F


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Why Documenting
Information is Important
by
Henry Schneider
Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC
March 25, 2008F


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Agenda
–Information That Should Be Documented
–Problems Encountered In the Absence of
Documentation
–Suggested Approach
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 2F


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ÇYWhy Should I Document Information?
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 3F


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Crisis-Driven Organizations
–Processes
–ad hoc vimprovised
–continually reinvented
–curtailed under stress
–reactionary
–Schedules and budgets
–unpredictable
–usually exceeded
–Success factors
–heroes
–overtime
–firefighting
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 4F


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Sources of Crisis
–Inaccurate estimates
–under scoped requirements
–explosive code growth
–schedule and resource shortfalls
–Unmanaged work
–no corrective action
–unruly subcontractors
–Volatile baselines
–changing requirements
–uncontrolled versions
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 5F


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W I Product Development More Fun?
–Managers
–few institutionalized management processes to help
them
–the management tests come before the learning and
the practice
–Developers
–no understanding or agreement
on the requirements and priorities
–inadequate time to do the work
right
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 6F


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Is Anyone In Charge?
–Senior managers
–management of the organization is at the
mercy of the projects
–customers are constantly complaining
–Customers
–product is not ready when needed
–spiraling costs that exceed expectations
–functions are missing or do not work
correctly
–quality problems after delivery
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 7F


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Lack of Documentation Leads To
–Weak management practices
–Unachievable commitments
–Ad hoc processes
–Practices sacrificed for schedule
–Practitioners resist discipline
–Unpredictable results
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 8F


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Categories of Information
Engineering Project Process Support Supplier/Vendor
Information Management Management Information Information
Information Information
{Requirements {Historical Data {Supplier quality
{Agreements {Plans {Policies {Configuration assurance reports
{Assumptions {Estimation Models {Processes Management Reports {Supplier status reports
{Key e-mail {Basis of Estimates {Procedures {Quality Assurance audit {Invoices
{Key design decisions {Risks {Work instructions reports, trends, and {Contracts
recommendations
{Specifications {Assumptions {Training Records {Agreements
{Etc. {Key e-mail {Etc. {Quality Records {Requirements
{Meeting Minutes
{Key management {Etc.
decisions {Key Decisions
{Etc.
{Issues
{Action items
{Etc.
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 9F


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ÇYEngineering Information
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 10F


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Engineering Involves
–Establishing and maintaining sets of requirements
–customer requirements
–product requirements
–product component requirements
–managing the requirements as the product evolves
–Designing the product and its components
–Managing the interfaces among the components and between the product
and other products
–Building the components
–Integrating the components to form the product
–Ensuring the requirements are satisfied
–Ensuring the product will perform as intended
–Delivering the product
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 11F


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What happens when requirements are not
written down?
–Unstated requirements or poorly stated requirements lead to confusion among staff
and customers
–People designing, implementing, and testing the work products inconsistently
interpret the requirements
–It takes an inordinately long time to get agreement on product design
–There is an increased potential for higher costs to meet customer expectations
–Requirements are accepted by staff from any source they deem to be authoritative
–The project experiences a high level of requirements change
–There are high levels of rework throughout the project
–There is an inability to prove that the product meets the approved requirements
–Lack of requirements traceability often results in incomplete or incorrect testing of
the product
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 12F


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What happens when technical designs are not
written down?
–An ineffective solution is chosen
–Products may not meet technical performance requirements or user needs
–Increased testing and rework is required to resolve design issues
–The product may not be able to accommodate technology upgrades and
future growth if the technical solution is not well conceived
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 13F


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What happens when product integration and
delivery is not written down?
–Subsystems do not operate together
–There is increased integration test time
–The integration environment is inadequate to support the integration activities
–A product is released without all the component integration fully tested
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 14F


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What happens when peer review and testing
approaches/results are not written down?
–There is disagreement among technical staff as to whether the different
components meet the requirements
–The product being tested does not meet design requirements
–Product reliability suffers because defects are not detected or corrected prior to
customer release
–Added rework occurs because defects that could have been caught early escape
into later lifecycle phases
–There are arguments among the technical staff as to what the user really wants
–The released product does not meet user expectations
–Customers do not pay for products that do not meet their needs
–End users refuse to use the product as delivered
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 15F


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ÇYProject Management Information
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 16F


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Managing a Project Involves:
–Estimating the scope and work that needs to be performed
–Developing mechanisms to acquire identified products
–Developing a project plan
–Getting commitments to the plan
–Monitoring progress against the plan
–Identifying and analyzing risks
–Taking action to address significant deviations from the
plan
–Taking action to appropriately mitigate risks
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 17F


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What happens when project planning
information is not written down?
–Project estimates are inaccurate
–It is difficult to identify deviations from poorly documented plans
–Resources are not available/applied when needed
–Future projects cannot learn from completed projects because there are no lessons
learned
–There are unclear responsibilities across groups
–Information to support future similar projects is not made available
–Too much time is spent trying to determine project status
–Data needed for management decisions are not available when needed
–Corrective action is not taken early when it is least expensive
–Lack of management insight makes project results highly unpredictable
–The customer does not have confidence in the project status reporting
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 18F


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What happens when risks are not written
down?
–It is easy to ignore risks when they are not documented or
tracked
–Risks that are known to project staff are often not known to
management
–Repeated project failures due to unforeseen (but predictable)
risks can cost you business
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 19F


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ÇYProcess Management Information
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 20F


