leading culture change in software organizations: delivering meaningful results early

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Leading Culture Change in Software Organizations:

Delivering Meaningful Results Early

Rita HaddenFebruary 2004

ASEE Conference

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We will look at:

Why is culture change important to software organizations?

How to effectively lead culture change? How to deliver meaningful results early? Questions?

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Why is culture change important to software organizations?

Increasing project complexity. Software jobs are going overseas. Many software process improvement (SPI) efforts

in U.S. have failed, often due to inability to produce quick and meaningful results.

Mandated change is expensive to sustain.

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How to effectively lead culture change?

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Who is a Change Leader?

A change leader can be a practitioner, a manager, a customer, a stakeholder, a software user, a process engineer, or an executive.

When an individual inspires others to apply best practices intelligently in a way that delivers results more effectively or efficiently, this individual is a leader in your change effort.

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Effective Change Leaders: Software Practitioners

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Effective Change Leaders - Software Practitioners: Actions They Take

Believe positive change can happen Learn and apply best practices Focus on actions that produce results early React to critical incidents effectively Act as role model and coach others

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Effective Change Leaders - SoftwareProject Managers

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Demonstrate visible and active involvement in change initiative Encourage participation and let the people drive the change Focus on actions that produce results early Estimate time and effort realistically Act as role model and coach staff Make it safe and rewarding to adopt best practices Use professional judgment

Effective Change Leaders - Software Project Managers: Actions They Take

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Effective Change Leaders - Software Executives

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Effective Change Leaders - Software Executives: Actions They Take

Create a climate where change can succeed Limit number of top priorities Be realistic about funding and time Demonstrate visible involvement and ownership Communicate benefits of change often React to critical incidents effectively Reward improvements Believe it can happen Stay the course for the long term

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How to deliver meaningful results early

Insist on five best practices for any project Proactively remove barriers to successful software

process improvement (those you can affect)

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Insist on five best practices for any project

1. Work with your customers to clearly define, validate, prioritize, agree on requirements and perform change control.

2. Carefully plan before executing your project, developing specific strategies to address key concerns early in your project lifecycle.

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Insist on five best practices for any project (2)

3. Track your progress by key work products, not just milestones. Take early corrective actions. Promptly resolve issues, external dependencies, and risks, escalating proactively.

4. Perform effective peer reviews for your key work products.

5. Manage your configuration items throughout your project lifecycle.

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Proactively remove barriers to successful software process improvement

Vision-related barriers Skills-related barriers Rewards-related barriers Resources-related barriers Action Plan-related barriers

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Industry findings

“Commercial companies’ survival is critically dependent on developing and fielding software in a predictable and disciplined manner.”

“Benchmarking revealed that successful commercial companies are bottom-line driven and focus improvement activities on the big cost and schedule drivers”

“While process improvement serves as a floodlight on what can be done, best practices are the laser beam, pinpointing high-leverage activities directly coupled to the bottom-line.”

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For More Information…

Contact Rita HaddenDirector of Software DevelopmentDatatel, Inc.Fairfax, VA703-802-2927rch@datatel.com