Software Improvement Plan
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
[edit] Keep focused on the goals and problems
Development programs always begin with the greatest intentions. Often, however, the focus becomes thinned and unproductive, with many tangential issues entering the picture. You can maintain focus by keeping the goals and problems firmly in the minds of the target audience. The plan you developed in Chapter 1 should be your primary guide. One software company identified a clear need for better project planning during its process assessment. Consensus was achieved among 60 people and planning became a compelling issue to fix. Two months later, an internal document recommended the development of a project-planning database. Project managers were to use historical data from this database to improve their estimates. At this point, the job of developing the database became the purpose of the improvement effort. The project-planning problem, carefully worded during the assessment, was out of sight and out of mind. Three years later, the organization had a database containing almost no usable data, and their project-planning problem remained unsolved. If the people involved in the improvement effort had kept the clear statement of the project-planning problem as their focus, they might have recognized that their efforts were not fixing the problem. It is easy to focus on improvement activities but lose sight of the intended result. For example, teams using the SEI CMM often become focused on the Key Process Areas and documentation. Organizations using ISO9001, LEAN often become focused on creating procedures and collecting records. Rather than allowing the improvement activities to become the goal, regularly revisit your plan and keep your actions in alignment with the original goals and problems. When you discover a mismatch, update the improvement plan or redirect your group's actions to support the true goal. Continue to use the elements from the framework to support your plan. One way to keep goals and problems visible is to review improvement plans periodically during departmental and project meetings. If you are not making weekly gains in your improvement program, you may be off-track. Weekly gains come from fixing numerous, small project-level problems. By keeping appropriate attention focused on your goals and problems, you can avoid one of the most common pitfalls: wasting your efforts on activities that are unimportant to your organization.
Doing Too Much at Once
When you have motivating goals and problems in your action plan, it is tempting to try to do too many things at once. Rushing improvements and creating ineffective solutions can cause frustration and burnout. Success in any discipline is accomplished by focusing on a few items at a time. Stick to the priorities you established in your plan and move sequentially through the actions. See a few improvements to completion so the organization can experience success. Early successes provide fuel and motivation to address remaining goals and problems.
