STEP 9: PREPARE IMPROVEMENT IMPLEMENTATION 3-85
Plan process improvement progress meetings Activity
9-1
• Appoint chairman for the improvement progress meetings
• Select key people to attend the improvement progress meetings
• Plan meetings
In order to ensure that selected process changes will be implemented and applied, it is necessary to hold regular improvement progress meetings.
The process improvement progress board, an appointed commit tee, will hold these meetings. Its main task will be to track improvement progress, and define corrective action if necessary. We recommend that this board will include representatives of different organizational functions, including project personnel, quality assurance representatives, and senior management representatives. Top management should be adequately represented in the progress meetings, as their commitment will be a key factor for the success of process improvement. If possible, this board will meet every two to four weeks, to discuss progress and results. We recommend that the chairman of these meetings should be a manager, preferably from outside the development group, for example a quality assurance manager, SEPG manager, or PROFES team manager.
Make time planning and resource allocation Activity
9-2
• Specify the necessary improvement steps and sub-steps
• Co-ordinate the improvement steps with project work
• Make an implementation plan for process improvement
An important part of implementing process changes is proper planning of the improvement steps. Process improvement is much more than simply applying a new procedure. Promotion, training, assistance, piloting process changes, guidance, partial implemen tation etc. are important steps in making process changes work.
Depending on the size, motivation, schedules etc. of the process changes, the level of detail in time planning can vary. For a large department with ingrained resistance to change, the action plan will need to be more thorough and phased than for a small group of motivated engineers.
STEP 9: PREPARE IMPROVEMENT IMPLEMENTATION 3-87
However, sufficient resources should be allocated to the different tasks and proper planning of the steps should be carried out.
The improvement plan is the major reference to track status and progress at the improvement progress meetings. Therefore the actual steps should be clearly defined in a traceable manner. The plan should be updated in case of changes, which is likely, and process improvement progress meetings should be included in the planning.
As all GQM planning activities are already finalized, the measurement activities should be included in the planning as well. Feedback sessions can be scheduled to take into account the relevant project milestones.
Schedule of feedback session should be included in the improvement planning. Through inclusion of the GQM measurement tasks in the improvement schedule, full integration of measurement and process improvement will be established.
Kick-off process changes Activity
9-3
• Invite people to the kick-off meeting
• Hold meeting in which the process changes are started
• Provide on-line process support
After appropriate planning, definition of the altered procedures, and assignment of responsibilities for the changes, the actual implementation can begin. We recommend organizing a so-called opening or ‘kick-off meeting’ in which implementation of the changes is begun. At such a session, an overview of process improvements and planning may be presented. Such a session again helps in increasing the motivation to carry out process changes. We therefore recommend that as many software engineers involved in the process improvements as possible are present at this kick-off meeting. Naturally, the process improvement progress board should also be present.
On-line process support should also be set up. In case people have questions regarding implementation of the changed process, they can consult this process support service. Such support is very important, especially in the early stages of a new process. Implementation will differ in different situations, but in many cases, appointing a ‘process champion’
will be sufficient. In other cases it might be necessary to install an on-line help desk. The way in which this on-line process support is implemented should be decided in accordance with the situation, changes, organization, number of people involved, etc.
Average Duration and Effort
2 – 8 weeks duration, about 15 days of effort
Tools and Templates
• Planning tools and automated procedure/workflow tools
• PROFES improvement plan template, which is included in the appendix of this manual
Work Products
Input work products Output work products
• Development project plan
• Preliminary improvement plan (result from Step 4)
• Selected list of process changes (result from Step 6)
• Prescriptive process model (result from Step 7)
• GQM deliverables (result from Step 8)
• Process improvement action plan
• On-line process support
Resource Allocation
Roles, responsibilities and requested skills Managerial roles
PROFES Team Manager
The PROFES team manager is responsible for ensuring that the deliverables of this step are correct and serve their purpose.
He/she is also likely to be chairman of the process improvement progress meetings, which involves selecting candidates for this board and briefing the other board members on their roles and tasks. The PROFES team manager should also set-up a schedule for progress meetings, which will also be included in the process improvement schedule.
STEP 9: PREPARE IMPROVEMENT IMPLEMENTATION 3-89
Project Manager
Project managers are involved in discussing how and when process changes should in practice be implemented in the project they are responsible for. They should review the deliverables of this step, and we recommend that they take part in the improvement progress meetings.
Expert roles PROFES expert
The PROFES expert is responsible for the development of the main deliverables of this step, the process improvement action plan, and new or revised procedures.
Development of these deliverables is not an individual off-line activity, but should be carried out in full co-operation with development projects and managers. The PROFES expert assigned to this task should therefore be socially skilful.
Support roles Project team
Project team members are consulted on implementing process changes in the new or revised procedures. Project team mem-bers should also participate in the opening session. We recommend that one or two project engineers take part in all main decisions for the process improvement programme.
Process support engineer
Process support engineers support the application of the new processes. These engineers will monitor correct implementation of the process, and will provide support to the project team members in case of question or problems.
Expected effort/role PROFES expert
The PROFES expert produces most of the deliverables in 40 hours of effort, depending on the number of process changes to be processed in the procedures.
PROFES Team Manager
The PROFES team manager is mainly involved in the meetings of the process improvement progress board. The PROFES team manager also needs to review the deliverables of this
step, amounting to about 12 hours of effort, depending on the amount of process changes included in the procedures.
Project Manager
The project manager is mainly involved in the meetings of the process improvement progress board, and reviews documenta-tion, which needs about 8 hours of effort.
Project team
The project team attends the kick-off meeting, which takes about two hours. Some project team members are also involved in the definition or revision of procedures, taking 4-8 hours for each engineer involved.
Methods and Techniques
Process modelling, procedure description techniques, project planning methods and techniques.
1. VERIFY COMMITMENT
4. DETERMINE CURRENT PROCESS CAPABILITY 3. DETERMINE CURRENT PRODUCT QUALITY 2. IDENTIFY PRODUCT QUALITY NEEDS
10. IMPLEMENT AND MONITOR IMPROVEMENTS 7 . DESCRIBE PROCESS CHANGES
8. SET METRICS FOR THE PROCESSES AND PRODUCT
11. EVALUATE RESULTS
12 . UPDATE EXPERIENCE BASE
5. SET PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT GOALS
6. DETERMINE NECESSARY PROCESS CHANGES
9. PREPARE IMPROVEMENT IMPLEMENTATION CHARACTERIZE
PLAN
PACKAGE ANALYSE EXECUTE SET GOALS
PROFES PHASES PROFES STEPS
STEP 10: IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENTS 3-93