Documentless Assessments Using Nominal Group Interviews

TL;DR

This paper introduces a collaborative, documentless assessment method using group interviews inspired by agile practices, improving stakeholder communication and consensus.

Contribution

It presents a novel group interview technique combining agile concepts like user stories and Planning Poker for process assessments.

Findings

Successfully applied in a consulting project with improved stakeholder agreement.

Enhanced collaboration and communication among assessment participants.

Replaces traditional document reviews with interactive, story-based discussions.

Abstract

This paper describes a group interview technique designed to support documentless process assessments while promoting at the same time collaboration among assessment participants. The method was successfully used in one consulting assignment where it got previously discording participants, talking to each other and agreeing on the issues. The technique borrows from agile software development the concept of user stories to cast CMMIs specific practices in concrete terms and the Planning Poker technique, instead of document reviews and audit like interviews, for fact finding and corroboration.