Choosing a lead appraiser is a very important decision. Believe it or not, there is a lot of difference between lead appraisers, especially in interpreting the CMMI model practices. I joke that the easiest and quickest way to get two lead appraisers in an argument is to have them interpret a CMMI practice. Unfortunately it’s not a joke.
The best place to start your search is to get references from other companies. These companies will either recommend using their appraiser or recommend not using them. In either case, it’s a great place to start. You can also search the CMMI Institute’s website directory (https://cmmiinstitute.com/partners/directory). You will want to check this directory for appraisers who are referred to you so you can verify their good standing with the CMMI Institute.
After you obtain a list of potential lead appraisers and have verified their good standing with the CMMI Institute, here are some questions you should ask:
- Can you send me a list of references from your past appraisals?
- How many appraisals have you performed, total and in the last year?
- Have you performed an appraisal with a company in our industry or development/service type?
- What is your philosophy for interpreting the CMMI practices. In other words, how much process detail do you require to address a practice?
- Please describe your process for preparing a company for an appraisal to reduce the risk as much as possible.
- How do you charge for all of your services?
These are sample questions and you probably have some of your own. Ask whatever you want to make you feels as comfortable as possible.
Then you need to make a decision and pick one. I have created a LA decision matrix to perform a decision analysis and resolution for picking your lead appraiser. This way you can objectively pick a lead appraiser using the criteria you value the most. Let me know if you want the matrix and I will send it to you.
Once you have chosen your lead appraiser, you are ready to start on your process improvement journey. Make sure you start at least a year before you would like to get appraised. And one of the first things you will need to do is to set up your process improvement infrastructure, which I will cover in my next blog.