Resources

It's smart to keep your core HR policies (hiring, firing, compensation) out of your Services Quality Management System (QMS). Leave that under the HR umbrella. Your job is to interface with HR, not duplicate their function.

Where Service Delivery Takes Over

The Services QMS does not own HR policy, but it must own the following:

• Defining Roles: The service organization is responsible for defining the necessary roles (e.g., Project Manager, Service Architect, QA Analyst) needed for service delivery.

• Skill Requirements: You must clearly specify the knowledge and skills required for each role to successfully perform the defined service procedures.

• Team Structure: Your project plans must clearly document the team structure and who is responsible for which activities.

The HR Interface

Your interaction with HR should be simple and focused:

• Requisition: When you need people for your projects, you use your defined skill requirements and follow HR's policies and tools to requisition them.

• Release: Follow HR procedures when releasing human resources from a project or the company.

Keep the process focused: Your QMS defines the 'what' (the required skills and roles), and HR handles the 'who' and 'how' (the personnel policies).

Once your policies, procedures, and related documents are ready, your next job is making sure the people who need them can easily access them. Hiding them in a safe won't work!

The Process Asset Library (PAL)

Develop an electronic library or publication system in your company for your people. CMMI refers to this library as a Process Asset Library (PAL). This is the central repository for your QMS.

Make sure your PAL is:

• Accessible: It must be easily accessible to everyone who needs the information for reference.

• Managed and Controlled: The PAL must be managed and controlled by your Document Control procedures, meaning all contents are kept under a version control system. This ensures people always find the current, approved version.

What Goes into the PAL? (Content)

To meet CMMI requirements, the PAL shouldn't just store documents; it should store organizational assets that help projects run better. This includes:

• Organizational Standard Processes: Your policies, procedures, and SOPs.

• Supporting Work Products: Templates, forms, checklists, and guides.

• Measurement Data: Historical performance data and reports that help projects plan future work.

• Lessons Learned: Improvement information that captures successes, failures, and best practices from completed projects.

The PAL is the organizational memory that makes processes repeatable and helps new projects learn from old ones.

You will need to form specific workgroups to manage and execute the best practices that drive your process improvement journey. These groups take responsibility for specific CMMI focus areas and ensure the standards are maintained.

Essential Workgroups and Their Focus

These groups can be permanent or temporary, staffed by full-time or part-time resources, often with rotating membership:

• Process Development WorkGroups for various process areas (e.g. Requirements, Configuration Management)

• Engineering Process Group (EPG)

• Product and Process Quality Assurance (QA or PPQA)

• Training Group

• Risk Council

• Metrics Council

• Decisions Analysis Resolution Council

• (Defect) Prevention Solution Council

Workgroups as Institutionalization

These workgroups are responsible for making sure the processes you defined are not only written down but are constantly maintained, improved, and taught to others.