# Presentation: 871759

## Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting Process Activities

**Presented by:  Al Glass**
***Software Process Improvement (SPI) Project***

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## So ----- What is a Process Activity?

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Process Activities

**NPR 7150.2 refers to many Process Activities as “Support Processes”**
**CMMI view:  It’s an activity that can be recognized as an implementation of a CMMI practice**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## From Section 4 of NPR 7150.2

**Support processes: **
**are not typically confined to one life cycle phase such as requirements, design, implementation, or test phases**
**are software management and engineering processes that are performed throughout the entire software life cycle...for example..**
**Project management**
**Configuration management **
**Quality assurance**
**Risk management**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## CMMI Level 2 Process Areas

**Level 2 Process Areas**

**Process & Product Quality Assurance**

**Measurement**
**& Analysis**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Process Activities – Support Processes

**PROCESS ACTIVITIES**

**Planning**

**Reporting**

**Training**

**Configuration Management**

**Documentation**

**Monitoring**

**Measuring**

**Process Assurance**

**Stakeholder Identification**

**Responsibility Identification**

**Resource Identification**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Examples of  Process Activities

**Project Planning**

**Project Monitoring & Control**

**Configuration Management**

- WBS Defined

- Completed milestones for deliverables

- Configuration items identified

- Project costs estimated

- Review and update of risks

- Configuration tool in place

- Project schedules defined

- Review of budget, effort, schedule

- CM plan complete

- Project Life cycle selected and documented

- Verify stakeholder involvement

- CCB established

- Initial risks identified

- Conduct progress reviews

- CCB meetings

- Data management planned

- Conduct milestone reviews

- Configuration audits

- Training planned

- Review of action items, issues

- CM managed items baselined

- Stakeholder involvement planned

- Analysis of issues

- Product plan written, signed, reviewed

- Closure of issues

**Requirements Management**

**Measurement & Analysis**

**Process and Product QA**

- Meetings with customer to understand requirements

- Measurement objectives established

- Meet with Code 300 to plan assurance

- Requirements document approved

- Measurement set established

- Software assurance plan reviewed

- Bi-direction Traceability matrix complete

- Measurement tools & repository in place

- Assurance audits for product scheduled

- Requirements changes analyzed & controlled

- Collection & analysis procedures defined

- Assurance audits for process scheduled

- Regularly scheduled metrics collections

- Meetings to discuss audit findings

- Measurements analyzed

- Responses to audit action items

- Measurement results reported

**Supplier Agreement Management**

**Risk Management**

- Work with procurement to plan acquisition

- Risk management strategy established

- Completed RFP, SOW and evaluation criteria

- Risk parameters determined

- Signed contract/task in place

- Risks identified, categorized and analyzed

- Regular status activities with contractor

- Risks monitored regularly

- Acceptance of products from contractor

- Necessary risk mitigation plans established

- Products transitioned into use

- Risk mitigations initiated, if necessary

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Why Plan, Monitor and Report Process Activities?

**We get so consumed with our technical concerns, we sometimes forget to watch what we are doing and how well we are doing it.**
**What lifecycle will we use to develop this thing?**
**Do we have enough of the right people and will we have them at the right time?**
**Have we planned and trained everyone in the coding standards we intend to use?**
**Does everyone know how the code will be tested?**
**Does Senior Management know what we’re up to?**
**Are we following the CM Processes that we planned?**
**Do we have proper facilities?**
**Etc etc etc....???**
**And (as usual) NPR 7150.2 requires that we do....**

- NPR 7150.2

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## The “Process Life-cycle”

**The “Process Life-cycle”**

***Every process performed during the  project’s life has 4 repetitive stages***

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Planning Process Activities

**Process activities must be planned like everything else**
**They can be activities on your schedule (or they may be a part of other scheduled activities)**
**You need to plan “how” they will be done (may be documented in a “plan”)**
**Plan who does them and how much effort they will take**
**Are there tools, templates or other resources needed for them?**
**Does data associated with the process need to be managed?**
**Is any training required**
**etc....**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Monitoring of Process Activities

**“****How’s it going?”**
**Think about the typical monitoring things.....**
**Is the activity on schedule as planned?**
**Is enough effort being applied?**
**Does the process you are using work well or are there problems and bottlenecks?**
**Are you getting the expected results?**
**Look for some measure for every process area**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Examples:  Process Monitoring of Project Planning

**Has the WBS been defined?**
**Is the staff planned and assigned?**
**Has the budget been developed and approved?**
**Is the SMP/PP development on schedule?**
**How much effort is it taking to develop the SMP/PP? **
**Is the SMP/PP signed?  How long does the signature process take?**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Examples:   Process Monitoring of Project Monitoring & Control

**Are milestone reviews being conducted on schedule?**
**Are risks being monitored on a regular basis?**
**Has the team completed all the required training? **
**How much effort is being applied to project monitoring each month?  (More or less than planned?)**
**Are action items being closed? **

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Examples:  Process Monitoring of Measurement and Analysis

**Are measures being collected regularly as planned?**
**Is our collection process working smoothly?**
**If not, do we need additional staff or can the process of collection be improved?**
**Is the analysis being performed so data can be used to manage the project? **
**Are measurement results being stored as planned?**
**Are measurement results being reported on a regular basis?**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Why should you consider Process Measures?

