MAKING PROCESS IMPROVEMENT WORK

By:

POTTER NEIL S

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: USA ADDISON WESLEYISBN:

0201775778

Subject(s):

SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	Thurles Library Main Collection	005.1 POT (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		R12422KRCT

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A systematic approach to improvement in software development, this guide helps managers and practitioners alike take the necessary steps toward implementing lasting and worthwhile change.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

Foreword (p. vii)
Preface (p. ix)
Acknowledgments (p. xv)
Chapter 1 Developing a Plan (p. 1)
Scope the Improvement (p. 4)
Develop an Action Plan (p. 23)
Determine Risks and Plan to Mitigate (p. 38)
Summary (p. 49)
Chapter 2 Implementing the Plan (p. 51)
Sell Solutions Based on Needs (p. 52)
Work with the Willing and Needy First (p. 57)
Keep Focused on the Goals and Problems (p. 71)
Align the Behaviors of Managers and Practitioners (p. 73)
Summary (p. 75)
Chapter 3 Checking Progress (p. 77)
Are We Making Progress on the Goals? (p. 78)
Are We Making Progress on Our Improvement Plan? (p. 87)
Are We Making Progress on the Improvement Framework? (p. 88)
What Lessons Have We Learned So Far? (p. 101)
Summary (p. 113)
Conclusion (p. 115)
Appendix A Mapping Goals and Problems to CMM (v1.1) (p. 117)
Appendix B Mapping Goals and Problems to CMM (v1.1) and CMMI Systems Engineering/Software Engineering/Integrated Product and Process Development, version 1.1 (SE/SW/IPPD v1.1) (p. 125)
Appendix C Action Plan Example (p. 133)
Appendix D Risk Management Plan Example (p. 139)
Appendix E Summary of SEI CMM (v1.1) and CMMI-SE/SW/IPPD (v1.1) (p. 145)
Appendix F Mini-Assessment Process (p. 149)
References (p. 161)
Index (p. 167)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK You are probably more than aware of the problems facing your software development organization. The list of problems usually starts with an overwhelming string of commitments and optimistic deadlines. For example, the marketing department has been promised that the product will be shipped by the end of the year. Customers have been told that everything will be delivered on time, and top management has established year-end bonuses based on meeting these dates. Now the programmers are working progressively longer hours, and the system test group is anxiously awaiting the software to begin intensive testing. The technical writers are lost in 300 pull-down menus and cannot get feedback from the programmers. Meanwhile, support engineers are still fixing defects from the previous release and are not optimistic that their lives will improve any time soon. On top of all this, your group has been signed up to use the new standards and processes developed by corporate engineering. At best, this sounds like just another documentation exercise with little or no positive impact on your group. You have been through numerous improvement programs, each one consuming time, but not providing you with the gains for which you had hoped. The benefits you did see were quickly forgotten in subsequent projects. Sound familiar? If you have lived in an organization like this for a year or two, you are probably a little tired of the chronic problems, new improvement schemes, and lack of real progress. If you are ready for a straightforward, systematic approach to improvement, read on. This book is for managers and practitioners. If you are the director of a division, read the book to understand how your group can systematically improve and tie those improvements directly to your business goals. If you are a project or program manager tasked with developing a specific product, use the information to plan, deploy, and track improvements within your team. If you are a process improvement, quality management, or development engineer, apply the techniques in each chapter to coach your team through its improvement journey. HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED Throughout this book we guide you in achieving better organizational results. You will understand the critical steps needed to implement lasting and worthwhile change. The book will stimulate your thinking about How software development organizations improve What they improve How they deploy and track improvements Making Process Improvement Work is based on our work with more than 3,000 software professionals representing some 100 companies around the world. We have included stories and examples from individuals in these companies who are using our ideas as they travel on their road to improvement. We have seen what works and what does not. The book is small and concise so that you can quickly absorb and use the information. It is organized into three chapters using the concepts of the Shewhart cycle for planning and managing improvement Deming86. Developing a Plan In Chapter 1 you will develop an improvement action plan based on the business goals and problems of your organization. This approach addresses the frustration that many people experience when improvement programs do not relate to the project work being done. In this chapter you'll learn about Setting compelling goals for your improvement program Directing all improvement towards achieving business goals and solving the organization's problems Developing an action plan based on the defined goals and problems Using an improvement model or standard to address the goals and problems Deriving metrics for the goals Identifying potential future problems (risks) with the action plan and mitigating the highest priority risks Implementing the Plan Chapter 2 describes techniques for deploying new practices across the organization. These techniques address the problems of resistance, unwieldy solutions, and slow deployment. The central themes in this chapter are Applying selling strategies to deploy new practices Increasing the speed of deployment by working with the willing and the needy first Reducing the risk of failure by building and deploying solutions in increments Delaying policy document creation and edicts until each solution has been practiced and is well tested Using existing resources to increase the speed of deployment Checking Progress Chapter 3 presents techniques for checking the progress of your improvement program and taking corrective actions based on what you learn. Checking progress is an essential activity to provide the organization with feedback when pursuing business goals and solving problems. The resulting data allows for early problem detection, early correction, and improved visibility to management on improvement progress. In this chapter you'll explore methods for Using metrics to track progress based on defined goals Determining corrective actions needed to get the improvement program back on track Clarifying lessons learned and actions needed to make future executions of the improvement cycle more effective As you read the book, you will be referred to the appendices that provide additional details for the examples given in each of the chapters. Appendices A and B are examples referenced in Chapter 1 where practices in the CMM and CMMI frameworks are mapped to business goals and project problems. Appendix C contains a full example of an improvement action plan. Appendix D expands upon the risk management plan example started in Chapter 1. Appendix E summarizes the two maturity models used in the book, that is, the CMM (1.1) and CMMI (1.1). Appendix F provides a complete definition of the mini-assessment process described in Chapter 3, a technique used to track improvement progress. Using Improvement Models and Standards Several improvement models and standards exist that can save you much time, such as the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI),¹ SPICE, BOOTSTRAP, and ISO9001.³ In each of the chapters we reference a model or standard as a framework. These documents incorporate lessons learned from numerous people worldwide who have studied and implemented improvement. If you use them wisely, you can significantly improve your success rate. If you use them academically, you can waste much time. In this book, we show how to integrate these resources with your improvement program. The examples in the book include the SEI CMM and CMMI frameworks. If you are using another model or standard, such as SPICE, BOOTSTRAP, or ISO9001, substitute it where we refer to the CMM. If you are not using any model or standard, the techniques described in the book will help you develop your own improvement actions to address your organization's issues. 1. See Appendix E for summaries of the SEI, CMM v1.1, and CMMI v1.1. 2. See Zahran98 for summaries of SPICE, BOOTSTRAP, and ISO9001. 0201775778P03132002 Excerpted from Making Process Improvement Work: A Concise Action Guide for Software Managers and Practitioners by Neil S. Potter, Mary E. Sakry All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Neil Potter and Mary Sakry are cofounders of The Process Group. They have been working in software development, software engineering, and process and project management since 1985 and 1976, respectively. They are both SEI-authorized Lead Assessors