SG 1 Establish Performance Baselines and Models Baselines and models that characterize the expected process performance of the organization's set of standard processes are established and maintained. Prior to establishing process performance baselines and models, it is necessary to determine which processes are suitable to be measured (the Select Processes specific practice), which measures are useful for determining process performance (the Establish Process Performance Measures specific practice), and the quality and process-performance objectives for those processes (the Establish Quality and Process-Performance Objectives specific practice). These specific practices are often interrelated and may need to be performed concurrently to select the appropriate processes, measures, and quality and process-performance objectives. Often, the selection of one process, measure, or objective will constrain the selection of the others. For example, if a certain process is selected, the measures and objectives for that process may be constrained by the process itself. Table . Practice-to-Goal Relationship Table | Continuous Representation | Staged Representation | | SG 1 Establish Performance Baselines and Models | SG 1 Establish Performance Baselines and Models | SP 1.1-1 Select Processes | SP 1.1-1 Select Processes | SP 1.2-1 Establish Process Performance Measures | SP 1.2-1 Establish Process Performance Measures | SP 1.3-1 Establish Quality and Process-Performance Objectives | SP 1.3-1 Establish Quality and Process-Performance Objectives | SP 1.4-1 Establish Process Performance Baselines | SP 1.4-1 Establish Process Performance Baselines | SP 1.5-1 Establish Process Performance Models | SP 1.5-1 Establish Process Performance Models | | GG 1 Achieve Specific Goals | | GP 1.1 Perform Base Practices | | | GG 2 Institutionalize a Managed Process | GG 3 Institutionalize a Defined Process | GP 2.1 Establish an Organizational Policy | GP 2.1 Establish an Organizational Policy | GP 2.2 Plan the Process | GP 2.2 Plan the Process | GP 2.3 Provide Resources | GP 2.3 Provide Resources | GP 2.4 Assign Responsibility | GP 2.4 Assign Responsibility | GP 2.5 Train People | GP 2.5 Train People | GP 2.6 Manage Configurations | GP 2.6 Manage Configurations | GP 2.7 Identify and Involve Relevant Stakeholders | GP 2.7 Identify and Involve Relevant Stakeholders | GP 2.8 Monitor and Control the Process | GP 2.8 Monitor and Control the Process | GP 2.9 Objectively Evaluate Adherence | GP 2.9 Objectively Evaluate Adherence | GP 2.10 Review Status with Higher Level Management | GP 2.10 Review Status with Higher Level Management | | GG 3 Institutionalize a Defined Process | | GP 3.1 Establish a Defined Process | GP 3.1 Establish a Defined Process | GP 3.2 Collect Improvement Information | GP 3.2 Collect Improvement Information | | GG 4 Institutionalize a Quantitatively Managed Process | | GP 4.1 Establish Quantitative Objectives for the Process | | GP 4.2 Stabilize Subprocess Performance | | | GG 5 Institutionalize an Optimizing Process | | GP 5.1 Ensure Continuous Process Improvement | | GP 5.2 Correct Root Causes of Problems | | SP 1.1-1 Select Processes Select the processes or process elements in the organization's set of standard processes that are to be included in the organization's process performance analyses. Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about the structure of the organizational process assets. The organization's set of standard processes consists of a set of standard processes that, in turn, are composed of process elements. Typically, it will not be possible, useful, or economically justifiable to apply statistical management techniques to all processes or process elements of the organization's set of standard processes. Selection of the processes and/or process elements is based on the needs and objectives of both the organization and projects. Typical Work Products List of processes or process elements identified for process performance analyses SP 1.2-1 Establish Process Performance Measures Establish and maintain definitions of the measures that are to be included in the organization's process performance analyses. Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about selecting measures. Typical Work Products Definitions for the selected measures of process performance Subpractices Determine which of the organization's business objectives for quality and process performance need to be addressed by the measures. Select measures that provide appropriate insight into the organization's quality and process performance. The Goal Question Metric paradigm is an approach that can be used to select measures that provide insight into the organization's business objectives. Examples of criteria used to select measures include the following: Relationship of the measures to the organization's business objectives Coverage that the measures provide over the entire life of the product Visibility that the measures provide into the process performance Availability of the measures Extent to which the measures are objective Frequency at which the observations of the measure can be collected Extent to which the measures are controllable by changes to the process Extent to which the measures represent the users' view of effective process performance |
Incorporate the selected measures into the organization's set of common measures. Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets. Revise the set of measures as necessary. SP 1.3-1 Establish Quality and Process-Performance Objectives Establish and maintain quantitative objectives for quality and process performance for the organization. The organization's quality and process-performance objectives should have the following attributes: Based on the organization's business objectives Based on the past performance of projects Defined to gauge process performance in areas such as product quality, productivity, or cycle time Constrained by the inherent variability or natural bounds of the process Typical Work Products Organization's quality and process-performance objectives Subpractices Review the organization's business objectives related to quality and process performance. Examples of business objectives include the following: |
