The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) has 5 levels that help organizations judge the overall strength of their production capabilities. Sounds really simple, but a lot of people have a hard time grasping this model. However, we’re going to break it down in very simple terms and make it more consumable.
CMM 1: Individual heroics got a project across the finish line.
CMM 2: A process exists for getting a project across the finish line, but it only works in isolated instances. Meaning, it’s not a process that has been proven to work across the entire organization.
CMM 3: A process exists that works well across the entire organization. For example, an HR department may have an enterprise-wide recruiting process that seems to work in every single office, with small variations. The organization is not so much concerned with the variations, just that it works everywhere.
CMM 4: An enterprise-wide process that is working well is measured to identify variations. At this level the organization is not so concerned with the variations, but wants to measure and log them.
CMM 5: An enterprise-wide process that is working well and measured for variations is now being optimized using data that has been collected over time. An organization may use statistical analysis to fine tune the process. A bank, for example, can have a single error per one billion transactions, whereas a baker can have an error per one hundred cakes. These statistics help organizations fine tune their processes. Obviously fine tuning the baker to one error per billion cakes is probably not a good return on investment!
That’s the Capability Maturity Model in a nutshell. Blue Daring believes that every organization wants and needs processes that are CMM 3 or better!
