The newsletter will initially be
published every six months, but that frequency may change
depending upon the response. Please let us know what you
think. Also, if you have information you
would like to share with more than 3,000 other people
interested in process improvement, formal inspection and
project planning, please drop us a line (E-mail, telephone
or fax). This could be an article or just a few lessons
learned. If you have question related to
process improvement, tell us, and we will publish your
question in the next issue. --- Neil Potter
Newsletter aims to keep
you informed
Welcome to the first edition of The Process Group
Post. Its purpose is to provide a mechanism to share
tips and lessons learned, keep you informed of some current
events in the process improvement world, and keep you up to
date regarding our services.
by MARY SAKRY If you have heard Timothy Lister
speak, you can better understand my enthusiasm for his work.
This issue I would like to talk about how important
"Peopleware" concepts can be to your process improvement
efforts. This article will quote heavily
from authors Lister and Tom DeMarco. All quotations are
straight from "Peopleware." Determinants of process
improvement success When we think of process
improvement, we must consider the balance of three
components: process, people, and tools. All three of these
components play an important role in determining how
successful the process improvement results are. We need good processes to
accomplish our software development and maintenance with the
appropriate tools to support these processes while realizing
that it is people that do the work and use those processes,
methods and tools. Therefore, ultimately people are
responsible for the success or failure of the improvement
effort. Lister knows how to drive home the
importance of the people who create software better than
anyone else. He always maintains a level of wit that makes
his important message palatable yet ensures that his message
hits the mark. As you work on your process
improvement issues it is important to keep this element in
mind. Most SEI Level 12 findings are behavioral in nature,
and organizations can do well by paying close attention to
his message. "Peopleware" in a
nutshell Here I state several points made in
"Peopleware." My intent is to tell you just enough so that
you will read the book yourself. So I won't give much
detail. "In the best work groups, the ones
in which people have the most fun and perform at their upper
limits, team interactions are everything. They are the
reason that people stick it out, put their all into work
[and] overcome enormous obstacles." Lister and
DeMarco present some good ideas on how to grow and maintain
productive teams. Finally they leave us with the
notion that work should be fun. "We need people to recognize
the occasions when they are being asked to do something
silly -- and actually say so. Once it's been said out loud,
(the organization) can't ignore it any longer." What does all this mean in
relation to process improvement? And why should you
care? First of all, some of you may have
had a process assessment, and if you have, you may have been
surprised that so many people-oriented issues surfaced. If
you have not used an assessment as the basis of your process
improvement, then you should be advised that you may have
missed some critical issues that are
people-related. No matter how you have set up your
improvement program, you must deal with these issues as they
are foundations for the improvement work to follow. For
example: If people are expected to complete projects based
on unrealistic schedules estimates or work in an environment
that allows continual interruptions, then to think that they
will be able to make meaningful process improvements may be
unreasonable. As a rule, people enjoy working on
process improvement as long as it is not seen as an
additional burden to an already hectic schedule. When people
are dedicated to process improvement, it should be
considered part of their job and time must be allocated for
the effort. Keep the software people
happy Be sure to keep a balanced emphasis
on people, process, and technology. If, during your efforts, you are
unable to help people solve their real problems or are
unable to convince them that you can help them solve their
real problems, your effort will fail. Remember, the software
professionals are your customers and you want to keep them
happy. By reading Lister and DeMarco's
book, you will uncover many jewels that will help you
progress on the people-related issues you must
face.
Process improvement
meets 'Peopleware'
- People are the key asset of
any organization
During the past six years I have
created and managed an SEPG (Software Engineering Process
Group) and observed many others. To start this newsletter, I
would like to share with you what I think are
characteristics of a good SEPG. An SEPG is a group of internal
consultants established to help their colleague software
engineers and managers improve. Typically, an SEPG is formed just
before or just after a process assessment. In Software
Engineering Institute (SEI) terms, the SEPG is the process
focus for the organization. A good SEPG: In summary, a good SEPG is one that
is highly customer-focused, flexible and able to help the
organization address its key issues.
Some bright ideas for
SEPGs
by NEIL POTTER
This book is very valuable for SEPG
personnel, both from the perspective of influencing the
organization and personal growth. Highly recommended. See the article by Mary Sakry in
this issue. This book contains a unique set of
ideas for engineering and managing complex software systems.
It describes methods including specification, evolutionary
planning and delivery and inspection to improve quality and
productivity. If you have read a book you
recommend related to software process improvement, please
let us know. --- Mary Sakry
Book reviews
Covey, S., "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,"
1989, Simon & Schuster. ISBN
0-671-70863-5.
DeMarco, Tom. Lister, Timothy. "Peopleware: Productive
Projects and Teams," 1987, Dorset House Publishing Co.,
Inc., New York, NY. ISBN 0-932633-05-6.
Gilb, T., "Principles of Software Engineering
Management," 1991, Addison-Wesley. ISBN
0-201-19246-2.
A: No. Some organizations
are sufficiently accomplished at self-evaluation that they
can use consensus to determine where to improve without a
formal assessment. The SEI assessment process is a
well-defined method to thoroughly determine an
organization's strengths and weaknesses. The assessment
process collects problems and information from the engineers
and managers and reduces it to a handful of key issues. The
result is a carefully worded set of problem statements with
buy-in from the participants involved. After an assessment, an
organization develops strategic and tactical improvement
action plans. An assessment of an organization is
only one step in the process improvement life cycle. An
assessment should always be preceded with an evaluation of
the organization's business goals and be followed by a
carefully planned set of improvement actions. Q: By "assessment," do you mean
the 1987 SEI questionnaire? A: No. For a few years many
people equated an "assessment" with the SEI questionnaire
published in 1987, commonly known as TR-23. The
questionnaire is only a sample of the practices required by
the SEI Capability Maturity Model. Assessments dig deeper
than just the issues listed in the questionnaire. They
determine the key issues facing the organization using
interview and review sessions. Organizations that focus only on
the questionnaire or CMM can miss the major issues that a
true assessment would uncover. The questionnaire is used
during an assessment as a springboard into the discussion
sessions. The questionnaire can also be used
to help measure process improvement progress between major
process assessments.
Questions and
answers
by NEIL POTTER
Q: Does an organization have to perform an SEI process
assessment in order to improve?
©
1998 The Process Group