice 3.2: Collect Process Related Experiences

So that's what it takes to be successful with your CMMI adoption in the New Year, Vera. Resolve to be a great company, and stay focused on the behaviors that make you a great company by asking these 12 CMMI questions. Not only will you achieve CMMI Level 3 as a natural result, not only will you drive the software process improvement results you are looking for, but you’ll be on the path to greatness in 2015. And that’s a goal worth attaining.

Happy New Year!

NOTE: For those looking for CMMI training, we are offering the following two Intro to CMMI classes in the months ahead. Classes fill up quickly. Be sure to register today

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING: LIVONIA, MI
February 11-13, 2015
Register for "Introduction to CMMI-DEV" in Livonia

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
March 4-6, 2015
Register for "Introduction to CMMI-DEV" in Colorado Springs

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.

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

A-DAR-able Moments

[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 Jeff discusses Decision, Analysis and Resolution (DAR).  Take it away! ~ the CMMI Appraiser]

This DAR thing just seems silly to me.  Aren’t we supposed to be experts?  Why do I need a bunch of overhead when I’m smart enough to make the call on my own?

Make the call on your own?  That’s so a-DAR-able!  And it reminds me of a little story…

Back in the early 90’s I was leading a software project to develop a retail point-of-sale system for a major department store (yeah, we were pretty “RAD” back in the day….), and the job of selecting a code library that provided basic retail functionality fell to my team.

We quickly assembled a list of available suppliers some members of the team had heard of, and asked them to provide us more information about their code libraries.  Even though we didn’t conduct a “formal” selection process, we thought we were asking the right questions about platform, funtionality, cost, and viability.

After lining all of them up side-by-side, we had three solid, but similar, choices that ran in a text-based Linux environment, and one that ran on the then new-fangled Windows platform with a touch screen. Wait. Touch screen? Graphics? Ooooh.  Our inner-nerds were salivating!

While we went about the process of discussing our options, the buzz around the office about “touch screen” was palpable.  Words like “sexy”, “innovative”, and “groundbreaking” could be heard at all levels of the company.  Text-based systems were “old-school”, “yesterday’s news”, and “boring.” The CEO even weighed-in and said the new graphical interface would be the “soul” of the new system.

The CIO, who reviewed the data and found the touch screen system to be lacking in functionality while higher in cost, added a column to our matrix which he labled “pizzazz.”

Oy vey.

I think you know the rest of the story.  I don’t need to tell you about how the momentum to choose that touch screen system was unstoppable, or that the code library of basic retail functions didn’t even WORK, or that the entire project was a disaster that resulted in substantial cost and schedule overrruns.  No, I don’t need to tell you THAT story….

But I do need to tell you about the “3D’s.”

The 3D’s is a tool I use to remind myself about that project – and to help make sure that it never happens again.  It stands for Deliberate, Durable, and Defendable.  If you’ve taken one of my CMMI classes, you’ve heard me talk about it during the section on Decision Analysis and Resolution (sometimes I call it “Dalton’s 3Ds,” but that would make it FOUR D’s, and that’s way too much overhead!).

Here they are:

Deliberate: Applying a deliberate step-by-step approach that leverages proven criteria, which involves a limited set of the right stakeholders, and follows a useful, fact-based series of steps would have stopped the momentum of the touch-screen cold in its tracks.  This approach is sometimes called “a process.”

Durable: We need our decisions to stand the test of time, and to last beyond the next great thing, or perhaps just the next new manager.  Making a decision durable not only requires that a deliberate process be followed, but also that consideration is given to scaleability, change (including reorganization, acquisitions, or unforseen changes in business climate) and evolving preferences in technology or culture.  “Durable” doesn’t necessarily mean “solid,” “robust”, or “large.” More often than not, it means “flexible” and “adaptable.”  

Defendable.  Every decision we make has political consequences, as it reflects postitively or negatively on key stakeholders.  A successful choice can catapult a manager’s career into the boardroom, or relegate him just as easily to the mailroom.  Who we involve, how we communicate, and how we present the data to these stakeholders has an impact on whether it will be accepted, supported and implemented for the long term.  And it will also help control (or at least identify) those who would hide in the weeds waiting to pounce the minute they smell an opportunity to do so.

Start with the identification of a small number of key moments in time where important decisions need to be made – the kind of decisions that must be both durable and defendable, and then follow a deliberate path from selection, to analysis, and then on to resolution.

