West Virginia (again)

I spent the last 2 days in Clarksburg, West Virginia to do the quality kick-off for our new project out there. It was 2 degrees. I can't comprehend 2 degrees. We got a couple inches of snow while out there too. This trip was kind of fun because a good portion of our Reston office was out there for an open house at our new office. I'm glad to be home though.

CMMI Level 3!

I've spent the last year and a half of my career getting my company ready for this. CMMI is a process improvement framework that provides standards for implementing process improvement across 22 process areas (things like risk management, measurement and analysis, project planning, etc). There were so many processes to institutionalize within the company before going into the appraisal (18 of the 22 areas for Level 3). Some companies get to level 3 faster but we took our time and made sure it was done the right way. The appraisal went pretty smoothly because of that.

The appraisal lasted 2 weeks and the appraisal team consisted of a mixed group of employees and external (independent) appraisers. I was actually on the appraisal team and yes, they monitor this conflict of interest. We reviewed about 500 documents from the organization and interviewed 19 employees (keep in mind our company only has about 85 people).

I wasn't sure what to expect during the interviews. You just never know what people are going to say. I was floored by the amount of positive things employees had to say about Platinum Solutions and the processes our Quality Management Group has implemented. The team made fun of me because I kept saying how the interviews gave me "warm fuzzies". It makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile which gives me a reason to get up and keep going to work each day.

Most days went well. We had one really long day where even the most patient team members lost their cool. That's what happens at 1am when you've worked 16 hours and still see no end in sight. It was stressful but we made it!

The appraisal team has determined that we are CMMI Level 3 compliant. Now the findings go back to the Software Engineering Institute for review and final approval. We were actually chosen for a random audit by the SEI so they have already audited our appraisal along the way. While that made us nervous when we initially heard about it, we can now be confident that they will come back with an approval. And bonus- no one will be able to question the integrity of our appraisal since it was audited. We should have our official Level 3 rating within the month.

I always find it strange how big events are so anticlimactic. I feel like there should be a huge event that marks the moment in time. Today, the final day of the appraisal, when we knew we were getting Level 3, I could have cried. (I didn't.) I had no idea how much stress and anxiety I've been carrying around about this appraisal. The successful appraisal confirms that the work I've been doing is good. It's a major milestone for the organization and for my career. I'm not sure I could have recovered to continue working towards Level 3 if we had failed.

As soon as I got home, I passed out. All of the stress built up over a year and a half just flowed out and I was exhausted. Now I have this feeling of not knowing what to do with myself anymore. I get to go to work like a normal person without this constant pressure of getting to Level 3 looming over me. I've become accustomed to the pressure; being stress-free (ok, who am I kidding?, but maybe less stressed) is foreign now. I kinda like this new feeling.

144.5

Hours. That's the number of hours I've worked in the last 2 weeks. Two weeks, 10 business days, 3 non-business days, 144.5 hours. I am exhausted. We are still trying to get ready for this CMMI appraisal and it has been crazy trying to tie up loose ends and make sure everything is ready. I am now wearing this number like a badge of honor. I'm not even sure how I've been able to work this much. I am looking forward to this appraisal stuff coming to a close and having a life again.

Until then, 144.5...................

Worst Assignment Ever

As we approach our CMMI appraisal at work, we have to map documentation for each project in the appraisal to each practice in the CMMI model to show how the project has met the intent of the practice. There are approximately 350 practices that have to be mapped for each project. We are including 2 projects in our appraisal, so you get the idea. This is NOT fun work. The person helping me with this now attends each of our status meetings to discuss the "stupid" mapping. It's all in good humor and he's keeping a great attitude about it, but I can't help but feel horrible asking him to take on this task. I'm doing a lot of it too, so it's not like the burden is all on him. But still. I would do it all myself if I could. Thankfully, we only have to do this every 3 years.

Metrics Review

Over the summer, I spent a substantial amount of time developing a measurement program for my company. It involved the development of metrics for Human Resources, Quality, Finance, Business Development, and our projects. We implemented the metrics on all of the corporate areas in 2007; we are implementing the project metrics in 2008. So I've been collecting metric data for 2007 and today I gave a presentation to senior management on those metrics.

If I were to call myself an expert in something, it would definitely be metrics and measurement programs. I was initially thrown in to this area at Accenture and have continued to work with metrics ever since. A good measurement program can make a huge difference for any company, if implemented correctly. In my presentation, I focused on evaluating the metrics we implemented, our performance against the metrics, and how we can make improvements in the company to operate more efficiently. I think that everyone was able to see the benefit that these metrics provide and we were able to make some changes to improve the business in 2008.

I am thrilled to be at a company that recognizes the use of metrics and is open to new ideas and interested in improving its processes. I would call today a success for both the company and for me. It was a personal accomplishment to not only implement the program but to know that senior management is behind me in this effort and realizes the importance of it.

PSDM

I've spent the last few months putting together a website that documents all of the processes, procedures, and templates for our software development methodology. The system will be used by all of the projects at my company. The system is called PSDM: Platinum Solutions Delivery Methodology. We're releasing it in three phases and the first was released today. The first section includes all of the Project Management processes and templates. To give you an idea of the size of the system, there are about 30 web pages on the site, documenting all the processes via flowcharts and detailed step descriptions. In addition, I created about 30 templates, including management plans and tools. So it was a huge endeavor.

I presented the new system to the company today at our All Hands meeting. I had a bunch of people compliment me on the system and my presentation, which meant a lot because I don't really consider myself a very talented presenter. I get nervous speaking to large groups but I'm getting more comfortable. I basically force myself into positions where I will have to speak to large groups so that eventually this anxiety will completely go away.

Anyway, it was a really good day and I feel like I've made a big contribution to the organization as well as a personal accomplishment.

Workin' Like a Dog

So it's Thursday night and I've worked about 60 hours this week. Yeah, and I've still got work to do this weekend. My guess is this will end up being about an 80 hour week. Nice huh? I think I'm starting to lose it a little. I really haven't done anything other than work in the last 5 days. It makes me irritable. On top of that, some other things have happened this week that I'm just frustrated with and that makes it really hard to be so dedicated. Hopefully next week will be better.

CMMI Decision

This week the decision of how to move forward with our CMMI appraisal at work finally came to a head. It's been a major stresser for me at work. Even though my primary function is supposed to be getting our company to CMMI Level 3 this year, I've been pulled into so many other things (which I enjoy) that I haven't had the time to properly focus on it. So I've been promised no more work on proposal efforts until after the CMMI appraisal which should help a bit. Plus, I've just realized I'm going to have to put in a lot more time outside of the office to just get it done. With that decision made, I actually somehow have less stress, even though there is a major deadline to meet and a TON of work to be done to get there (hence my shortage of posts recently). Time to plug away...........