Selecting a Lead Assessor is one of the critical steps in beginning an assessment. Each Lead Assessor has his or her own style of approaching process improvement. The organization’s senior management should try to select someone who is similar in his or her approach to the organization’s culture and business goals.
The Lead Assessor functions as senior manager for the assessment. He or she must possess a set of management and interpersonal skills that will support the team in handling the problems and stresses that occur when trying to complete a complex effort that involves a number of people under significant time constraints. The Lead Assessor should have some project or line management experience at some point in his or her career.
The organization executive must choose whether a Lead Assessor should be selected from inside or outside the organization. An external Lead Assessor may have more diverse experience and a broader perspective and may be more insulated from the pressures that sometimes result from the outcome of the assessment than an internal one. An internal Lead Assessor has the advantage of intimately understanding the organization’s operations.
The SEI maintains a directory of authorized Lead Assessors for CBA IPIs and authorized Lead Appraisers in the SEI Partners Directory for SCAMPIs.