These could be some of the most important decisions of your career – you might even call them “a-dar-able moments.”

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

“Just the FAQs” is written/edited by Jeff Dalton  and Pat O’Toole.  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!

What’s the SECRET to "passing" a CMMI Appraisal (or any other audit)?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser! What’s the secret to passing a CMMI Appraisal? ~ software and engineering professionals everywhere I go

Dear Readers,

As I travel around the country and planet helping people receive the value that frameworks like CMMI and Scrum are intended to provide – higher quality products, faster delivery, and predictable, repeatable results – I invariably encounter someone who pulls me aside and whispers, “Hey, CMMI Appraiser! What’s the secret to passing a CMMI Appraisal?”

These good people have correctly surmised that we Lead Appraisers have a lot of secrets. There are some things we are not supposed to tell you about how to pass a CMMI appraisal. But I’m going to break ranks and share some of those secrets right here in today’s blog post – as long as you promise not to tell anybody else.

Got it? This is just between us – you, me and thousands of monthly readers of Ask the CMMI Appraiser. So mum’s the word!

Why do I want to share these trade secrets? Because I’m on a mission to change the perception in the market about the CMMI.

By the way, speaking of perceptions, when they created CMMI, nobody ever expected it to turn into a certification type of event. So-called “CMMI certification” was never the goal. CMMI was always intended to be about performance improvement.

I say this as a precursor to the first secret of passing an appraisal: Don’t follow the CMMI!

And here’s the second secret: Don’t be compliant with CMMI!

In my opinion, these are the two hugest problems in the CMMI community. People think they have to follow CMMI and be compliant with it. So let’s get those problems out of the way immediately. CMMI is not a rule book to be followed. It’s also not a compliance model. CMMI is not ISO.

So what is the CMMI? CMMI is a process model. It’s also a behavioral model. A good way to think of it is as a massive checklist. CMMI gives us a checklist of 356 things that great companies do. Your challenge, as you go about adopting the Model, is to figure out how to get the most value out of this great checklist.

That’s the next big secret: To be successful in your CMMI adoption, ask “the CMMI Questions.”

What are the CMMI questions? These are the questions you should be able to answer for every single thing you do on your agile team. They are based on practices in the CMMI.

For example, there is a CMMI practice that says, “Estimate the scope of the project.” There’s a right way and a wrong way to approach that practice.

The wrong way to respond: “OK, we could do that. We could pick some estimating method and do it just because the Model says we have to.”

Contrast that with the RIGHT way to respond: “How are we going to estimate the size? Let’s collaborate on how we are going to do that.”

Every single agile ceremony can be strengthened by going through the CMMI and asking the CMMI questions. And the cool thing is, the CMMI lays it all out for us. All we have to do is ask the CMMI questions:

What expectations are we going to set? Who is involved in that? When are they involved? What are the tools we are going to use? How are we going to train people? Where are we going to put all this stuff? What stakeholders are involved? How are we going to know if the process is working? How are we going to know if people are doing what we want them to do? How does management know that it’s even working?

Those 10 CMMI questions come directly from the 10 Generic Practices in Maturity Level 2 of the CMMI. They are the 10 characteristics of a good process.

See what’s happening here? When we form them as questions, instead of strictly following the CMMI language from the book, we avoid the risk of driving the wrong behaviors.

For example, the CMMI language says, “Establish an organizational policy.” What do people do when they read that? The wrong (but all too common) way to respond is to go off and create a book with 18 pages in it and a policy on each. Make everybody sign it. Then put it on a shelf that nobody looks at.

That’s a complete waste of time. Better to ask the CMMI questions: “What am I supposed to do? What do you want me to do?”

Here’s another example. The second Generic Practice is “Plan the process.” Sounds intimidating! My CMMI question is, “What’s the plan here, team? What are we doing?”

That’s all these CMMI practices are about. They can be summed up in just five CMMI questions:

• What are we doing?
• When are we doing it?
• Why are we doing it?
• Who is responsible for doing it?
• What do we need to do it?

The biggest problem I see with agile projects is when these questions are unasked, and thus, unanswered . Everybody thinks they know how to do the work, and everybody’s thinking something different. But if you know the secret to success – asking the CMMI questions – you’ll be on the path to greatness. Passing a CMMI Appraisal and achieving a Maturity Level will be natural byproducts. That’s the secret truth.

