My team develops 2 to 3 types of products.
For each product certain standards must be adhered to.
The standards are clearly defined, well documented and easily accessible by everyone.
Still, people sometimes forget to adhere to certain steps in the standard.
How do I ensure that people always remember to adhere to all steps in the standards (document)?
Are there any best practices in this regard?
Any suggestions which have proven to work will be greatly appreciated. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
You may put checkpoints in key steps in the process and have the deliverables of those required steps as prerequisites of the subsequent key step. This will enforce a check to make sure the person has completed the required steps before proceeding on. Also, if you are using PPM tool to manage your project, you may build these steps as tasks in the process and enforce your team members to update the status of those tasks. Since the tasks/steps are builded as part of the process, there isn't any need for team to remember them. Saving Changes...
Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
Shahriar
Agree with Wai the only way to enforce is to implement checkpoints. However there are two side effects to it:
- you must conduct the checks/reviews otherwise there will be no change in behavior- this leads to additional workload and therefore an increase in duration (is this acceptable to the client?)
Therefore I would advise to organise a half day workshop to discuss the standards and ask why steps are omitted. If there are good reasons it might lead to an adapted standard and the same quality.
If there are no good reasons you can use the workshop to enforce the standards and implement the checkpoints.
Hopes this helps Hans Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Making sure people understand why they are doing things is important, otherwise they will see checkpoints and processes as an administrative overhead that adds no value. Still, even when it is clear why the steps should be done, it doesn't mean that people will still do them. Have you thought about incentivising people through writing the steps into their objectives for the year? You could give them an objective to adhere to your project management processes. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Yes, making people understand what they are doing is important. This will ensure that they see checkpoints as good reminders instead of administrative overheads. Saving Changes...
The products/projects we are talking about here are IT products (flash banners etc).
And the standards we need to adhere to are coding and QA standards.
Based on the discussion so far, this is what I have decided upon:
1. We will perform a workshop to discuss our standards so that everyone is clear about them as well as identify any barriers to compliance.
2. Let people know why it is necessary to adhere to the standards.
3. Tie compliance to their performance evaluation.
4. Checkpoints are a little hard to implement due to the very short turnaround time. But we will perform random checks at regular intervals.
Is there anything more specific that can be applied to the scenario I have described?
Thank you again for your help. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Perhaps a short quiz to test out how much they remember and understand about the processes will help to reinforce their memory. Saving Changes...
Thanks Wai for your reply. This suggestion has been voiced by my teamleader too.
But I am wondering how effective/realistic is it?
Has anyone tried it in the workplace? If so how do you organize it? Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Although we have not tried it in project management processes itself, short test or quiz is one of the standard items in our user training when we rollout new systems or business processes. So far, the feedbacks are quite positive as it forces people to pay attention during the training since they need to pass the test. Saving Changes...
Hi Wai
I agree that the quizzes are effective at the end of a training session.
But my situation is slightly different as I require a constant reminder/process that will remain in place for the whole period we continue the production, which may be years.
What is your opinion on publishing a concise version of the standards in form of a booklet (4 to 5 pages) which will be made available to all developers?
Your continued feedback is very much appreciated. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
That sounds good too. In fact, we do have our project management processes and key deliverables packed into poster and distributed out. Comparing booklet to poster, a poster will be more accessible in my opinion as we can paste it on the wall or some prominent locations where people can look at easily.
However, I have my reservation on whether people will refer to it every now and then while they are at work. Saving Changes...
