7 Steps to Achieve Your Improvement Target
1. Create a team structure to accomplish improvement activities.
2. Identify the current situation (conduct appraisal).
3. Plan (or re-plan) improvement actions.
4. Implement planned actions for improvement.
5. Repeat improvement cycle after significant activity and at least 4-10 months.
6. Where possible, conduct final "dry run" appraisal expected to result in target level rating 3-5 months before "Must Have" date.
7. Continue to conduct process improvement after reaching Level 3.
CMM Level 3 Paper has extensive detail