Now promise me you won’t tell ANYONE!

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.

What’s the ONE THING we should do to improve organizational performance?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser – all we want for Christmas is peace in our software organization! Tell us the one thing we should do to fix all the performance issues we’re having. ~ Dianne M.

Hey, Dianne, Merry Christmas! You know, people attempting to improve organizational performance often ask me this. They are dealing with a whole host of issues – late projects, unpredictable results, lessons not learned, mistrust and miscommunication. All these problems, and yet they only want ONE THING to solve them all!

But I'm cool with that, because it really does come down to one thing you should do.

Of course, there are many things you CAN do. There are hundreds of things within process models, frameworks, systems and architectures. The CMMI literally gives us 356 things you can do. Agile and Scrum give us many things to do. ISO gives us many things to do.

But you asked what you SHOULD do. And I believe the one thing you should do to improve performance is this:

Address organizational values. 

“Values,” you say? “You mean those words stuck to the wall in the lobby that nobody looks at?”

No, I mean the values that are clearly defined and are compatible with the way your company does business.

Values come from upper management, usually. They are set as part of the strategic vision of the organization, and, for a company to be as great as it can be, they should trace down directly to the behaviors of the most junior person in the organization.

So if you see companies that have super cultures – high morale, high performance, everybody is on the same page – you’ll find that the values of that organization are clearly defined and are compatible with the rest of the work.

How do these companies do it?

Several things are important in having a great culture. Leadership, your expertise, your people. Also your business processes, the way you do your work, every day. As Lead Appraiser, I have had the opportunity to study many companies that are great and many more that are good, and I can tell you one constant: They do their work in a predictable, consistent way.

What happens when a company’s values become disconnected from the way people do their work? It leads to bad decisions, strained customer relationships, and poor quality. When the company’s values are inconsistent with the work that is being done, you see low morale. You see chaos and lack of productivity. Unfortunately, this is what’s happening in the agile community today.

Here’s an example. If you are an agile team, and one of your values is to “incrementally deal with issues and risk,” you might select a method such as Scrum and use a technique like Daily Stand-up. But if you are operating in a Waterfall company, this value would be a problem. The two are inconsistent and incongruous. People wouldn’t know HOW to act, and chaos would ensue.

To be useful, Values must guide behavior.

At Broadsword, we call this “making values operational.” We use a “values-based architecture” that links Values, Frameworks, and Techniques. Our goal is to trace a direct link between the company’s values and how work gets done.

We have nine core values that we have “operationalized.” Each value guides our behavior and can be traced to how we do our work. Our values range from being “creative problem solvers focused on our clients” to being “fun and hassle free to work with.”

We think our Values reflect who we are as a company. Values have an impact on customers, on employees, and on the way products are developed and code is written. If you want to be the best company you can be, make sure your values are clearly defined and aligned with your way the work gets done.

It’s the ONE THING you should do to address performance issues.

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.

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.

Do we need CMMI training?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, do we need CMMI training? ~ software and engineering professionals all over North America

Dear Readers,

If you’ve been following this CMMI Appraiser for a while, you know that, as the front man for the organizational process and performance improvement band called Broadsword, I do a lot of shows, all over the world. And just about everywhere I go, I get the same question from software and engineering professionals:

"Do we need CMMI training?"

The first thing I always recommend is to make sure you understand exactly what you are asking about. Let's start with the basics:

WHAT IS CMMI-DEV TRAINING?

The Introduction to CMMI for Development training course is a 3-day class that we teach in cities like San Diego, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York City. The class is recommended for software engineers, software developers, project managers, business analysts and line managers. It is an opportunity to learn how software process improvement works, and how to improve the performance of your software or engineering organization.

WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER CMMI TRAINING?

• The company is interested in improving software and engineering performance
• Management wants an approach to remedy consistently late or over-budget projects
• The team needs a way to make its work sustainable and scalable

WHO IS REQUIRED TO TAKE CMMI TRAINING?

• You intend to participate in a SCAMPI Appraisal team
• You wish to become a CMMI Lead Appraiser

WHY ARE THESE CMMI CLASSES DIFFERENT?

