Standard : Time is protected for continuous improvement within the team’s remit
Purpose and Strategic Importance
This standard ensures that teams have dedicated, protected time within their work schedules to focus on continuous improvement activities, including skills development, process refinement, and experimentation. Protecting this time fosters sustained growth, innovation, and team resilience.
It supports the policy “Empower Teams to Improve Their Own Work” by reinforcing the importance of intentional investment in improvement work alongside delivery commitments. Without this standard, continuous improvement risks being deprioritised, limiting long-term performance gains.
Strategic Impact
- Enables teams to systematically identify and implement enhancements
- Reduces burnout by balancing delivery pressure with improvement focus
- Cultivates a learning culture that adapts to changing challenges
- Increases delivery quality and efficiency through ongoing refinement
- Empowers teams with ownership over their growth and workflows
Risks of Not Having This Standard
- Continuous improvement is neglected in favour of immediate delivery demands
- Teams experience burnout and reduced morale over time
- Process inefficiencies and technical debt accumulate unchecked
- Innovation and skill development opportunities are missed
- Reduced adaptability to changing business or technical environments
CMMI Maturity Model
Level 1 – Initial
| Category |
Description |
| People & Culture |
- No formal protection for improvement time; improvement happens sporadically or informally. |
| Process & Governance |
- Improvement work is ad hoc and competes with delivery priorities. |
| Technology & Tools |
- No tools or processes to schedule or track improvement activities. |
| Measurement & Metrics |
- No metrics on time allocated or outcomes of improvement efforts. |
Level 2 – Managed
| Category |
Description |
| People & Culture |
- Teams schedule occasional improvement time but it is not consistently protected. |
| Process & Governance |
- Basic processes track improvement activities alongside delivery work. |
| Technology & Tools |
- Tools support logging and visibility of improvement tasks. |
| Measurement & Metrics |
- Some tracking of improvement activity frequency and impact exists. |
Level 3 – Defined
| Category |
Description |
| People & Culture |
- Improvement time is regularly scheduled and respected as part of team capacity planning. |
| Process & Governance |
- Formal policies ensure protected time for continuous improvement. |
| Technology & Tools |
- Dashboards track improvement time and progress against goals. |
| Measurement & Metrics |
- Improvement outcomes are measured and linked to delivery performance. |
Level 4 – Quantitatively Managed
| Category |
Description |
| People & Culture |
- Teams balance delivery and improvement workloads to optimise long-term performance. |
| Process & Governance |
- Improvement efforts are prioritised based on data and strategic goals. |
| Technology & Tools |
- Automated tools help optimise scheduling and monitor improvement capacity. |
| Measurement & Metrics |
- Metrics include improvement time ratio, impact scores, and team health indicators. |
Level 5 – Optimising
| Category |
Description |
| People & Culture |
- Continuous improvement is embedded in team culture and performance objectives. |
| Process & Governance |
- Policies adapt dynamically to maintain optimal balance between delivery and improvement. |
| Technology & Tools |
- AI-driven insights recommend when and how to allocate improvement time for maximum impact. |
| Measurement & Metrics |
- Organisational maturity in continuous improvement drives innovation and competitive advantage. |
Key Measures
- Percentage of team capacity dedicated to continuous improvement
- Frequency and quality of improvement activities completed
- Impact of improvement initiatives on delivery metrics and team health
- Team satisfaction and burnout indicators related to workload balance
- Alignment of improvement efforts with strategic goals