# Presentation: 135706

## Disciplined Software Engineering Lecture #15

**Software Engineering Institute**
**Carnegie Mellon University**
**Pittsburgh, PA 15213**
**Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense**

## Lecture # 15 Overview

**The personal implications of the PSP**
**The costs and benefits of the PSP**
**Introducing and using the PSP in an organization**
**The responsible professional**
**What do you want from software engineering?**

## Personal PSP Implications - 1

**If you seek personal excellence, the PSP can help you to attain it.**
**By defining and measuring your work, you gain the knowledge to improve your personal performance. **
**The question is, “do you want to improve?” **

## Personal PSP Implications - 2

**To consistently improve, you must critically examine your own performance.**
**To do this, you need a process framework and performance measurements.**
**The PSP provides a suitable framework and set of measurements.  **

## Personal PSP Implications - 3

**As a software professional you need to **
**make commitments you can meet**
**deal with unreasonable commitment pressures**
**review status and plans with customers, managers, and coworkers**
**The PSP will help you to perform professionally even when your customers, managers, or coworkers do not.**

## Personal PSP Implications - 4

**The PSP involves change and change involves risk.**
**your methods may have sufficed in the past**
**no one else may use disciplined personal practices**
**   **
**But the problems of the future will be more challenging than those of today.**
**will your current methods be adequate?**
**do you know a better way? **

## Personal PSP Implications - 5

**In using the PSP, you may face resistance.**
**do you have a supportive environment?**
**does your management agree with your interest in personal improvement?**
**   **
**Your PSP efforts will be most rewarding when your management and your teammates share your interests and objectives.**

## The Costs of the PSP - 1

**The time investment**
**process development takes about 1 to 2 hours per form and script**
**process updates will be needed at least every 3 months**
**data entry and analysis will take about an hour for each PSP-sized project**

## The Costs of the PSP - 2

**The emotional investment**
**the PSP takes a lot of work**
**there will be occasional frustrations**
**You will clearly see your own limitations**
**if you can’t face your personal limitations, you should not use the PSP**
**and perhaps you should reconsider your decision to be a software engineer **

## The Benefits of the PSP - 1  

**Insight **
**you will better understand your strengths and    weaknesses**
**you will be better able to maximize your assets**
**the PSP will help you to objectively deal with your weaknesses**

## The Benefits of the PSP - 2  

**Ideas**
**by defining your process, you assert control over it**
**you can then act like a process owner**
**your critical facilities will be in gear**
**you will unconsciously observe your working self**
**you will see many ways to improve your process and your performance**

## The Benefits of the PSP - 3  

**Improvement framework**
**a defined process provides a language for thinking about your work**
**you can better see how the process parts relate**
**you can better focus on priority areas for     improvement **

## The Benefits of the PSP - 4  

**Personal control**
**you will have a planning framework**
**you will have the data on which to base your plans**
**your plans will be more reliable**
**you will be better able to track your status**
**you will be better able to manage your work**

## The Benefits of the PSP - 5  

**Accomplishments and personal bests**
**you will recognize your personal bests**
**you will better understand how to repeat and to surpass them**
**you will see where and how you have improved**
**you will have your own personal improvement goals **
**you will have the satisfaction that comes with knowing you are doing superior work**

## The Benefits of the PSP - 6  

**When your team’s processes are defined**
**you can better back up and support each other **
**you will more precisely relate to each other**
**you will no longer need to protect yourself from your peers’ failures**
**they won’t need to protect against your failures**
**Teams perform better when they can concentrate on the job and not worry about being defensive.**

## Using the PSP in an Organization

**Introducing the PSP into an organization involves 2 situations.**
**the solo PSP performer - you are the only person using the PSP in your organization **
**the lone PSP team - your team uses the PSP but they are the only team in the organization to do so**
**You will also need management support for PSP introduction.**

## The Solo PSP Performer - 1

**It is hard to maintain personal discipline without the support of peers and managers.**
**It is easy to get discouraged by a slow rate of personal progress.**
**Your peers may kid you for wasting your time with the PSP.**

