Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Certification

Developing and Implementing CMMI-Conforming Processes for an 8(a) NASA Contractor

Jump to:

• Background

• Key Insights

• Service Design Impact

• Methodologies

• Reflections & Learnings

1. Given that approximately 90% of our user base comprises NASA contract employees, it was imperative to align our new corporate processes with their existing mental models.
   This approach ensured compliance with CMMI requirements while closely resembling the familiar NASA processes to facilitate a seamless transition for the majority of our users. This also lessened the cognitive load for our users so that they didn’t have to employ two disparate processes simultaneously throughout their workday.

2. Employees feel there is a lack of accessible communication channels with the corporate office.
   Through my research, a notable pain point emerged as many NASA employees felt disconnected from the corporate office, resulting in uncertainty about whom to contact for inquiries related to benefits, pay, tax forms, etc. Addressing this, I developed and documented distinct avenues for communication in our Governance Plan, Process Quality Assurance procedure, and Process Asset Development procedure. Introducing an annual anonymous employee survey also proved invaluable in gathering feedback that might have otherwise been missed. Furthermore, we enhanced corporate communication pathways, ensuring clarity and responsiveness, thereby enabling employees to receive prompt answers to their questions.

3. Identifying a strategic opportunity from past engagements, we recognized the potential to enhance our employee benefits package with additional training offerings.
   Given our status as a subcontractor, aligning our benefits closely with, or even surpassing, the prime contractor's offerings is essential. This is because, when an employee applies to work for a NASA contract, they don’t have the freedom to decide whether they will be working for the prime or subcontractor. Leveraging an updated Decision Analysis & Resolution process and form, we assessed past group training initiatives undertaken by our employees. This uncovered a cost-saving avenue: implementing a year-long trial of LinkedIn Learning as part of our core benefits to test out the usage and impact on our employee base. This would be followed up with quarterly surveys to determine usefulness and usability of this benefit.

Some of the key methodologies and service design principles are listed below, with explanations as to why they were chosen for this project:

Desk Research: Spent time in the beginning understanding CMMI, its purpose, and how it fit in with our organization. This heavily influenced the implementation of the CMMI model to fit our organization as well as the design of our Quality Management System (QMS).

Human-Centered + Collaborative + Holistic: It was important to consider everyone affected by the service, including backstage and frontstage players. I also made sure to engage stakeholders throughout the process in order to best address their needs throughout the design of the service.

Stakeholder Interviews: Interviewed stakeholders such as the company’s COO, President, and VP to better understand business goals tied to CMMI.

Focus Groups: Met with fronststage users (employees) in groups to understand their needs as well as additional constraints and considerations (such as comparable NASA processes already in place). Users invited to the focus groups included project managers, resource analysts, HR, etc.

Iterative: Took an exploratory and continuous approach to the design of the service.

Prototype: Despite the need for a quick SharePoint build at the start of the project, I devoted significant time to the Information Architecture (IA) of the Quality Management System (QMS) prototype. I created user flows, paper prototypes, and approached the QMS as a living prototype that could be continuously iterated upon.

Service Blueprint: Visualized the relationships between different service components to uncover pain points.

• Prototyping and iteration can and will happen continuously with product usage sometimes. Embrace it and dive in.

• Information Architecture (IA) is incredibly important, even for internal document organization.

• Translating a “model” (CMMI) into a usable system (QMS) is not a 1:1 process. It’s okay and expected that we would have “our own way” of documentation.

• Service Design is an interesting blend of UX Research, Information Architecture (IA), Configuration Management (CM), Database Management, and more. Approaching from each of these points of view will provide interesting and meaningful solutions.