ASQ Section 0511 April 2022 Meeting Announcement

Quality Matters Round Table: Model-based Process Improvement

Moderated by

BarbaraMcCullough, ASQ Section 0511 Nominations Chair, Past Chair

Short Narrative/Description:
ASQ Section 0511 is a community of quality professionals of Northern Virginia, with tremendous cumulative experience across multiple industries, companies, and government agencies. Any single one of you in our ASQ Section is a formidable source of takes, opinions, and lessons on a number of Quality Matters.

• A Quality Matter is an aspect, focus, slice, segment of the quality landscape that one deals with in a particular situation.
• Quality Matters Round Table is a series of discussions on the Quality Matters topics noted at the May 2021 Section Meeting.
• In each such discussion, the Section Members share their experience and opinions on one such topic and network as Quality Professionals.

Previous Round Table Discussions were:

• August 2021 on the topic of “ASQ Sections”. Its Discussion Report is upcoming soon.
• July 2021 on the topic of “Plans and Process Descriptions”. Its Discussion Report is posted here: http://www.asq0511.org/Presentations/202107/ASQ0511_202107_QualityMattersReport-PlansAndProcessDescriptions-Report.pdf
• June 2021 on the topic of “ASQ Certifications”. Its Discussion Report is posted here:

The 13 April 2022 Section 0511 meeting is a Round Table Discussion on one of the 9 winning topics that you voted for in our June 2021 poll, namely: Model-based Process Improvement.

Moderator Background:

Barbara McCullough is a Quality Professional with extensive experience in the software development, quality, and technical writing fields. Her experience includes CMMI, ISO, and Lean Six Sigma, SAFe Agile, Process Improvement and Quality Assurance in Software Development, SharePoint Administration and Business Process Analysis, Technical Support, Administration, C++ and PowerBuilder programming, SQL and Access programming, Technical Documentation, and Software Development Life Cycle. Throughout her career, she has helped multiple projects by enabling them to comply with all applicable standards, apply current quality and process frameworks, and provide their clients with the best possible products and services available on the market today.
Barbara is an ASQ Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE) and an ASQ Certified Quality Auditor (CQA). She served as Section 0511 Secretary in 2014-2018, Section Vice Chair in 2019, Section Chair in 2020, and she has been serving as the Section’s Nominations Chair since 2021.

Quality Matters: Questions on ASQ Sections
The following questions on the topic of ASQ Sections will be up for discussion at the 13 April 2022 Section 0511 Round Table:

1. Current Models.  Examples of current models include CMMI and ISO.  Does anyone use anything else?  Does anyone use other models such as Baldridge, SPICE, Trillium, SQPA, Bootstrap, PRINCE2, etc., or is aware of their use?
2. Model Types.  The two (2) principal types of models are organizational models (CMMI, ISO and similar) vs. models targeting an individual’s certification (PMP, ITIL and similar).  Which ones prevail in your organization (project)?
3. Contractual Requirements.  Do contracts in your organization (project) require organizational models (CMMI, ISO and similar) or professional certifications (PMP, ITIL and similar)?  Which requirement do you prefer?  Does your organization (project) implement one of those models even though not contractually required?
4. Responsibility.  Who in your organization or project is responsible for model-based process improvement?  Do you have a dedicated “Process Lead”?  Do you have a separate “CMMI (or ISO) Organization”?
5. Model Claims.  In your view, what claims (promises) do models such as CMMI and ISO make?  Are those claims valid or attractive to you or your organization (project)?
6. Models in Process Improvement.  Should Quality Professionals use a model such as CMMI, ISO, or similar for process improvement?  Are those models any good for process improvement, or would you as a Quality Professional prefer not using them if not required by the contract?
7. Helpful Elements.  What parts or features of the process improvement models are important to Quality Professionals?  For example, which CMMI Practice Areas are most useful to you?  Which gaps have they helped to close?
8. Differences Among Models.  Does it matter which model such as CMMI, ISO, or similar to use?  Or are they approximately the same as long as some model is used?
9. Overhead.  How much overhead is created by the CMMI or ISO work in your organization (project)?  In other words, which documents would you skip creating or which meetings would you skip conducting if not driven by CMMI or ISO?
10. Personnel.  Is everyone in your organization (project) receptive to and supportive for model-based process improvement, or are your “CMMI or ISO activities” perceived as overhead?  What do you do to overcome the negative perception or to support the positive perception?
11. Cost.  Principal costs (or time spent) include (a) cost of appraisals, (b) cost of having Quality Professionals, and (c) cost of CMMI or ISO activities, including training, document development, and meetings.  Is your organization (project) willing to incur those costs?  Does your organization try to cut those costs?
12. Commercialization.  Some models are being commercialized.  For example, CMMI used to be free, but now one needs to pay annual fees to have access to it.  What do you think of this trend?  How is this trend affecting you?
13. Previous Improvement Initiatives.  Are the current models such as CMMI and ISO better than the older approaches such as Quality Circles, PDCA, TQM, Six Sigma DMAIC, etc.?  Is growth of the size of the current models vs. earlier ones an improvement?
14. Agile.  Are the models such as CMMI and ISO being superseded by Agile?  Does your team say that they do not need CMMI or ISO anymore because they are Agile now?
15. Future.  Are the current models for process improvement fading out?  If yes, then what will supersede them: better models or nothing?

