Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
them to talk about what information was necessary to support them in carry-
ing out their responsibilities. Based on this brainstorming, a set of six core
metrics were established that initially included Requirements, Size, Cost,
Schedule, Staffing, and Project Resources.
Size Measures in an Agile Organization
There was considerable discussion around the size measure and it was even-
tually decided to remove this measure for the initial release of the process.
22
This was because while this measure could have benefit, it wasn't currently
viewed as useful given the way BOND was operating. Size was not used in
estimating work or progress in the company, and project leaders were unsure
of its value. Therefore, we agreed not to require it.
In the initial MA process, we added a “must do” activity to document within
the plan how the measures were collected, frequency of collection, and how
they were distributed to the stakeholders who needed them. The company
decided not to dictate this level of process definition, but leave it up to each
project leader to decide and report this in his or her project plan. There was a
template developed for project planning that provided a section for mea-
sures that became a “reminder” to each project leader to answer these
questions when he or she planned the project.
By comparison, if you recall, at LACM it was decided to specify at the “must
do“ level what the measures were, and the data collection, frequency of
reporting, and who received them. The advantage at LACM was that all pro-
jects handled measures the same way.
As the measurement program at BOND evolved—to keep things simple—
the measures were collected directly in the Senior Management briefs. We
then added to the training that these reports were not just for Senior Man-
agement and therefore they needed to be developed periodically even if a
Senior Management brief for some reason was cancelled. This was because
these measures needed to be used by the project leaders to help them make
more effective
decisions.
In other words, the same measurement data
reported to Senior Management was used by project personnel to manage
the project.
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22. Size was originally included in the core metrics because some of those in the brainstorming thought it
would be a good metric even though the organization was not currently using it.
23. There were also lower-level measures (e.g., team task list data) that rolled up in support of the mea-
sures in the senior management briefs.
