Blog
Have you Got Talent?
The latest round of television talent shows, whether they are searching for a leading lady or an act to perform to royalty, are looking for a 'triple threat': a future star who can act, dance AND sing.
The term originated in American football, used to describe a versatile gridiron player who could run, pass and kick well. Now it is employed more widely to describe anyone with three conspicuous talents.
So could you be a triple threat: are you fit for success? I don't just mean physically fit and mentally fit, but also process fit. It's not enough to have the energy and the intelligence to succeed. You must also have reliable, repeatable, improving systems in place to provide world-class delivery for your customers.
Just like these other conspicuous talents, measurable with a bleep test or IQ test, your process fitness can be measured against a range of international standards and frameworks.
This will highlight your current performance (your 'personal best', if you will) as well as letting you set targets for the future, which can then be used to build a Roadmap for improvement.
Don't shoot the developer!
A recent report on the top 25 most dangerous coding errors has been used in support of a push by IT security vendors to encourage customers to hold IT developers responsible for the security of their products.
As reported in the online press, this includes a contract template which includes the clause:
"Developer warrants that the software shall not contain any code that does not support a software requirement and weakens the security of the application..."
As the article notes, "In other words, when it comes to application security and QA, the buck stops with the developer. And that's in a contract that likely won't even be seen by the developer and will be signed on his behalf by his employer. It renders the contract unenforceable - so why add a clause like that in the first place?"
The article goes on to state that "management should be taking the lead to impose processes on development, rather than blaming the programmers for a breakdown in process."
This of course emphasises the need for sound development processes, but also demonstrates the purpose and value of effective QA to identify and eliminate defects, as well as to support and improve the use of expected processes and standards.
The Register article concludes: "It's good to see that QA has come back into fashion, despite being re-branded in the guise of security and the paranoia of an 'unseen enemy that cannot be defined'."
Of course, this has always been one of the fundamental elements of the CMMI model, and crucial to a successful process-based transformation programme. One of our clients is presenting a case study this summer about how the creation of a strong and principled QA team proved to be one of the key tipping points on their journey to maturity.
So don't shoot the developer - instead get your standards up to scratch using strong and effective QA.
[This might be a good time to mention Compita's 'QA and Vendor Management' training, which was developed specifically to support the improvement drive of a CMMI Level 3 organisation and embraces the topics of software quality assurance, internal auditing in an IT environment and supplier management. It can be run internally as a 3-day intensive workshop, or spread out and delivered over a longer period. Give us a call to discuss who, in your organisation, would benefit most from this workshop.]
What can you change in a 'morrow'?
My daughter's four and a half (don't dare forget the half!) and she measures things in 'morrows'.
So Grandma and Granddad are coming to visit, and she asks, 'Are they coming tomorrow?' 'No.' 'Are they coming the next morrow?' 'Yes.'
She's making a flag for them out of card and crepe paper, and it's going to take a while. 'How will you get it finished?', I ask her. Undaunted, she tells me, 'I'll start it tomorrow, then finish it the next morrow.'
There's a lesson here for big change - the kind of seismic change that is required when we are faced with the wrong shape, size or capability of organisation to satisfy our current and future customers. We need to break it up and make a start.
So if you are daunted by the scale of change you're facing, don't look for parts of the picture to cut back on or avoid. Instead, figure out what you can change in a morrow. (And not just any morrow - tomorrow!)
Compita Agile Product Update
We’ve now launched the first offering of our new Agile product suite in our training schedule. This is the first of 2 workshops intended to bring Agile into the spotlight and answer some of the big questions that usually get left in the corner!
The purpose of the Overview is to bring context and knowledge of what Agile is, what are the benefits, how does it work and how do I know if it works for me. It’s run as a ½ day seminar and is intended to bring a sense of order to what many see as chaos, and tackles the big question – is this really the silver bullet?!
As a note we also touch on that seemingly complex or should I say prickly (I choose my word carefully) subject of the relationship between the CMMI and Agile which usually sparks debate, but I won’t linger any longer in this blog. Yes, that’ll be the subject of a later blog.
Here’s the link to the Overview flyer, it’s on the website, – I’m sure it will give you a good sense of what it’s about.
http://www.compita.com/files/Making%20Agile%20Work.pdf
Any comments on the content of our Overview or indeed any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch, comment below, telephone +44 (0)1506 472888 or email david.miller@compita.com.
The usual reminder, if you’ve not registered for our Newsletter here’s the link.
http://www.compita.com/mailing/newsletter/signup.html
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards, Compita Agile Team
Get your suppliers involved in process improvement
"The quality of a product or service is directly related to the quality of the processes used to produce it" is all very well so long as you have control over those processes. But what about all those components and activities which are provided by your suppliers? How can we take ownership or responsibility for what we deliver unless we can assure the quality of all its components?
Of course the answer is that we can't. But what we can do is work as closely as possible with our partners across the vendor-client divide to ensure that they are bought in and can contribute to our improvement efforts.
Follow the link below for an excellent article on how to engage your suppliers as part of your integrated team to deliver continuous process improvement.
Half of IT groups fail to deliver business value
A recent worldwide study shows more than half of IT executives believe their IT systems, processes and services still do not deliver the value expected by the business.
The survey by Axios Systems found that despite huge investments in IT, organisations lack the rigorous systems, processes and best practice approaches for IT management that would help address these challenges.
The results have been used to raise awareness of Service Value Management, and they demonstrate a need for much closer alignment between the needs of the business and the services provided by the supporting IT group.
Business Service Management is directed at the interface between the business and IT, ensuring that business change is captured in terms of the service(s) affected, rather than in terms of the underlying IT applications. The 'smarts' of the business-centric IT group are then applied to ensuring that the scope for changing the underlying systems meets the new service need. Always the focus is on delivering an excellent, world-class customer experience.
Call us to discuss how Compita can support Business Service Management in your organisation.
Read more about the survey here:
http://bit.ly/b928hJ
Customer experience matters
Customer experience can suffer when budgets are tight. But customer experience matters more when whole industries are facing cost challenges: if customers are being more picky about how and where they spend their money or time, it's vital to provide a memorable service and stand out from the crowd.
It pays off in spades, too. Great customer experience means increased revenues. Forrester research shows that a 1% improvement in customer retention for Federal Express resulted in $100m revenue.
The same report cited Dell prioritising cost efficiency over customer experience in their call centre costs during the downturn of 2001. As a consequence they struggled to build that capability back up as the markets grew, and were still struggling to handle 45% of calls 5 years later.
Finally, shifting attention away from the customer experience leads to missed opportunities. If others are cutting back and retreating into their shells, there is a great chance to be bold, invest and come out ahead - just as the advice on marketing is to hold or raise your spend when times are tough.
Painting a picture of change
In our last newsletter I wrote about commitment and the need to communicate the ‘why’ of process improvement. Now I’d like to consider how to make the ‘why’ stick. Knowing how to communicate the reason ‘why’ we need to change is one of the keys to unlocking commitment.
I’m often asked, “How do I get commitment (sometimes it’s called buy-in) from senior management to make the change?” Running a PI programme is all about changing the way an organisation works. So of course, a PI programme needs buy-in, if indeed, it is to succeed.
Let’s start with the people involved in change. Who do we need to get the buy-in from? Is it just the boss? Although senior management hold the purse strings and steer the company’s strategic direction, the truth is you need to get everyone’s commitment to change. Getting everyone to say, “Hey yes, this is a great idea. Let’s get on with it!” is of course no easy task. In fact it is often one of the hardest.
So how do we do it? The first thing everyone needs is a shared vision of a common goal, a picture they can understand. Individuals need to see where they fit into the picture, and visualise what’s in it for them. Then we must ‘sell’ the picture to everyone within the organisation.
The first ‘sale’ is to senior management. Getting them to believe in the goal is one of those key moments. They are either for or against. Those still sitting on the fence, I’m afraid to say, are probably against the goal.
The second ‘sale’ is to the rest of the business. Everyone needs to understand and believe in the goal and the value it will bring them. If we can address these issues then we’re 90% of the way to getting the commitment that is needed.
The second thing we need is a shared belief that the goal is achievable. For this, we need a robust process improvement plan or roadmap. What are we asking others to do and when? Everyone needs to understand the plan and how they each will contribute to its success. The plan needs to communicate, communicate, communicate what’s required and when.
If we can paint a picture that everyone believes in, then take that picture, plan its reality and let everyone know, you’ve just given your programme every chance of success.
Cyril Dyer
Getting commitment to change
Why improve your processes? How can you get commitment to change?
Let me start with the word change. Unfortunately, change for many signifies the unknown, and brings with it fear of the future. However, change must be viewed as the driver that moves us from one state to something better, and everyone involved must understand that the change is worth the pain and effort.
If we accept that to improve we need to change then let’s consider what we need to change. First, we need to get clear in our minds what drives our business. It’s these business drivers that determine what needs to change. Once we understand the drivers we can consider the processes we must change to enable us to achieve them.
Next we must convince everyone involved why we are making the change. It’s hard enough to sell the idea that we need to change but it’s much harder to sell the ‘why’. Fundamentally, each person involved needs to understand what’s in it for them!
Finally there’s commitment. We all use this word regularly, and in many different ways - the most common I note being senior management commitment. However, let me try a simple statement that can apply to all: ‘Commitment can only be given if we know what we are changing and why’.
I leave you with a few well-chosen questions. The answers will, I am sure, help you understand your commitment to change.
What are the needs of the business?
What process change is needed?
Why are we changing?
What are the tangible and intangible benefits?
Are we all agreed that we need to change?
Cyril Dyer