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Managing and Improving Processes
Involves:
–Establishing the infrastructure for continuous process
improvement
–Establishing organizational assets and guidelines for
using the assets
–Establishing ways for projects to take advantage of the
advances of others
–Training people to help them perform
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 21F


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What happens when process information is not
written down?
–There is little visible senior management support for process
improvement
–Improvement activities are not aligned with business
priorities
–Improvement efforts often result in false starts and difficult
implementations
–There are no documented processes for staff members to
follow in performing their job roles
–Project managers and staff do not use information collected
from previous projects to improve their project
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 22F


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What happens when training information is
not written down?
–Staff members attend training courses they do not need
–Staff members avoid training that is provided
–Staff members are not released to attend training they need
–Staff members are not appropriately skilled for tasks required
to maintain a competitive edge
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 23F


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ÇYSupport Information
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 24F


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Supporting Projects and the Organization
Involves:
–Establishing and maintaining the integrity of work
products
–Providing objective visibility into, and feedback on,
processes and associated work products throughout the
life of the project to support delivering high-quality
products and services
–Establishing a measurement system to address the many
information needs of projects and the organization
–Determining which decisions should use a formal
evaluation process and then applying formal evaluation
processes to make good decisions
–Getting to the root cause of problems and addressing the
problems to prevent their occurrence in the future
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 25F


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What happens when configuration information is
not written down?
–A product baseline cannot be produced when needed
–Rework is performed during testing because
components are not what were expected
–A complete inventory of system components is
unavailable when needed
–A previous baseline cannot be rebuilt, and this wastes
money and resources during maintenance
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 26F


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What happens when quality information is
not written down?
–No assurance is available that quality standards and
processes are followed or achieved
–Poor quality work products may be produced
–There may be processes that staff avoid
–Significant project issues are not escalated for
management attention
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 27F


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What happens when measurement
information is not written down?
–Measurements are used inappropriately
–Inappropriate measures can cause unintended
behavior
–Management is based on perception rather than fact
–Measurement presentations may confuse rather than
enlighten
–Useless measures are collected
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 28F


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What happens when decision information
is not written down?
–It is unclear who is authorized to make what decisions
–Decisions are made subjectively
–Rationale is unavailable when needed to understand
an earlier decision
–Too few choices are considered for major decisions
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 29F


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What happens when causal analysis
information is not written down?
–The same problem occurs again and again
–Missing a more optimal solution costs time, money,
credibility, and perhaps even the whole project
–Symptoms of problems are addressed rather than the
root cause
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 30F


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ÇYSupplier/Vendor Information
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 31F


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Managing Suppliers and Vendors Involves:
–Managing the contract
–Communicating with suppliers and vendors
–Overseeingcontractor processes
–Settingrequirements for acquired systems and
products
–Accepting acquired products and services
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 32F


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What happens when outsourcing
information is not written down?
–Supplier selection is not based on the right criteria
–Management and technical staff do not have insight
into supplier activities
–Supplier products are accepted even when they do not
meet the product requirements.
–Integration of supplier products into a product
baseline is problematic
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 33F


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What happens when supplier/vendor
information is not written down?
–Unstated or poorly stated requirements lead to
confusion among staff, customers, and suppliers
–Suppliers inconsistently interpret the requirements
–Supplier proposals are not consistent
–Negotiations are ineffective
–There is confusion about the responsibilities of the
supplier and the acquirer
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 34F


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Suggested Approach
–Use a process improvement cycle to address the
documentation problem
–Analyze what has worked and not worked on past
projects
–Document processes first and reference existing
process assets
–Once documented, you will have better insight into additional
required process assets
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 35F


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Critical Process Attributes
–Process roles
–Applicable standards
–Applicable procedures, methods, tools, and resources
–Process-performance objectives
–Entry/Exit criteria
–Inputs/Outputs
–Product and process measures to be collected and used
–Verification points
–Interfaces
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 36F


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IDEAL Model for Process Improvement Learning
Initiating Acting
Diagnosing
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLCEstablishing 37F


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Diagnosing
–Characterizecurrent and desired states
–Performa gap analysis
–Developrecommendations
–Based on the gap analysis, determine current documentation
needs and suggested path forward
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 38F


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Establishing
–Set priorities
–D
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–Developan approach
–Start documenting the key information that is causing issues
due to not being documented, then expand to other areas
–Planactions
–Write an implementation plan for the documentation effort
and track progress against the plan
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 39F


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Acting
–Create Solution
–Decide the format and content for each type of document
–
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–Pilot/TestSolution
–Try the new documents out first before rolling out to everyone
–RefineSolution
–Make adjustments base on the pilot
–ImplementSolution
–Provide necessary training on how to properly document the
information
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 40F


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Learning
–Analyze and validate
–Allow 3 t6 months of use
–C
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new documentation process
–Propose future actions
–Make appropriate improvements to the process and repeat
this cycle
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 41F


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ÇYQuestions
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 42F


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PPQC Services
Consulting
{CMMI
{Software Engineering
{Systems Engineering
{Process Improvement
Appraising
{SCAMPI A, B, C
{Gap Analysis
Training
{CMMI/Process Improvement
{Action Planning Workshops
{Measurement and Analysis
{Process Area Specific Training
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 43F


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Contact Information
Address: Henry Schneider
President/Senior Principal Consultant
Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC
2111 Heather Green
Houston, TX USA 77062
Phone: 281-218-6682
E-mail: henry@ppqc.net
Web Site: www.ppqc.net
5/4/2008 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved -Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 44