Collect and Analyze Process/Technology Improvement Proposals

• Collect process- and technology-improvement proposals. A process- and technology-improvement proposal documents proposed incremental and innovative improvements to specific processes and technologies. Managers and staff in the organization, as well as customers, end users, and suppliers can submit process- and technology-improvement proposals. Process and technology improvements may be implemented at the local level before being proposed for the organization. Examples of sources for process- and technology-improvement proposals include:
  • Findings and recommendations from process appraisals
  • quality and process-performance objectives
  • Analysis of data about customer and end-user problems as well as customer and end-user satisfaction
  • Analysis of data about project performance compared to quality and productivity objectives
  • Analysis of technical performance measures
  • Results of process and product benchmarking efforts
  • Analysis of data on defect causes
  • Measured effectiveness of process activities
  • Examples of process- and technology-improvement proposals that were successfully adopted elsewhere
  • Feedback on previously submitted process- and technology-improvement proposals
  • Spontaneous ideas from managers and staff
• Analyze the costs and benefits of process- and technology improvement proposals as appropriate. Process- and technology-improvement proposals that have a large cost-to-benefit ratio are rejected. Criteria for evaluating costs and benefits include:
  • Contribution toward meeting the quality and process-performance objectives
  • Effect on mitigating identified project and risks
  • Ability to respond quickly to changes in project requirements, market situations, and the business environment
  • Effect on related processes and associated assets
  • Cost of defining and collecting data that supports the measurement and analysis of the process- and technology-improvement proposal
  • Expected life span of the proposal
  Process- and technology-improvement proposals that would not improve the processes are rejected. Process performance models provide insight into the effect of process changes on process capability and performance.

• Identify the process- and technology-improvement proposals that are innovative. Innovative improvements are also identified and analyzed in the Identify and Analyze Innovations specific practice. Whereas this specific practice analyzes proposals that have been passively collected, the purpose of the Identify and Analyze Innovations specific practice is to actively search for and locate innovative improvements. The search primarily involves looking outside the organization.

  Innovative improvements are typically identified by reviewing process- and technology-improvement proposals or by actively investigating and monitoring innovations that are in use in other organizations or are documented in research literature. Innovation may be inspired by internal improvement objectives or by the external business environment.

  Innovative improvements are typically major changes to the process that represent a break from the old way of doing things (e.g., changing the life-cycle model). Innovative improvements may also include changes in the products that support, enhance, or automate the process (for example, using off-the-shelf products to support the process).

  Examples of innovative improvements include :

  • Advances in computer and related hardware products
  • New support tools
  • New techniques, methodologies, processes, or life-cycle models
  • New interface standards
  • New reusable components
  • New management techniques
  • New quality-improvement techniques
  • New process-development and deployment-support tools
• Identify potential barriers and risks to deploying each process- and technology-improvement proposal.

  Examples of barriers to deploying process and technology improvements include:

  • Turf guarding and parochial perspectives
  • Unclear or weak business rationale
  • Lack of short-term benefits and visible successes
  • Unclear picture of what is expected from everyone
  • Too many changes at the same time
  • Lack of involvement and support of relevant stakeholders

  Examples of risk factors that affect the deployment of process and technology improvements include:

  • Compatibility of the improvement with existing processes, values, and skills of potential end users
  • Complexity of the improvement
  • Difficulty implementing the improvement
  • Ability to demonstrate the value of the improvement before widespread deployment
  • Justification for large, up-front investments in areas such as tools and training
  • Inability to overcome “technology drag” where the current implementation is used successfully by a large and mature installed base of end users
• Estimate the cost, effort, and schedule required for deploying each process- and technology-improvement proposal.
• Select the process- and technology-improvement proposals to be piloted before broad scale deployment. Since innovations, by definition, usually represent a major change, most innovative improvements will be piloted.
• Document the results of the evaluation of each process- and technology-improvement proposal.
• Monitor the status of each process- and technology-improvement proposal.