Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI)

2.3.1 Take/Review/Tag Notes
Activity
Description
Required
Practices
Parameters
and Limits
Optional
Practices
As team members examine data sources, they will document what the
objective evidence is (referencing documents, presentations, instruments, and
interviewee comments), as well as why or how the objective evidence meets
the intent of the model practice.
There may be special cases where team members elect to record data directly
in the objective evidence tracking tool. In such cases the team members may
choose not to take notes (on paper or in their notebooks) that describe the
objective evidence.
For all interviews and presentations, the team members must take notes that
capture the objective evidence before they move to the annotation of the
objective evidence tracking tool.
• Record notes obtained from objective evidence data-gathering sessions.
• Relate notes to corresponding practices in the appraisal reference model.
Every team member present must take notes during interviews and
presentations. These notes must cover all areas investigated during the
interview, and are not limited to the PAs assigned to the individual team
member (i.e., everybody takes notes on everything).
During document reviews and the review of instruments, notes must be taken
to preserve specific context or focused references, if the rationale for
accepting the objective evidence is not self-evident.
Whenever notes are taken in a data-gathering session, individual team
members should review their notes immediately after the conclusion of the
session. The review will focus on tagging significant items that relate to one
or more model practice(s). This review and tagging process must occur within
24 hours of the data-gathering session.
Tagging schemes (that show traceability to model practices) and techniques
for highlighting phrases are determined by the preferences of the note taker. A
variety of formats for team member notebooks has been devised to facilitate
note taking and tracking raw data during appraisals. Frequently, the questions
used during an interview will be printed and collated within a team member
notebook that contains note-taking forms and other useful information like
interview schedules and document lists.
Notes can be recorded for items that have significant positive or negative
impact upon the enactment of processes within the organizational unit, even if
they are not directly related to model practices. These may ultimately be
reflected in non-model findings reported to the organizational unit.
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CMU/SEI-2001-HB-001