**Helps you see if hours are being used in areas planned**
**Helps you identify staffing shortfalls (when you have to explain why actual hours are less than planned)**
**Provides metrics that help in future planning of staff requirements**
**and...**
**Some type of process measure is required for monitoring of each process area**
**The GSFC SPI has chosen measures* of effort spent in the various process areas **

***SPI considers these **_**required**_** for CMMI compliance**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Process Effort Monitoring From Staffing Tool

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Other optional measures to consider:

**Length of time required to perform a process activity (a CM audit, writing a SMP/PP, closure of action items)**
**Number of requirements changes or TBDs over time, number of findings in process audits, number of open risks, new risks, etc. **
**Time/resources required to plan...**
**Time required to close RFAs from various reviews**
**Etc etc**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Reporting Process Event Status

**Report what’s happening in each process area (planning, monitoring and control, measurement & analysis, etc.)**
**Report appropriate information about:**
**Activities**** performed related to process**
- Examples:  planning activities; audits; CCB meetings; walkthroughs and reviews
**Status**** of the various process areas (their condition with respect to the schedule)**
- Examples:  preparation for PDR 3 weeks behind schedule; M&A audit conducted as scheduled
**Results**** of process activities **
- Examples:  plans completed or updated; audits conducted; measures collected and analyzed; stakeholder agreements reached

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Process Reporting – Where to Report

**Where is process information reported? ... In your regular status review**
**In Accomplishments**
**In Significant Events**
**In System Engineering Activities**
**In Schedule**
**In Issues **
**In Measurement reporting**

***... ******wherever the information fits***

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Areas for ImprovementProcess Monitoring Chart for your BSR

| Processes | Sufficient Staff? | Process Efficiency | Comments / Improvement Suggestions
(Date each entry; Entry is required when RED) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Management |  |  |  |
| Project Planning |  |  | 12/1/07 Too much time spent on reviews and approvals |
| Project Monitoring & Control |  |  |  |
| Measurement & Analysis |  |  |  |
| Risk Management |  |  | 12/1/07 See Issue #7 |
| Acquisition Management |  |  |  |
| Configuration Management |  |  | 12/5/07 CM audits take a lot of effort – See Issue #13 |
| Process & Product QA |  |  | 12/5/07 Audits are always late and after the fact |
| Engineering |  |  |  |
| Systems Engineering |  |  |  |
| Dev & Test Env Engineering |  |  | 12/4/07 Latest env. decisions and impl. will overload avail staff |
| Requirements Development |  |  | 12/7/07 Requirements analysis is taking too long |
| Requirements Management |  |  | 12/6/07 No staff to maint. tool.  Takes too long get Reqs. updated |
| Development |  |  |  |
| Verification & Validation |  |  | 12/5/07 Status tracking duplicative and taking too long |

- No issues

- Small impact, inefficient process

- Insufficient staff, process bottlenecks, unnecessary work being performed

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Sample Process Reporting onAccomplishments Slides

**Management Activities **
**Planned to update Schedule with additional required process activities by 5/14 – done**
**Planned to update and release the Product Plan on 5/23 -released on 5/23**
**Planned to update and release CM Detailed Procedure on 5/25 - 2 weeks late**
**Planned “Grassroots” Worksheet rework and final delivery in May - done**
- Updated Budget/staffing sheets accordingly
**Entered a new risk on FY08 budget shortfall in Project risk tool**
**Planned to conduct PDR Table Top Review with all leads June 5 - completed on May 30**
**System Engineering Activities**
**Baselined Level 2 ABX FSW Requirements Document – on scheduled date**
**Planned to finalize 1553 requirements and enter into ReqPro – open from last month - Plan to finish in 1 week**
**Planned to finalize XY and CXR interface requirements and enter into ReqPro by May 14 - done**
**Planned to finalize CCR for Level 3 requirements document and submit it to CCB  by May 25 - done**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Sample Process Reporting In Issue Slides

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Summary

**Process activities include all types of activities relating to a process area **
**Process activities must be ****planned**** like all other activities**
**Monitor**** process activities on a regular basis, including appropriate **_**measures**_
**Report process ****activities, status and results**** to upper management on a regular basis**

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities

## Questions?

- SPI Awareness Session; Planning, Monitoring & Reporting Process Activities