GO WHERE EVERYONE HAS GONE BEFORE


If we make the assumption that project management practices and methods help people manage software and system projects effectively and efficiently ” and we must believe this since we re so good at expecting project personnel to employ such practices ” then it s logical to also assume that project management practices and methods can be used in any endeavor that meets our definition of a project. In fact, people who use the principles and practices defined in PMBOK [16] assume this axiom to be true since it is used by managers of many types of projects from building construction to oil exploration to software and systems development.

So the next question is, what do we mean by the term ˜project ? There are many published definitions for a project and you certainly shouldn t reinvent the term . However, a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) definition for project may have to be tweaked to meet your organization s needs. (Don t worry, there are no Definition Police running around arresting people for modifying the meanings of words and phrases used in the public domain!)

The two most applicable places to look for a COTS definition for project are the CMMI Glossary and PMBOK. But no matter where you find your definition, you ll find just about everything ever called a project met the following four criteria:

  1. It has a start date and an end date.

  2. It will deliver something that can be defined, measured, or tested .

  3. It will be allocated defined resources.

  4. A customer or customers can be identified for the thing to be delivered.

By this definition, every CMMI-based process improvement effort is or should be classified as a project. There is always a start date, or at least one can be defined. There is always an end date, usually a date for achieving a maturity level dreamed up for you by the organization s executives or senior managers. Resources (almost certainly not enough) will be allocated to process improvement because otherwise nothing occurs: processes do not magically materialize. The thing you will develop and deliver is a system: a process system. Developing and delivering a process system is not unlike developing and delivering an e-mail system for internal use ” both systems are intended to help people in the organization work more effectively and efficiently. And finally, you and others better know explicitly to whom you are delivering process improvement because ” in the words of my business partner and mentor ” if you don t have a customer, you should just go home.

So, if a process improvement effort to achieve a maturity level, process capabilities, and measurable improvements looks like a project, feels like a project, and smells like a project, then it is a project. As such, your organization s CMMI-based policies, processes, and procedures for systems engineering apply to the CMMI project as well as they do to the software and systems projects. If you accept this, the good news is that the process improvement project can play on the same field with the other projects in the organization. The bad news is that the process improvement project runs out of excuses for failure.

But wait! There s more good news. When you shift your paradigm and start viewing the CMMI or process improvement effort as a project, you realize process improvement success is not luck and there is a proven path for success: project management. The rest of this chapter tells you and shows you how to apply standard, proven project management techniques and methods to your process improvement project to manage risk and ensure success. Boldly going where no one has gone before might be a good motto for science fiction , but it s not an intelligent approach to CMMI-based process improvement. Wisely go where everyone has gone before.

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Systems Project Managers and Leads

As a project manager or lead (or software engineer who s smart enough to not accept management positions ), you have a lot of experience in successfully managing projects, even ones with impossible deadlines and ridiculous constraints. Too often, people assigned with process improvement or CMMI responsibilities do not have the depth of project management experience you have.

Help your organization s process people understand that their chances of success in reaching the targeted maturity level and other goals will be much better if they apply some project management discipline to the effort. There are dozens of reasons projects fail and a process improvement project is every bit as susceptible to the same sources of risk and failure as software and systems projects. Offer to help the process people estimate, plan, and manage the CMMI implementation as a project. There might initially be some resistance to this concept, but they will understand the need once upper management starts asking for reports on status and progress of the work against plans.

Also, the best way to get the process people to understand if a procedure will work is to first try it out on the process improvement project. For example, if they develop a procedure for gathering and analyzing project requirements, challenge them to apply the procedure to gathering and analyzing requirements for process improvement. It s often a real eye- opener for process people when they try to use their own procedures and work products on their efforts.

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[16] The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is an online repository of project management information. This repository is maintained by the Project Management Institute (PMI). For more information, go to www.pmbok.com.




Real Process Improvement Using the CMMI
Real Process Improvement Using the CMMI
ISBN: 0849321093
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 110
Authors: Michael West

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