PROVEN TECHNIQUES FOR LEADING PROCESS IMPROVEMENT


As discussed earlier, on the whole, you and your executive peers are not malicious, arrogant , or incompetent, but you often don t have the information you need to successfully lead process improvement in your organization. And, given that you re the leader, you don t really want to admit to a lapse in your knowledge; you haven t arrived at your current position by focusing on your weaknesses, have you? So there, in the privacy of your office or your home, you can safely read this chapter and find out what you re supposed to do. You never have to admit that you learned it from another source.

Here are some proven techniques you can use to lead a successful CMMI-based process improvement program in your organization.

Things You Should Do

When communicating about the changes to come from process improvement, be brief. Describe where the organization is now, where it needs to go, and how it will get there. Identify who will implement the process improvements and who will be affected by these changes. Explain the criteria for success, the intended methods for verifying the success, and the related rewards. Identify key things that will not be changing. For example, let people know the processes, systems, rules, roles, etc., that won t be changing. This knowledge will provide the anchor they need to avoid the anxiety people suffer when their whole world is changing. Predict some of the negative aspects that the targets should anticipate.

Convey your commitment to the change. Tell people what changes they can expect to see in your behaviors, and tell them it s safe to let you know when they see a contradiction between your words and actions (and then actually make it safe).

When the people who report to you, especially program and project managers, give you status, don t accept phrases such as we hope to or with luck, we ll or if everything goes right, then These are the words used by people who don t manage their work and don t manage their risks using factual information. Gracefully and patiently teach them to come to you with factual plans and estimates that support their optimism . On the other hand, when things do fall apart, make it absolutely safe for people to give you bad news. Give them positive, public recognition for having the courage and integrity to deliver bad news that is based on reality and facts.

Don t accept status and progress that is not relative to a plan; it is meaningless except that it means a bunch of people are running around doing stuff. Teach people to give you the status of their work against documented, approved plans and objectives because only then does status have any relevance.

Frequently ask people who report to you if they need any assistance, guidance, or help from you. They will get the clear message that you care about their work and its importance.

When people fail and then say to you, but it will be different this time ask them what fundamental shift has occurred in them, their approach, their work style, or the environment that would give you reason to believe that the next attempt at doing something the same way would yield different results.

Reward people who provide quantitative information that is verifiable . Discourage people whose vocabulary is replete with sort of, kind of, maybe, and almost.

Publicly reward and encourage people who find and remove system or product defects early in the life cycle.

When there is a crisis, turn first to the organization s processes for the solution.

Do your very best every single day to personally demonstrate and exhibit the behaviors you expect to see in those who follow you. We repeat this one for a reason.

Things You Should Not Do

Don t send conflicting messages. Don t allow your words to say one thing but your actions to speak something different. In the long run, the actions will win and the words will lose every time.

Stop rewarding the traditional heroes, the people who work 24/7 to fix a problem or defect that has made it to the customer. Instead, gradually establish a new class of heroes, those who use standards and process discipline to prevent defects from going to the customer.

Don t punish people for taking calculated risks or for making mistakes. We don t learn nearly as much by doing things right as we learn from doing things wrong. People who have the courage to take risks and occasionally make a mistake are the people who will take the organization to new ideas, new products, new markets, and will save the organization from death by stagnation.

Don t punish people for saying the emperor has no clothes. If the organization has no tolerance for internal reflection and learning, then it has no chance of growing. If it s not growing, it is already dead; it s just too stupid to lie down.




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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