Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Monitor and Control (PMC), another CMMI Process Area, could be inter-
preted as providing best practices to continuously adjust the plan to keep it
current, which is what Agile approaches recommend.
On the NANO process improvement project, I put together a simple nine-
page project plan using the CMMI Project Planning Process Area as a guide
to make sure I was hitting the right issues and as an on-the-job teaching aid
for my client.
One of the difficulties often faced is how to handle uncertainty in planning.
Frequently, Agile approaches appear to conflict with traditional approaches
in this area. The traditional approach has been to solidify as many
decisions
as
one can up front, so the related cost and schedule can also be solidified. The
rationale for this approach has been to better
estimate
work and reduce the
risk of scope creep.
Agile advocates take the position that we gain greater value by
continuous
refinement
of the plan based on the latest information and on-going
collabora-
tion
with the customer.
One of the tough issues I faced when planning the Process Improvement
effort for NANO was estimating effort and schedule. I was unsure how long
it would take this team to accomplish many of the process-related tasks
because of my lack of knowledge of their process-related skills.
I believed it was good that the leaders in the organization were owning
process responsibility because I felt this would address the issue where the
people who use processes don't feel the processes reflect what they really do
on the job. It would be up to those who use the process to tell us what should
be in the process.
However, the problem was to figure out a way to communicate to my client
the kinds of things that should be included in CMMI level 3 processes and
help them develop those processes. The trick was to do this without telling
them what they needed to put in each of their processes, or what processes
they needed to develop.
It was crucial that I get them involved in defining their own processes. How-
ever, now I was struggling with completing certain sections of the plan
because there were unknowns created by this approach. As I reviewed the
plan, I knew that some of those who were being asked to commit to it would
resist because it didn't address how much time would be required by them
and their people. I thought to myself:
