Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI)

2.3.1 Take/Review/Tag Notes (continued)
Implementation
Guidance
Implementation
Guidance
Taking Notes
Implementation
Guidance
Reviewing
Notes
Implementation
Guidance
Tagging Notes
The raw notes taken during an appraisal are treated as confidential
information, and may not be provided to any person outside of the appraisal
team. Team members are typically required to destroy their notes in a secure
manner at the conclusion of the appraisal. This ensures that the attribution of
detailed information to individuals in the organization cannot lead to
inappropriate consequences following the appraisal.
Team members actively take notes during all data-gathering sessions. The
purpose is to record, verbatim, what the information source reveals about the
implementation of practices in the project or organization. Note-taking is done
for all types of objective evidence:
• The analysis of instruments yields information and references regarding
the implementation of practices, ideally with traceability to the model.
• While reviewing documents it is often important to note a specific phrase
or reference and to record the document name and page number.
• When receiving presentations, phrases or references provided as
elaboration on presentation material are captured in notes.
• Interviews are the most intensive activity with regard to note taking. The
purpose is to record what the interviewees said; not what the team
member believes they meant.
The context in which the data are provided—be it during an interview,
presentation, or in a document—bears on the proper interpretation of the facts.
For example, notes taken during an interview are based on a give and take
between the interviewer and the interviewee. The threads of discussion often
provide a context that may not be reflected in a single excerpt from the middle
of the interview. Note-takers should review their work to ensure that such
contextual information can be preserved at least in their recollection, and
preferably through the annotation of the notes.
As notes are reviewed, team members often use highlighter pens or annotation
schemes to identify the most salient excerpts. The PA and/or practice to which
the information applies may be written in colored ink over the raw notes. All
notes should identify the data-gathering session, and the pages should be
numbered to preserve the sequence of information. For notes taken during
interviews, it is often very useful to draw a seating chart to show where each
person was sitting during the interview. Scripts prepared in advance of
scheduled interviews may already be tagged, and can help relate responses to
appropriate sections of the reference model. Some interviewee responses may
deal with model practices other than those targeted by a given question, which
would still necessitate some additional tagging.
CMU/SEI-2001-HB-001
Page II-103