Lecture Software process improvement: Lesson 27 provide students with knowledge about: software process improvement using PDCA; spiral model for process-improvement adoption; SPI spiral model; management commitment influencers; return on investment (ROI);... Please refer to the detailed content of the lecture!
Software Process Improvement Using PDCA Lecture # 27 Software Process Improvement • There are a number of models for instituting software process improvement programs in organizations • All these models have to be incorporated in orderly and cyclic manner • These introductions cannot and must not be made abruptly Shewart cycle • The Shewart cycle is one such way of introducing software process improvement program in organization. It was was popularized by W. Edwards Deming • The Shewart cycle has four steps – – – – Plan Do Check Act PDCA • Plan: Identify and resolve risks • Do: Train, adapt, consult, remove barriers • Check: Evaluate results, ensure success, celebrate • Act: Revise, develop nextlevel process, convince others PDCA • The PDCA model can be combined with the famous spiral process model, specially adapted for process improvements • This results in a new spiral process improvement model for software Following slide to be inserted Spiral Model for Process Improvement Adoption Spiral Model for ProcessImprovement Adoption • Let’s discuss this picture in some detail cycle by cycle Cycle I: SPI Spiral Model • • • • Project plans new practice (plan) Project tries new practice (do) Successful project (check) Practice described as part of success (act) Cycle II: SPI Spiral Model • • • • Other project(s) plan to use (plan) Minimal new documentation added (do) Other successes linked to practice (check) Decision for “organizationwide” use, successes told widely (act) 10 • If you started with a storyboard that included the “check” part, you are probably in good shape • If you didn’t, then some of these questions might be tough to answer. Your answers will be no better than those from the “processimprovement” projects with no experimental validation 62 • The amount of effort you might need to set up measures for your processimprovement project depends on what measures already exist in your organization • NonComment Source Statements (NCSS) • Engineering Months (EM) • Defects • Calendar Months (CM) 63 • If you don’t measure these four primitive metrics, it will be difficult to frame expectations and even more difficult to describe success • You need to collect relevant data 64 Act • The speed at which adoptions of a new practice occur will heavily depend on how credible early adopters are, how good a job they did of measuring their processes, how well they can communicate their success, and how well their improvement matches the readiness of the organization and its management team to make similar changes on other projects 65 • Gaining everincreasing management commitment as you move outward on these segments suggests the critical elements of followthrough and “sales” that are necessary for process improvements • You can think of this sequence as pursuing “market share” for adopting a practice 66 Act: Leveraging Success 67 • The essence of the “Act” step is to revise and spread improved processes • This is done by describing the successes so that different audiences understand and get excited 68 • No process should ever be “final”. This means we must – Model improvements on previous successes, – Create similar situations and environments, and – Reinforce behaviors that move people as quickly as possible to improved conditions 69 • The best way to summarize what is needed to extend bestpractice adoption and effective usage outward around the process improvement spiral is – Proactively identify and seek support of processimprovement champions and sponsors, – Reinforce management awareness and commitment with a strong business case for each desired process improvement, 70 – Build an infrastructure strong enough to achieve and hold software core competence, and – Measure the extent of adoption of each desired process improvement until it is operating effectively, efficiently, and across all appropriate parts of the organization 71 • Your challenge is to change your management’s thinking from solely tactically oriented processimprovement projects to include strategically oriented organizational capabilities • Such capabilities require businessdecision makers to lead an evolution of key abilities from isolated individual knowledge to organizational processes and infrastructure that capture that knowledge 72 • The challenges of software process improvements are complex and many faceted • PDCA model provide an effective approach to adopting improved software engineering processes, methods, and tools 73 Conclusions • Use the PDCA model to help you: – Make sure you have clear goals and plans for what you want at the end of each of multiple spirals – Understand how much you can expect to successfully do in stages – Measure progress and results that emphasize your incremental successes 74 – Evaluate management and organizational commitment influencers and regularly reenlist and reinforce support on your continued exciting journey 75 References • Successful Software Process Improvement by Robert R. 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