Since 1990, we have improved the performance of more than 470 companies in the U.S., U.K., Switzerland, Canada, India, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.
Your next step:
- Contact us at no charge to discuss your needs — read our testimonial page or ask to speak to an existing client
- Build a custom agenda of topics you need help on, or start with one of our existing workshops
- Select on site or on line working sessions (e.g., on line one-on-one sessions and team coaching or Anytime webinars to save on travel)
| Your Need? | How We Can Help | |
|---|---|---|
 | We are in pain — we're not sure what to do We are OK — but we are ready to shift gears | Custom session - tell us your needs Custom 1-on-1 senior management & team coaching Anytime Webinars for you and your staff |
 | Our project is seat-of-the-pants and has no end in site | Get My Project Organized and Skilled Now |
 | Agile is not helping us We want to learn/improve Agile/Scrum | Implementing Scrum and Agile Address current Scrum challenges |
 | Our projects are late and over-budget | Improving project management, estimation and risk management |
 | We are consumed by defects and rework | Improving early defect identification |
 | Misunderstood unmanaged project scope | Eliciting and managing requirements |
 | CMMI is not helping us We want to use CMMI pragmatically We want to implement PMBOK, Agile and CMMI (or any two) | Implementing and appraising CMMI (Development or Services) Implementing PMBOK, Agile or CMMI - tell us your needs |
 | Our improvement program is stuck, not helping, and focused on paperwork | Making process improvement work |
 | Our suppliers continually surprise us We can't deliver on time | Improving supplier management |
 | Our people are not organized or efficient as they could be | Time management for all your staff |
 | We want help, but have limited money | Dedicated phone-based/ webinar assistance and tailoring |
Each service includes:
- Accomplishing real work during all of our workshops and sessions so that no time is lost [examples]
- Scaling our advice to your size (whether you are a 2-person team or 1,000-person organization)
- Complimentary technical support for each service, and briefings to management and other groups
Implementing Scrum and Agile (or fixing your current implementation)
Run your software development projects faster and incrementally using Scrum/Agile techniques
Learn to avoid the chaos that can occur with Agile implementations
The Scrum process is a defined high-level project life cycle that teams can adopt to quickly plan and manage their work.
Without careful implementation, organizations can get into a mess with Scrum because of the following reasons: a) requirements in the backlog are sloppy or non-existent, b) release planning has been skipped so there is no end point, c) practices such as risk management, CM, design and cross-team coordination have been forgotten about.
This workshop teaches Scrum and addresses head on the challenges you face.
Delivery options:
- 2-day workshop: Agile Software Development Workshop (Scrum)
- Customized assistance to improve your current Scrum implementation [contact us]
- Customized assistance to move from Waterfall to Agile/Scrum without dropping existing good practices [contact us]
- Combined workshops on Scrum PLUS Requirements elicitation/analysis, project management, and defect identification (pick any combination)
- Customized assistance on integrating Scrum with other frameworks and life cycles (e.g., CMMI, Waterfall, PMBOK) [contact us]
Get My Project Organized and Skilled Now
Understand customer requirements
Develop an implementation plan using Scrum/Agile
Find defects early
Getting work done comes from being organized and having a few key skills that can be repeated over time. This workshop combines an approach for managing work (Scrum/Agile) with detailed skills for requirements, estimation, risk and defect identification. The skills are applied to your project in the session.
Delivery options:
Eliciting and Managing Requirements
Understand customer needs, clarify product requirements early
Manage customer expectations and changes
Requirements form the foundation for all software work that follows. Learn how to develop a clear vision for the team.
Delivery options:
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
- 1 or 2-day workshop: Software Requirements, applied to your current work
In the workshop, software engineers, managers, requirements analysts and user representatives (product owners) learn how to gather, document, analyze and manage customer requirements for software / IT applications. The workshop includes user stories (Agile / Scrum), but goes much further.
Improving Project Management, Estimation and Risk
Meet project deadlines, reduce surprises, manage expectations across groups
Get the project team on the same page
Project management practices reduce delivery delays, cost overruns, unexpected obstacles and countless inefficiencies. Learn how to manage projects, and address the challenges you currently have.