## The Solo PSP Performer - 2

**If you are not confident that the PSP helps you, it will be hard to withstand such criticism.  **
**normal statistical fluctuations will seem like major disasters**
**instead of learning from your mistakes you may get defensive about them**
**Until you have data to support the benefits of the PSP, you would be wise to say little about it.**

## The Lone PSP Team - 1

**When your team has been trained in the PSP, you will have a powerful base of support. **
**You will be able to**
**review each others’ work**
**share process improvement ideas and results**
**celebrate successes **
**get support when you need it**

## The Lone PSP Team - 2

**Be cautious about describing your results.  Other groups may**
**critique your results**
**argue that they already do better work **
**They are probably comparing their occasional best results with your normal performance.  **
**Without consistent data, such comparisons are meaningless and should be avoided. **

## The Lone PSP Team - 3

**If your results are superior, others may feel defensive.**
**Be careful not to seem critical of other peoples’ work**
**do not imply that your results apply to them**
**suggest they try the PSP for themselves**
**Concentrate on how the PSP has helped you to improve**

## Organizational PSP Support - 1 

**To be most effective, you need organizational support.**
**education and training**
**database and analysis**
**process definition **
**tools**
**To get these, you will need management’s help.**

## Organizational PSP Support - 2 

**You may have trouble getting management support unless**
**they see your work as a prototype for the organization**
**you have data to demonstrate the benefits of the PSP for your team**
**Seek to interest others in exploring the PSP**
**other projects**
**SQA and the SEPG**

## Organizational PSP Support - 3 

**Support champions on other teams who wish to try the PSP.**
**Seek the support of the process, quality assurance, and training groups.**
**When other groups are interested in the PSP, management will be more willing to support you.**

## Introducing the PSP - 1 

**In getting management support, show enough of your own and other groups’ data to convince them that**
**there are important benefits**
**the costs are controllable**
**When they understand the potential value of the PSP, they will more likely provide support for long enough to produce measurable results.**

## Introducing the PSP - 2 

**In introducing the PSP, it is essential that **
**it be introduced with a formal course**
**all professionals voluntarily participate**
**the engineers be given time to do the work**
**the managers provide weekly support and encouragement to their engineers to complete the PSP exercises**
**the engineers’ personal data be respected as their private property**

## Introducing the PSP - 3 

**Where possible, do the PSP training by project team.**
**Attempt to build clusters of PSP-trained teams that can reinforce and support each other.**
**In selecting the initial projects, try to pick ones that are not in perpetual crisis.**

## Introducing the PSP - 4 

**After PSP training, adapt the PSP to each  project by**
**measuring and planning the current process**
**adjusting PSP2.1 or PSP3 to the project needs**
**testing each process change before general introduction **
**planning for continuous process improvement**

## Introducing the PSP - 5

**Don’t try to introduce the PSP without support.**
**Time is required to take the PSP course and to do the exercises. **
**An experienced instructor is required.**
**Course support will require at least 3/4 time from one engineer.**

## The Responsible Professional

**As a responsible professional, you need to**
**find and learn new methods**
**use these methods in your work**
**recognize your strengths and weaknesses**
**identify areas for improvement**
**practice, practice, practice**
**publicize the methods you find helpful**
**learn from history**
**This will assure your continuing improvement.**

## Coaching And Improvement

**A coach can help you to improve your personal performance by**
**motivating superior performance**
**demanding personal commitment**
**insisting on a dedication to excellence**
**supporting and guiding your development**
**Seek coaching support from your peers and your managers**

## What do You Want from Software Engineering?

**What are your personal objectives?**
**Surprisingly often we achieve our objectives in ways we did not expect, so keep an open mind and keep looking.**
**Since we all reach the same end, we should concentrate on the route **
**If you can occasionally achieve excellence, it could be well worth the trip.**

## Messages to Remember from Lecture 15 

**1.  The PSP is designed to help you.**
**2.  Use it to improve your performance and to **
**     ****help you to act professionally in difficult **
**     ****situations.**
**3.  Emphasize what the PSP has done for you **
**     ****and urge others to find out for themselves **
**     ****what it will do for them.**