Process Change Management

a key process area for level 5: Optimizing

Process Change Management involves defining process improvement goals and, with senior management sponsorship, proactively and systematically identifying, evaluating, and implementing improvements to the organization's standard software process and the projects' defined software processes on a continuous basis.

Training and incentive programs are established to enable and encourage everyone in the organization to participate in process improvement activities. Improvement opportunities are identified and evaluated for potential payback to the organization. Pilot efforts are performed to assess process changes before they are incorporated into normal practice.

When software process improvements are approved for normal practice, the organization's standard software process and the projects' defined software processes are revised as appropriate. The practices for revising the organization's standard software process are found in the Organization Process Definition key process area, and the practices for revising the projects' defined software processes are found in the Integrated Software Management key process area.

Goals

Goal 1

Goal 2

Goal 3

Commitment to perform

Commitment 1 -- The organization follows a written policy for implementing software process improvements.

1. The organization has quantitative, measurable goals for software process improvement and tracks performance against these goals.
2. The organization's process improvements are directed toward improving product quality, increasing productivity, and decreasing the cycle time for product development.
3. All of the organization's staff and managers are expected to participate in improving the software processes.

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   Skilled and motivated people are recognized as the principal process improvement resource.

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Commitment 2 -- Senior management sponsors the organization's activities for software process improvement.

1. Establishes the organization's long-term goals and plans for process improvement.
2. Allocates resources for process improvement activities.
3. Coordinates with the software managers to ensure they have reasonable, yet aggressive, process improvement goals and effective process improvement plans to meet these goals.
4. Monitors process improvement performance against goals.
5. Maintains a consistent priority focus on process improvement in the face of product crises.
6. Ensures that process improvement issues are promptly resolved.
7. Rewards employee participation in the process improvement activities.

Ability to perform

Ability 1 -- Adequate resources and funding are provided for software process improvement activities.

1. Resources are allocated to:
   • lead, guide, and support the process improvement activities;
   • maintain the process improvement records;
   • develop, control, and disseminate process changes; and
   • establish and operate the administrative and human resources functions to conduct the communications, motivation, and recognition activities needed to maintain a high level of employee participation.
2. Experienced individuals who have expertise in defining and analyzing software processes are available to help the organization in its process improvement activities.
3. Tools to support process improvement are made available.

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   Examples of support tools include:
   • statistical analysis tools,
   • database systems,
   • process automation tools, and
   • process modeling tools.

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Ability 2 -- Software managers receive required training in software process improvement.

• managing technological and organizational change,
• team building, and
• teamwork skills as applied to continuous process improvement.

Ability 3 -- The managers and technical staff of the software engineering group and other software-related groups receive required training in software process improvement.

• software quality assurance,
• software configuration management, and
• documentation support.

• the principles of quality and process improvement, and
• the procedures for proposing process improvements.

Ability 4 -- Senior management receives required training in software process improvement.

• benchmarking and comparative evaluation,
• principles of process improvement,
• setting and tracking goals for process improvement, and
• motivation and team building in an environment of continuous process improvement.

Activities performed

Activity 1 -- A software process improvement program is established which empowers the members of the organization to improve the processes of the organization.

Activity 2 -- The group responsible for the organization's software process activities (e.g., software engineering process group) coordinates the software process improvement activities.

1. Defines organizational goals and measurement plans for software process performance.
2. Reviews the organizational goals for process performance with senior management for their endorsement.
3. Participates in the effort to define the organization's training needs for process improvement and supports the development and presentation of training course materials.

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   Refer to the Training Program key process area.
   

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4. Defines and maintains the procedures for handling process improvement proposals.
5. Reviews software process improvement proposals and coordinates the actions for these proposals.
6. Tracks status, accomplishments, and participation in the process improvement activities and periodically reports the results to senior management.
7. Coordinates and tracks changes to the organization's standard software process.
8. Defines, establishes, and maintains the process improvement records.

Activity 3 -- The organization develops and maintains a plan for software process improvement according to a documented procedure.

1. The software process improvement plan is based on:
   • the organization's business and strategic operating plans, and
   • customer satisfaction indicators.
2. The software process improvement plan undergoes peer review.

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   Refer to the Peer Reviews key process area.
   

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3. The software process improvement plan is reviewed by the affected managers.
4. The software process improvement plan is managed and controlled.