Delivery options (project management):
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
- Onsite coaching on project management skills to ensure that your projects run more smoothly [contact us]
- 2- or 3-day workshop: Project Planning and Management, applied to your current work
In the workshop, project managers and their teams learn how to meet deadlines through better estimation, reduce surprises using risk management, schedule work for better optimization, understand and negotiate project tradeoffs, and track progress. This session includes Agile project management practices. The techniques can be applied to software, IT, hardware, and non-technical projects (e.g., tech pubs, system installation).
Scope and estimate your project work
Estimation is the foundation for reliable and achievable commitments. Learn how to estimate any project work.
Delivery options (estimation):
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
- 1/2- or 1-day workshop: Project Estimation, applied to your current work
The workshop is a subset of the three-day Project Planning and Management workshop. It helps project managers and their teams develop more accurate effort and size estimates.
Assess risks, set priorities and mitigate
Risk management is the foundation for reducing surprises, navigating around potential problems and keeping the project team productive. Learn how to assess and manage risk for any project work.
Delivery options (risk):
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
- 1/2-day workshop: Project Risk Management, applied to your current work
The workshop is a subset of the three-day Project Planning and Management workshop. It helps project managers and their teams assess and manage risk.
Implementing Defect Identification
Avoid schedule delays caused by needless product rework
Significantly reduce maintenance costs
Rework is expensive and causes delivery delays. Buggy products hurt a company’s image every day. Learn how to improve your quality results.
Delivery options:
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
- 1/2-day workshop: Peer Reviews (Inspections), applied to your current work
The workshop teaches teams (practitioners and managers) to efficiently find defects in their work (documentation and code) and eliminate the personality conflicts and inefficiencies of walk-throughs.
Implementing and Appraising CMMI V1.3 & V2.0 (Development or Services)
Improve your project and business results
Implement light-weight processes
Perform a CMMI gap analysis
Implement PMBOK, Agile/Scrum, CMMI or any combination
CMMI is a collection of practices to help organizations achieve better results. Learn how to use CMMI to improve your business.
Delivery options:
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
- In-depth workshops on the following topics:
1. Development Model (CMMI-DEV resource page)
- CMMI V1.3 and V2.0 summary, upgrade and full workshops
- Implement PMBOK, Agile/Scrum, CMMI-DEV or any combination – (One-day workshop, on-site or webinar)
- Formal and informal appraisals
- Improving Capability and Performance With CMMI V2.0 — What Has Changed?
2. Services Model (CMMI-SVC resource page)
3. Implementing CMMI Maturity Levels 2 and 3 quickly
If you need to implement CMMI Levels 2 or 3 quickly, we can provide everything you need. We will assess where you are today, teach you how to make ALL CMMI practices useful to run your business, teach you how to organize and write processes that are one-page in length, and provide skills for the identified gaps. If your company is small (e.g., 2 people) or large (e.g., 1000 people), we will show you how to proceed.
Step 1: Establish business goals, challenges to address, and measures:
- Define your context for CMMI adoption
- Define goals and challenges to address with CMMI practices
- Define measures that you care about to monitor progress
Step 2: Learn about CMMI and perform an informal gap analysis. Options:
- Introduction to CMMI V1.3 (3 days) OR
- CMMI V2.0 Foundations/Development workshop (3 days) OR
- Level 2 only workshop (1 day) OR
- Level 3 only workshop (1.5-2 days)
Step 3: Perform an in-depth mini-appraisal / gap analysis:
- Plan an event for 1-5 days based on scope and thoroughness needed
- Conduct interviews of project managers and team members
- Review example artifacts
Step 4: Plan the improvement effort (1 or 2 days):
- Set priorities
- Define tasks
- Assign responsibilities and define pilot teams
- Develop baseline measures
- Assess risks
- Establish milestones, tracking and communication
Step 5: Implement the improvement plan
- Provide customized skills to run the business while addressing the gaps (e.g., requirements, design, planning, estimation, risk, defect identification, improvement, Decision Analysis and Resolution, test planning and analysis).