Our classes are a little bit different from some of the other CMMI training classes, because we infuse agile concepts into our classes. For example, instead of some of the standard training exercises, we include:

• How to play Planning Poker
• How to use Fibonacci sequencing for your estimates
• How to do agile program planning
• How to perform retrospective

And many other hands-on things that you’ll want to learn to participate in today’s programs using Scrum, Kanban or other methods

WHERE TO TAKE A CLASS?

Our next two courses being presented on the following dates and locations:

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING: LIVONIA, MI

February 11-13, 2015

Register for "Introduction to CMMI-DEV" in Livonia

INTRODUCTION TO CMMI TRAINING: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO

March 4-6, 2015

Register for "Introduction to CMMI-DEV" in Colorado Springs

We hope to see you in February or March!

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.

Are we THERE yet? When will CMMI make us more productive and profitable?

Dear CMMI Appraiser, our application development firm has recently been acquired by a leading IT provider that has achieved CMMI ML3 in Boston. The new boss keeps touting CMMI as this tool that is there to help us be more productive and profitable. But so far our agile teams aren’t buying it, and I don’t know what to tell them. Would CMMI training help? ~ Samuel H.

Samuel, it sounds like your new boss has the right attitude about CMMI. The goal of any organization adopting the CMMI should be to drive performance improvement and behavioral change. So, yes, CMMI training would help. But there’s something that can help you even more, and that’s a comprehensive understanding of the Generic Practices (GPs) in the CMMI. Without the GPs guiding the transformation of the newly formed organization, it’s like driving blindfolded. You are far more likely to have a wreck than get where you want to go.

The good news is, the GPs take away the blinders. There are twelve GPs to guide you, and each is useful to you as you go about changing the culture of your organization without disrupting the business.

In this post, I’ll limit the discussion to five of them. Since you asked about CMMI training, let’s start with GP 2.5.

The CMMI anticipates that people performing or supporting the process need to be trained in order to be successful. That’s what the fifth Generic Practice (GP 2.5) guides us to do – Train People.

You’ll find, as you expand your understanding of the Model, that there are multiple interdependencies among the GPs, particularly with regard to training. For example, let’s say one of the changes you want to see is that your Project Managers are efficient at estimating and planning. Starting with the first Generic Practice (GP 2.1), which guides us to set expectations, you are encouraged to tell your Project Managers that you expect them to be efficient at estimating and planning, and that you will provide training on estimating and planning.

Here’s another example. The change you want to see is for your QA folks to run process and product quality assurance. The second Generic Practice (GP 2.2) guides us to plan, so, if you are going to plan for this change, you need to provide training for your QA folks on running process and product quality assurance.

The third Generic Practice (GP 2.3) guides us to provide resources. If you are going to provide resources for your BA teammates to trace requirements and run JAD workshops, you need to offer training for them on performing requirement traceability and running JAD workshops.

The fourth GP (GP 2.4) is about assigning responsibility. If you are going to assign responsibility to your engineers to perform peer reviews, you need to provide training for them to perform peer reviews.

Are you starting to see the light? Training is integral to success. But without a solid understanding of the GPs, you might not have a clue just how important training is. You might mistakenly think (as many companies do) that training is a costly overhead expense that does not fit into your tight budget. You might even assume (and we know what happens when we ASSUME!) that it’s OK to train your engineers by throwing them into the fire and asking them to learn on the job.

Is that how training currently happens at your company? Then it’s no wonder that you haven’t been more productive and profitable. When you train people by fire, you end up with burned out, frustrated engineers who are slow to accept change.

The CMMI guides you to take a better approach. CMMI training increases productivity early in the tenure of a person’s employment. Where it takes an average engineer about a year to get up to speed in terms of productivity with peers, training helps them get up to speed in a matter of weeks.

CMMI training also reduces the cost of your people’s time, eliminating their need to reinvent the wheel and perform rework.

Let’s recap. CMMI training saves money, time and speeds your overall performance improvement efforts. These outcomes ought to help them buy into the program, wouldn’t you say?

There are many CMMI training courses available in the marketplace. I always encourage folks to look for a class that offers real life examples, lessons and proven techniques, so that your team can take away – and retain – valuable information to be used on the job, immediately.

If that's what you're looking for, here's a class that may be perfect for you:  I am conducting Introduction to CMMI-DEV training on Wednesday, February 11 through Friday, February 13, 2015 in at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan,

Click here to register for Introduction to CMMI-DEV training.

Also, you may want to check out the training courses offered by the CMMI Institute.

Good luck!

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.