I’ve found the concept of Maturity Models extremely helpful throughout my career and especially in my consulting and coaching practice. In this post I’ll cover the basic definition I use with my clients and then build on that definition to define the key characteristics that I’ve noticed all Maturity Models have in common.
Armed with this foundation I’ll be asking you to begin to notice Maturity Models in your everyday life. I’ll also ask you to see if you can find a Maturity Model for your own area of expertise. In future posts we’ll learn how to construct our own custom models. (For a brief overview of why you might want to consider using models in your own work, please see Adding Maturity Models To Your Visual Communications Toolkit.)
MATURITY MODEL DEFINITION
I like to describe a Maturity Model as a collection of elements, ordered and sequenced on a continuum, divided into logical stages or levels of development along a path of increasing maturity and sophistication. That’s a mouthful! So let’s use a visual example as we discuss some of the key characteristics and principles: (click on image to enlarge)
KEY ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS
You’ll notice in the diagram above that the key architectural elements are plotted against increasing maturity over time. There are three key architectural elements we are focusing on in this discussion:
- Stages or Levels
- Key Focus Areas
- Characteristics
Stages or levels are simply milestones along the continuum that mark a particular level of maturity that can be described using the key focus areas and the characteristics you would expect to find at that level of maturity. At level 1 you find little or no maturity with increasing levels of maturity as level 5 is approached.
Key focus areas are the areas that are deemed the most important areas to focus on and characterize. In a business process this might include such things as documentation, policies, and standard operating procedures.
Characteristics provide detailed descriptions of what to expect in any given focus area within a given level or stage. At level 1 we might expect to find no documentation, policies, or standard operating procedures while at level 2 we’d find adequate documentation, policies, and standard operating procedures. At level 3 we might find that the effectiveness of these things are measured and managed, and so on until we arrive at level 5.
LOOKING FOR MODELS
Now that you have a basic understanding of maturity models I recommend that you be on the lookout for models that occur in your everyday life. As an employee or a manager you might see a model in the job ladder for your own job family at work. As a project manager you might see a simple model being used in your “as is” and “to be” diagrams and project plans for moving from one to another.
My point is that they are everywhere. Seeing them is the first step to putting them to use in your everyday life. We’ll be talking about how using this mindset will help better understand where you are going as an organization, make sure you are wisely working on the best “next step,” and vastly improve the work you do each day.
FIND YOUR MODEL
I also recommend that you make an earnest effort to see if a maturity model exists for the industry or trade you work in. In my last search I found at least 40 models that focus areas such as web sites, enterprise architecture, and software development.
What models did you find in your everyday experience? What about your industry – did you find any interesting models?
Please share your findings with us by commenting below.
Related posts:
Adding Maturity Modeling To Your Visual Communications Toolkit
3 Steps To Creating Your Own Maturity Model – Part 1