Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Section III
Ta i l o r i n g , P r o c e s s C o m p l i a n c e , a n d C r i t e r i a
We n e x t d i s c u s s i n m o re d e t a i l , P ro c e s s Ta i l o r i n g , C o m p l i a n c e , a n d t h e U s e o f
Criteria to Aid Process Agility.
7.18 Process Tailoring
When I interviewed people at GEAR who were involved in project planning,
the subject of tailoring usually came up. I heard multiple times about the
three categories of projects—large, medium, and small—and about the
spreadsheet that each project developed identifying the artifacts they
planned to produce based on their project category.
7.19 Strengths and Weaknesses of Tailoring at GEAR
Ta i l o r i n g w a s i m p o r t a n t a t G E A R b e c a u s e t h e re w e re m a n y s m a l l e ff o r t s .
When I dug deeper trying to discover exactly what was required for each of
the three project categories, I found the documented guidance lacking. The
written guidance just said: “Choose whichever are appropriate” from a long
list and provided no additional guidance or criteria to determine what was
“appropriate.” A strength at GEAR was that they understood the importance
and intent of tailoring. Their weakness was they were not gaining the full
potential benefits of tailoring due to lack of criteria to aid decisions.
7.20 Tailoring Recommendations at GEAR
My first recommendation at GEAR was for them to clearly define their
“must do's.” This is a critical starting point for effective tailoring. The next
step is to use a “tailor up” strategy.
