Improve

I will be attending the SEPG 2010 in Savannah this year and one of the reasons is the theme the SEI has chosen to build this world-important conference around.

The theme of this year’s SEPG is “Perform At a Higher Level” and it comes at a time in our country’s and world’s history where solid and higher level performance is needed on all fronts if companies are to be efficient and effective and turn our high quality products and services and keep their customers satisfied.

So with that theme in mind, I took a quick tour of this year’s program to see what would catch my eye and want me to definitely sit in on those presentations. My selections are by no means a reflection on the quality of those I will not mention, but they are ones that piqued my own interest and possibly will pique yours as well.

Here are a few selections for Monday’s tutorials you may want to consider:

• “Organizational Change Management – The key differentiator for sustainable process improvement” – Julie Calfin
  • In a previous blog, I talked about a Change Management Tool Kit that I shared with the SEPG 2009. It should be clear that any process improvement initiative needs not only a focus on the technical side but also on the people side. Check this one out and see what Julie Calfin has to say.
• Reducing the Costs and Increasing the Value of CMMI Reappraisals – Beth Layman
  • Everyone on both sides, the organization to be reappraised and the Lead Appraiser is trying to find legitimate and effective ways to conduct reappraisals and keep costs down. How that can be done is dependent on a number of factors. I will definitely want to hear what Beth has to say.
• The Multiple Quality Models Paradox: How Much “Best Practice” is Just Enough? – Keith Heston
  • Keith’s abstract starts off by asking the question most of us are asking right about now, “Can you really have too much of a good thing?”  His answer is YES! Many organizations starting out on a CMMI journey get overwhelmed with the many current quality models and standards.
  • Keith promises to break down key models and standards such as CMMI, ITIL, and ISO 9001 into their process DNA – quality components to help attendees simplify the way they think about and pursue multi-model improvement. Sounds like advice we all should consider today!
• Agile CMMI: Obtaining Real Benefits from Measurement and High Maturity – Kent Johnson and Margaret Kulpa
  • What is Agile and what does CMMI stand for is still being debated. And Agile and measurement – really? Kent and Margaret have considerable experience in CMMI, Agile, High Maturity and Measurement. If you would like to gain more insight into all four at once, this is the presentation for you!

I will be providing my presentation choices for the remaining three days in subsequent blogs so you will want to check back frequently to see if you agree.

I will also be providing my opinions of the sessions I get to attend during the conference to let you know how I felt about them after I saw the author’s in action.

I hope to see old friends and make new ones at this conference. You can easily find me at my partner’s booth 416, Method Park. We can chat and I can even introduce to one of the best process improvement tools in the business – STAGES!

More information:  SEPG 2010 Agenda

See you soon!

Tim Kasse
CEO & Principal Consultant
Kasse Initiatives LLC