Step 6: Conduct the final appraisal (Benchmark appraisal for CMMI V2.0 or SCAMPI appraisal for CMMI V1.3)
ADDITIONAL CMMI AND IMPROVEMENT SERVICES
Integrate frameworks together while staying focused on your business
Organizations often have many frameworks and standards they have to comply with, such as CMMI, Scrum, ISO, Waterfall, IEEE, PMBOK and existing internal practices. We can help you map these frameworks together while maintaining focus on your core business. [contact us]
Appraise where you are now
A process appraisal examines your organization’s engineering and management practices and generates a focused list of strengths and critical areas for improvement with consensus from managers and team members. Our lead appraisers are certified by the CMMI Institute to conduct CMMI appraisals. We can also conduct an analysis that is customized to meet your specific needs. [contact us]
Process appraisals are best done in-person. Smaller 3-4 hour sessions can be performed by conference call. [contact us]
Engage executives
Delivery options:
- 1- to 3-hour presentation: Improving Organizations – Executive Overview
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
In this session, senior managers will learn the critical steps needed to improve project and business results. The presentation will demonstrate:
- How improvement activities are tied to the business goals of an organization
- How improvements are deployed and tracked
- How models and frameworks (e.g., Scrum, CMMI, PMBOK) can be made into 1-page checklists and used to help teams improve the performance of their daily work
Delivery options:
- 1/2-day workshop: Measurement and Analysis
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
In this session, team members, leads and managers define their objectives, measurements and analysis activities.
Systematically evaluate decision alternatives and avoid rehashing
Delivery options:
- 1/2-day workshop: Decision Analysis and Resolution (DAR)
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
In the workshop, team members, leads and managers use a decision process to evaluate alternative choices and make a selection using weighted criteria.
Making Process Improvement Work
Implement a business-focused improvement program
Get value from your investment in Agile/Scrum, CMMI, PMBOK, ISO or ITIL
Process improvement too often reflects a significant disconnect between theory and day-to-day practices. Learn how to make weekly gains that help the business and keep processes extremely light-weight.
Delivery options:
- 1- or 2-day workshop: Making Process Improvement Work, applied to your current work
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
The workshop provides a systematic approach for your organization to improve its development or service capability, resulting in higher quality results and reduced costs. It presents a straightforward, systematic approach to planning, implementing, and monitoring a process improvement program. The skills are applied to your work in the session.
Supplier Management
Select projects to be outsourced
Select qualified suppliers
Manage your outsourced project
Suppliers can be a significant drag or benefit to your project’s performance. Learn how to select and manage suppliers to get the results you want.
Delivery options:
- 1.5-day workshop: Supplier Management, applied to your current work
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
In the workshop, team members, managers and subcontract managers learn how to define a product to be outsourced, write a subcontract management plan, select appropriate vendors and manage the project to completion.
Time Management for all Your Staff
Achieve more with your time
Improve the productivity of your staff
Excellent time management allows your staff to get things done. Have everyone learn how to manage and optimize their time.
Delivery options:
- Customized Anytime Webinars or on-line / on-site coaching
- 1-day workshop: Time Management, applied to your current work
In the workshop, technical and non-technical staff learn and use personal time management skills to improve their focus and productivity.
Dedicated Phone-based/Webinar Assistance and Tailoring
Get immediate help
View DetailsThis service allows you to obtain our expertise while eliminating travel expenses. Usually when clients call us to discuss their needs and issues, we are able to help them at no cost through discussions and E-mails.
At other times, we jointly decide that dedicated phone-based assistance is needed for significant pre-arranged consulting time over the telephone. We provide this at our regular consulting rate. We will work with you to create an agenda and schedule a specific time for the session. You will only be invoiced for the hours used.
Dedicated assistance is ideal for senior managers, project teams and process improvement teams needing to resolve a problem, determine direction, or undergo a periodic checkup.
We provide customized coaching on your specific problems and Anytime Webinars for your staff (e.g., meeting deadlines, product quality, process documentation review, project reviews, improvement progress checkup and organizational change issues).
See Tailored Assistance examples. [contact us]
Other tailored workshops
Reduced scope workshops can be provided. Examples include: Use Cases (1/2 day), Risk Management (1/2 day), Project Planning (2 days), Negotiation (1/4 day), and Project Scheduling (1/2 day).
Speaking engagements
Our staff routinely speaks on subjects that relate to the services we offer. These sessions provide a fresh perspective on the issues you face, and more clearly illustrate the options for addressing your challenges.
Workshop material licensing
The Peer Reviews (Inspection), Project Planning and Estimation workshop materials are available for licensing in conjunction with a train-the-trainer program. [contact us]
The Process Group helps you improve your organization's capability to routinely meet deadlines and delivery quality expectations. We are certified CMMI appraisers / trainers and Certified Scrum Masters. 