Read these questions now and become familiar with them.  The questions discussed at the 13 April 2022 Round Table may be slightly modified from the above in case good improvements to those questions are received through our poll; however, they will not differ significantly from the above, if at all.

You Speak Up, I Moderate:
At the April 2022 meeting, YOU are the speaker:

• The meeting is a Round Table discussion, not a presentation by a Featured Speaker.
• YOU should SPEAK UP.  You can get floor multiple times.  Please do!
• If you decide only to listen what others say and not share your experience and opinions, that is your choice, and it will be respected.  You are encouraged to attend the discussion anyway if only to listen; you will not be called out to speak unless you speak up!
• Speak of your personal experience and express your personal opinions.
• You do not need to prepare a speech or slides, just speak up.  You already know your experience and your opinions, and that is all that matters.
• Time will not allow lengthy speeches.  We have 5 minutes per question, on average.  So, be brief and share floor with others, so that several people could speak on every question.
• Time will not allow digressions.  Speak on the topic and, specifically, on the question that is up for discussion.  (Did I mention you should become familiar with the questions above?)
• Time will not allow discussion of similar topics.  For example, topics such as Methodologies, Quality vs. Process, Appraisal Credentials, Quality Audits, Process Improvement Initiatives, High Maturity, Process Organizations are NOT in scope of this discussion unless mentioning them reflects DIRECTLY upon your experience with and opinions on ASQ Sections.
• The list of the questions will be displayed during the discussion.  We will go by the question list, top to bottom.  Thus, limit your speech to the question at hand, perhaps drawing on the previously stated material but holding off on the questions that are still down the list.
• It is OK to speak on some questions and not on some others.  Time will not allow everyone to speak on every question anyway.
• Your experience is unique and differs from the experience of others.  Make it known!  It is irrelevant what some book says on this topic or what they said on this topic someplace else.  What matters is what YOU think on this NOW.
• A discussion is not a debate.  You will get floor to express your experience and opinions on this Quality Matter, not to criticize the experience and opinions of other discussion participants.
• A discussion is not a Q&A session with the Moderator.  The questions on the agenda are up for you to speak on, not for finding correct answers that do not exist.
• Have fun!  This is your chance to get to know other Quality Professionals better and allow others to get to know you.

Reservations:

There is no charge to attend. To register, please use our on line reservation form which can be used up to the day of the meeting. If your plans change, please contact dba22@asq0511.org, and let us know.

Schedule:

• 6:00pm - 7:00pm — Section Leadership Committee meeting
  • The following information is for a recurring meeting on the 2nd Wednesday of the month:

• 7:00pm - 8:30pm — Section Meeting Information
  • The following information is for this meeting on the 2nd Wednesday of April:

Meetings are open to all ASQ members as well as to the public.

Next Meeting:

Wednesday, 11 May 2022 — TBD

Call for Speakers!!!

Would you or someone you know like to speak at a future ASQ meeting? We're always looking for volunteers. Be creative! Exercise your public presentation skills! Earn recertification credits! Get a free dinner! Please contact programs22@asq0511.org.

About Us:

ASQ Section 0511 is a geographic community that lives intertwined with the network of ASQ Divisions — technical communities specializing in specific quality domains and supporting ASQ Certifications in their domains.