to be on the appraisal team, or, despite being qualified is not actually on the appraisal team, but is hanging around with the appraisal team while they do their thing. OK, got that?
So, the answer is: No. Per the Method Definition Document (MDD), observers are not permitted on SCAMPIs. In fact, MDD v1.3 includes an explicit table of who is/isn’t permitted for various aspects of the SCAMPI process. Furthermore, the MDD exclusively calls out the only exception to “observers” as being an official SEI observer who is there as part of an appraisal audit (of the appraisal, not the organization) or as part of the qualification process for the lead appraiser. The primary rationale has to do with the nearly invariable experience that observers (being either untrained and/or sometimes not involved with any of the work leading up to the event) tend to be inadvertently disruptive to the discussion and proceedings. However, the most important consideration is that observers are not bound to maintain the confidentiality or the non-attributional aspects of the SCAMPI proceedings. And, there are no provisions in the SCAMPI method and no recourse through the SEI to address issues
