Practice

A practice is an activity: something that needs to be done to make a Process work.
Practices can be type Create, Interval, Project, or Continuous.
• Create Practices are done once.
• Interval Practices are done (optionally) once to set them up, then once every interval. Users will decide what interval to perform all Interval Perform practices on as part of starting out on Core Practice, hopefully with guidance from us as a result of an assessment questionnaire. Some will do them weekly, others fortnightly or monthly, depending on the criticality of the Discipline to them. The period has to be set at a Discipline level, not e.g. per Practice – much too complex.
• Project Practices are done (optionally) once to set them up, then once every project.
• Continuous Practices are done (optionally) once to set them up, then as often each day as required.
Practices are categorised according to the model used to categorise CMM Common Features.
They are also associated with a phase in the Modified Deming Cycle (see Optimising Model)
They are assigned a maturity level. Performing this practice helps the user qualify for this maturity level.