My role on our SEPG involves staying ahead of our Level 3 improvement initiatives so that we can have a head start on Level 4. Lately, I'm starting to feel like programmers and project managers in the US are way too complacent about what other countries are doing to improve their maturity. It's getting to the point where our own company is talking about outsourcing work to our colleagues in India and Brasil. It's like the 1970's all over again, with big complacent US industries taking a nap while other countries (Japan in autos) improve their products and dominate markets we invented. There are lots of authors telling us what we need to pay attention to, but few of us outside of those who hang out at web sites like this have a clue about what is on the horizon. I'm no spring chicken, so I'm ready to try another career, but I worry about my colleagues and the US software industry in general. The Indian software industry created a Watts Humphrey Institute and is getting into PSP, TSP and People CMM in a big way. When are we going to wake up and try to do something to salvage what is left of our personal, much less national pride. I'd love to work for a company that was using PSP and TSP, CMM-I and People CMM, but it looks like I'm going to have to wait until my own company wakes up and gets with the program. Guess I'll just have to make my own company the place I want to work. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
John,
Its frightful to observe how many businesses operate today. One would think that after 50 years of technology and 30 years of methodology experience we could get it right.
Unfortunately the greed factor, which results in massive destruction of value, wins out all too often.
Systems and methodlogies like Six Sigma and Helix are making a contribution to helping companies become value driven.
Its only through independent thought and open minds willing to learn and adapt that we can change the way US companies think about and approach doing business. Saving Changes...
There are two types of process improvements. The first is installing processes or process steps that are missing that add needed value. For this, models like the CMMI provide a good list of what your processes need to do. The second type is doing what you're already doing more effectively. We're concentrating on the first type as we move from CMM level 2 to CMM/CMMI level 3. Once we are doing what we need to and have the metrics data to understand how well we're doing it, we can begin to optimize. Six Sigma is a potential tool for us here (i.e. buzzing at the management level), but I'd rather wait on optimizing until I'm sure we're at least doing it consistently. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
The first things I think every organization should embrace is the concepts of
- Value Gap Analysis (called Change Analysis in Helix)
- Voice of the Stakeholder (Voice of the Customer in Six Sigma)
- Defect Management (Six Sigma)
Marrying these three concepts and tools together the framework for improving Value can be established.
Consistency if consistantly wrong or defective is not a Good Thing.
Stabilization is a better goal while at the same time identifying and establishing baselines for needed improvements. Saving Changes...
I agree with John. As a transplant to the USA from the UK, I'm struck by the relative lack of interest in methods and processes in the USA. There seems to be a "Nike Syndrome" approach to software delivery (Just Do It), and there is no attempt being made in many groups to apply any engineering-based disciplines to software delivery. My own group is still struggling to even understand CMM... If you want to look for improvement opportunities, start with the following:
1. Requirements Definition Without a strong process to define, disambiguate and play-back requirements, your chances of meeting or exceeding customer expectations just took a big nosedive...
2. Business Analysis Most business analysts are not business analysts - they are business experts. Not the same thing. BAs need to be able to conceptualize problems and generalize solutions. Many of the BAs I have worked with recently just try to jump straight to a design-based answer.
3. User Experience Design With the convergence of UI design with graphic design and visual design made possible by the Internet, your options for improving the user experience just multiplied manyfold. As did your opportunities for screw-ups...beware the developer who thinks he/she can design a UI.
4. Design, Coding Oops, where did Architecture go? Every solution needs a strong conceptual and technical framework. IOW, an Architecture. If no such framework has been defined, or if no attempt is made to evolve one, you just developed cobbleware.
5. Quality Assurance ...is not what you do afterwards. You make sure that you build quality into the product by stage end reviews and tests.
6. Documentation If you believe that this gets done later, you just made a big error...if it doesn't form an integral part of the project deliverables, it will never get done.
7. Metrics Collection It's never too soon to start collecting metrics. Without metrics you cannot quantify any goals for improvement, and measure progress in meeting those goals. Without measurable progress, management support will dissipate rapidly, and they will move to the next fad... 8. Hiring In this industry, we have a none-too-smart tendency to hire technically competent (in some case excellent) people and then make allowances for their interpersonal deficiencies. For some project roles, you can't do that. Hire BAs who can communicate clearly, effectively and concisely with customers, and look for a willingness to think laterally. Hire developers who are willing to test and document (this sounds mad, but whenever I meet a developer who knows how important it is to do those tasks, I want that person). Raise the bar, and make it clear to your teams that you are seeking other forms of excellence in addition to narrow technical capability. The IT landscape is littered with the wreckage of technical contributors making terrible jobs of management because they were allowed to continue in the belief that technical excellence was what really mattered. Also...if you want meaningful improvement (which is really a dramatic change), your organization needs to stop hiring people who look, walk, think and talk like the incumbents. You need to hire people who make you feel uncomfortable. Saving Changes...
The biggest problem with process improvement efforts especially when shooting for CMM and other related models is the organization is treating it as a reward instead of as a journey. It should be about making change and naturally reaching certification for making the change. Not abuot getting everything in the right place to earn certification and not truly believing in the change.
Process is still low on everyone in the software dept.'s list except for our two people process team. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Wonderful insight Meryl. Being technically CMM certifiable is not as important as having business processes that are stakeholder aligned. If the CMM model works for doing that GREAT. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
For process improvement, I have found that ABC/M has worked well in objectively identifying the processes and activities that needs to be streamlined and redesigned. Has worked well in a variety of industries in estimating operational efficiencies/cost reduction. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Can you give us a source where we can learn more about ABC/M? Saving Changes...
But it's not really a process improvement approach. It's merely a refinement on still inadvisable allocation of costs to products. Even one of the originators of the concept has disowned it. Check out a great essay/speech text entitled REFLECTIONS OF A RECOVERING MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT. ABC is an improvement on tradtional cost accounting, but still fails to consider the non-additive nature of organizational systems. An activity focus is an OK start for small issue analysis, but serious process improvement needs to deal with the angels in the architecture more than the devils in the details.
Process improvement needs to be not cost-focused, but quality/throughput-focused to deliver maximum bang for the buck.