If a greater degree of control than is implied by "managed and controlled" is desired, the work product can be placed under the full discipline of configuration management, as is described in the Software Configuration Management key process area.

Activity 4 -- The software process improvement activities are performed in accordance with the software process improvement plan.

1. The resources required, including staff and tools.
2. The highest priority process areas for improvement.
3. Measurable short-term and long-term goals for software process performance and improvement.
4. Teams and their assignments for addressing improvements for specific process areas.

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   Examples of teams include:
   • working groups,
   • process action teams, and
   • technical committees.

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5. The procedures for:
   • the senior managers overseeing the software process improvement activities;
   • the software managers planning and coordinating the software process improvement activities;
   • individuals and teams identifying, evaluating, and introducing appropriate software process improvements; and
   • the teams developing software process improvements for assigned process areas.
6. The administrative and support plans required to maintain continuous process improvement.
   • Appropriate administrative procedures are included to encourage participation in and facilitate the software process improvement activities.
   • Administrative personnel are included in oversight and review of the software process improvement activities.
   • The roles and contributions of employees to continuous process improvement are recognized.

Activity 5 -- Software process improvement proposals are handled according to a documented procedure.

1. Software process improvement proposals are submitted.

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   The software process improvement proposals can be submitted at any time and can address any area of the software processes.

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   Examples of sources for software process improvement proposals include:
   • the findings and recommendations of software process assessments,
   • the organization's software process improvement goals,
   • analysis of data on customer problems and customer satisfaction,
   • analysis of data on project performance compared to software quality and productivity goals,
   • the results of process benchmarks,
   • the potential for process/task automation,
   • analysis of data on defect causes,
   • the measured effectiveness of the software process activities,
   • examples of software process improvement proposals that were successfully adopted, and
   • feedback on previously submitted software process improvement proposals, as appropriate.

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2. Each software process improvement proposal is evaluated; a decision is made whether to implement the proposal, and the decision rationale is documented.
3. The expected benefits of each software process improvement proposal are determined.

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   Examples of expected benefit areas include:
   • productivity,
   • quality,
   • cycle time,
   • other indicators of customer or end user satisfaction, and
   • any other internal factors.

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4. The priority of software process improvement proposals selected for implementation is determined.
   • Focus on high-priority software process improvement proposals is maintained.
5. Implementation of the software process improvement actions resulting from the proposals is assigned and planned.
6. Software process improvement actions that require a substantial effort are assigned to a team responsible for implementation.

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   Examples of substantial efforts include improvements requiring piloting of new technologies and other large changes.

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   Teams to focus on specific software process areas are established. Actions that are appropriate for piloting are coordinated.

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   Examples of teams include:
   • working groups,
   • process action teams, and
   • technical committees.

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7. The status of each software process improvement proposal is tracked.
8. Software process improvement proposals for which the response has been unusually long are identified and acted upon.
9. Software process changes that are judged to have a major impact on product quality or productivity or that will significantly alter satisfaction of the customer and end users are reviewed and approved by appropriate management before they are implemented.
10. Completed software process improvement actions are reviewed, verified, and approved before they are closed.
11. Submitters of the software process improvement proposals receive:

• prompt acknowledgment of their proposals, and
• notification of the disposition of their proposals.

  Activity 6 -- Members of the organization actively participate in teams to develop software process improvements for assigned process areas.

  1. Each of these process improvement teams is funded and the activities are planned and scheduled.
  2. Goals are established for each process improvement effort; where possible, these goals are defined quantitatively.
  3. The plans are approved by the managers of the affected groups and the group that defines and maintains the affected process descriptions.

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     Examples of affected groups include:
     • software engineering (including all subgroups, such as software design, as well as the software task leaders),
     • software estimating,
     • system engineering,
     • system test,
     • software quality assurance,
     • software configuration management,
     • contract management, and
     • documentation support.

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  Activity 7 -- Where appropriate, the software process improvements are installed on a pilot basis to determine their benefits and effectiveness before they are introduced into normal practice.

  1. Adjustments to the proposed process improvement are made and documented during the pilot effort to optimize its implementation.
  2. Lessons learned and problems encountered are documented.
  3. The benefits, risks, and impacts of the process improvement's broader use in the organization are estimated, and the uncertainty in these estimates is assessed.
  4. A decision is made whether to terminate the effort, proceed with broad-scale implementation of the improvement, or replan and continue the pilot effort.

