Competency Working Group

Improving the practice of Systems Engineering through development and adoption of competency management approaches

Visit Our Members-Only iNet Page

Competency Working Group Purpose & Mission

Mission

The aim of the INCOSE Competency Working Group is to improve the practice of Systems Engineering through further development and adoption of competency management approaches.

SECAGToast2

Analytic Enablers

TechOps Domain

135

Members

2010

Established


Chair

Clifford Whitcomb

Co-Chair

Lori Zipes


Inquiries


Scope

The following is considered in scope for the Competency WG.

  • Develop practical solutions for practicing systems engineers and organizations
  • Create of a tailorable competency basis for development of systems approaches to systems engineering
  • Include as diverse a membership as possible - we all learn from each other
  • Collaborate with other WG/organizationsDetermination of competency fit with other functions (PM/Finance, etc.)
  • Produce papers (Collaborative WG papers/Individual)
  • Conduct global competency model refinement based on the INCOSE SECF and SECAG (2023)
  • Develop and publish use cases to generate roles
  • Use currently available works (papers, books, frameworks, BKCASE, etc.) as inputs
  • Develop competencies in soft skills (cognitive, affective, behavioral)
  • Define PM/SE competency intersections
  • Maintain INCOSE web-based and social media presence

Goals

The specific goal(s) for the Competency WG include:

1. Evolve to a globally accepted and marketed standard competency framework and assessment guide, tailorable to the needs of the customer organizations.

  • Evolve INCOSE SE Competency Framework and SE Competency Assessment Guide
  • Make CWG products available to INCOSE members
  • Foster industry-academia research projects in the area of better understanding systems engineering competency
  • Establish and maintain competencies for professional and soft skills especially as they relate directly to the practice of systems engineering
  • Establish clear and agreed upon understanding of how SE and PM competencies relate
  • Provide a competency element structure to support education and training providers
  • Collaborate on joint and individual paper and article contributions on competency subjects
  • Provide products/services of business benefit to INCOSE (positive revenue)
  • Create products that are both meaningful and sensible to engineering and related professional practitioners who are not primarily systems engineers

2. Create a globally accepted and marketed standard assessment instrument/tool, tailorable to the needs of the customer organizations, once validated, may be used for selection, filtering, and screening of candidates for SE job positions and placing the "right person to the right job". (Stretch goal for future).

Outcomes

  • INCOSE Systems Engineering Competency Framework (available free to INCOSE members in the INCOSE Store)
  • INCOSE Systems Engineering Competency Assessment Guide, Ian Presland, Cliff Whitcomb, Lori Zipes (Eds.), Wiley, 2023 (book available through Wiley and book stores)
  • INCOSE Insight, Volume 25, Issue 3, September 2022, Special Feature: The Unique Abilities of the Systems Engineer, "Using the INCOSE Systems Engineering Competency Framework"

IW23: International Workshop Focus

The first CWG focus for IW23 is to take a deep meditative breath, exhale, and celebrate the publication of the Systems Engineering Competency Assessment Guide! We reviewed our action item list, and began to develop a way forward after 2 years of almost exclusive focus on the SECAG Wiley publication.

  • Continue efforts for SECAG book marketing with Wiley and INCOSE MarCom
  • Map out SECAG  life cycle support structure
  • Sketch out web-based options for future SECAG availability
  • Define integration  efforts to support the PDP
  • Finalize our website and social media structures, especially Yammer
  • Update our relationship with the INCOSE SEP program
  • Plan creation of domain specific competency frameworks and models
  • Offer interactive sessions with CWG members on how to tailor, implement, and use the SECAG for individuals, organizations, systems engineers, discipline-specific engineers, and HR professionals through INCOSE channels such as Cafes, Chapter meetings, and International Symposium Tutorials
  • Offer interactive sessions with non-INCOSE members on how to tailor, implement, and use the SECAG for individuals, organizations, systems engineers, discipline-specific engineers, and HR professionals to inform a more holistic audience about systems engineering
  • Review possibilities for creation of competency-based heuristics



Planned Activities

  • Investigate defining possible updated competency framework and assessment guide architecture using a system model to support future use cases such as integration with specialty areas or creation of value-added implementations in combination with existing organization structures for development of competency derivative artifacts like career development plans, role definitions, and position descriptions
  • Collaborate with PDP team to support ongoing PDP development
  • Collaborate with other WGs to add more "evidence" indicators and encourage them to take some ownership of relevant portions of the SECAG
  • Continue collaboration with Certification team to pursue Competency Based Certification
  • Collaborate with SE Handbook V5 and 15288 update team to ensure alignment
  • Collaborate with the SE Handbook V5 team to develop domain specific versions of the INCOSE SE HB like healthcare or other desired domains
  • Collaborate with Application Domain Specific WG to develop tailored domain specific competency frameworks and assessment guides

Planned Work Products

  • Contribute to PDP support for IS 2023
  • Maintain Wiley and INCOSE SECAG marketing efforts
  • Develop SysML model of the SECF and SECAG
Find out more by visiting the Working Group Yammer community today!

 

Yammer is INCOSE's social media platform for members. Use your INCOSE-issued Microsoft credential to login and join the conversation. INCOSE credentials are in the form of first.last@incose.net or first.last@incose.buzz.   

Contact Us