Define the organization's quantitative objectives for quality and process performance. Objectives may be established for both process measurements (e.g., effort, cycle time, and defect removal effectiveness) and product measurements (e.g., reliability and defect density). Examples of quality and process-performance objectives include the following: |
Define the priorities of the organization's objectives for quality and process performance. Review, negotiate, and obtain commitment for the organization's quality and process-performance objectives and their priorities from the relevant stakeholders. Revise the organization's quantitative objectives for quality and process performance as necessary. | Examples of when the organization's quantitative objectives for quality and process performance may need to be revised include the following: When the organization's business objectives change When the organization's processes change When actual quality and process performance differs significantly from the objectives |
SP 1.4-1 Establish Process Performance Baselines Establish and maintain the organization's process performance baselines. The organization's process performance baselines are a measurement of performance for the organization's set of standard processes at various levels of detail, as appropriate. The processes include the following: Individual process elements (e.g., test-case inspection element) Sequence of connected processes Processes that cover the entire life of the project Processes for developing individual work products There may be several process performance baselines to characterize performance for subgroups of the organization. | Examples of criteria used to categorize subgroups include the following: |
Allowable tailoring of the organization's set of standard processes may significantly affect the comparability of the data for inclusion in process performance baselines. The effects of tailoring should be considered in establishing baselines. Refer to the Quantitative Project Management process area for more information about the use of process performance baselines. Typical Work Products Baseline data on the organization's process performance Subpractices Collect measurements from the organization's projects. The process in use when the measurement was taken is recorded to enable appropriate use at a later date. Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for information about collecting and analyzing data. Establish and maintain the organization's process performance baselines from the collected measurements and analyses. Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for information about establishing objectives for measurement and analysis, specifying the measures and analyses to be performed, obtaining and analyzing measures, and reporting results. Process performance baselines are derived by analyzing the collected measures to establish a distribution and range of results that characterize the expected performance for selected processes when used on any individual project in the organization. The measurements from stable processes from projects should be used; other data may not be reliable. Review and get agreement with relevant stakeholders about the organization's process performance baselines. Make the organization's process performance information available across the organization in the organization's measurement repository. The organization's process performance baselines are used by the projects to estimate the natural bounds for process performance. Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing the organization's measurement repository. Compare the organization's process performance baselines to the associated objectives. Revise the organization's process performance baselines as necessary. | Examples of when the organization's process performance baselines may need to be revised include the following: When the processes change When the organization's results change When the organization's needs change |
SP 1.5-1 Establish Process Performance Models Establish and maintain the process performance models for the organization's set of standard processes. Process performance models are used to estimate or predict the value of a process performance measure from the values of other process and product measurements. These process performance models typically use process and product measurements collected throughout the life of the project to estimate progress toward achieving objectives that cannot be measured until later in the project's life. The process performance models are used as follows: The organization uses them for estimating, analyzing, and predicting the process performance associated with the processes in the organization's set of standard processes. The organization uses them to assess the (potential) return on investment for process improvement activities. Projects use them for estimating, analyzing, and predicting the process performance for their defined processes. Projects use them for selecting processes for use. These measures and models are defined to provide insight into and to provide the ability to predict critical process and product characteristics that are relevant to business value. | Examples of areas of concern to projects in which models may be useful include the following: Schedule and cost Reliability Defect identification and removal rates Defect removal effectiveness Latent defect estimation Project progress Combinations of these areas |
| Examples of process performance models include the following: |
Refer to the Quantitative Project Management process area for more information about the use of process performance models. Typical Work Products Process performance models Subpractices Establish the process performance models based on the organization's set of standard processes and the organization's process performance baselines. Calibrate the process performance models based on the organization's past results and current needs. Review the process performance models and get agreement with relevant stakeholders. Support the projects' use of the process performance models. Revise the process performance models as necessary. | Examples of when the process performance models may need to be revised include the following: When the processes change When the organization's results change When the organization's needs change |
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