  Activity 8 -- When the decision is made to transfer a software process improvement into normal practice, the improvement is implemented according to a documented procedure.

  This procedure typically specifies that:
  1. The resources needed to support major changes to the software process are established and funded.
  2. The strategy for collecting data to measure and track the change in software process performance is documented, reviewed, and agreed to.
     • This strategy is agreed to by the individuals responsible for implementing the software processes affected by the change.
     • The support tools are instrumented, as appropriate, to record the desired data automatically.
  3. Training courses are updated to reflect the current software process, and training is provided before installing the process change for general use.

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     Refer to the Training Program key process area.
     

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  4. Consultation support, appropriate to the expected needs, is established before installing the process change for broad-scale use and is continued as needed.
  5. Appropriate process changes are incorporated into the organization's standard software process.

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     Refer to Activity 1 of the Organization Process Definition key process area for practices covering the organization's standard software process.
     

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  6. Appropriate process changes are incorporated into the projects' defined software processes.

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     Refer to Activity 2 of the Integrated Software Management key process area for practices covering the project's defined software process.
     

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  Activity 9 -- Records of software process improvement activities are maintained.

  1. Information about the initiation, status, and implementation of software process improvement proposals is maintained.
  2. Ready access is provided to the software process improvement records.
  3. Historical data is maintained and reports are produced on software process improvements.

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     Examples of records and reports include:
     • the project's productivity, quality, and schedule performance;
     • the program's defect history;
     • the organizational software quality and productivity trends; and
     • the cost, schedule, and productivity of software process development and improvement.

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     Refer to Activity 5 of the Organization Process Definition key process area for practices covering the organization's software process database, which is one of the possible mechanisms for maintaining process improvement records.
     

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  Activity 10 -- Software managers and technical staff receive feedback on the status and results of the software process improvement activities on an event-driven basis.

  The feedback provides:
  1. A summary of the major software process improvement activities.
  2. Significant innovations and actions taken to address software process improvement.
  3. A summary status of the software process improvement proposals that are submitted, open, and completed.

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     Examples of means to provide this feedback include:
     • electronic bulletin boards,
     • newsletters, and
     • information flow meetings.

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  Measurement and analysis

  Measurement 1 -- Measurements are made and used to determine the status of the software process improvement activities.

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  Examples of measurements include:
  • the number of software process improvement proposals submitted and implemented for each process area;
  • the number of software process improvement proposals submitted by each of the projects, groups, and departments;
  • the number and types of awards and recognitions received by each of the projects, groups, and departments;
  • the response time for handling software process improvement proposals;
  • the percentage of software process improvement proposals accepted per reporting period;
  • the overall change activity, including number, type, and size of changes;
  • the effect of implementing each process improvement compared to its defined goals;
  • overall performance of the organization's and project's processes, including effectiveness, quality, and productivity compared to their defined goals;
  • overall productivity and software quality trends for each project; and
  • process measurements that relate to the indicators of the customer's satisfaction.

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  Verifying implementation

  Verification 1 -- The activities for software process improvement are reviewed with senior management on a periodic basis.

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  The primary purpose of periodic reviews by senior management is to provide awareness of, and insight into, software process activities at an appropriate level of abstraction and in a timely manner. The time between reviews should meet the needs of the organization and may be lengthy, as long as adequate mechanisms for exception reporting are available.
  

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  These reviews are held to:
  1. Summarize participation in the process improvement activities.
  2. Assess process performance.
  3. Identify needed goal changes.
  4. Resolve issues.
  5. Approve revisions to the software process improvement plan as appropriate.

  Verification 2 -- The software quality assurance group reviews and/or audits the activities and work products for software process improvement and reports the results.

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  Refer to the Software Quality Assurance key process area.
  

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  At a minimum, the reviews and/or audits verify:
  1. The preparation of the organization's software process improvement plan.
  2. The process of initiating, submitting, reviewing, approving, and planning implementation of software process improvement proposals.
  3. The degree to which the process measurements conform to the software process descriptions and reflect actual performance.
  4. The process for documenting, reviewing, approving, controlling, and disseminating changes to the organization's standard software process and projects' defined software processes.
  5. The degree to which software process improvement activities are consistently measured and tracked.
  6. The degree to which actual software process improvement performance achieves the plans and goals.

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  antoine@apple2.com 29-04-2000