Process Improvement / Recommendations in Software Development Project(s)

Process:

A process is no more than the steps and decisions involved in the way work is accomplished.

Process Improvement:

“Process improvement” means making things better. Below are some Process Improvement factors:

• What process should we select for improvement?
• What resources are required for the improvement effort?
• Who are the right people to improve the selected process?
• What’s the best way to learn about the process?
• How do we go about improving the process?
• How can we institutionalize the improved process? 

Requirement Gathering- Recommendation

• Involved Subject Matter Expert in requirement gathering meetings.
• Record all the meetings for future reference.
• Sending understanding document to client and get clarification is good practice.
• Send minutes of meeting to all the attendees
• Analyze and notify client if any requirement can not be achieve due to technical limitations.
• Reverse KT/ Playback adds advantage in terms project of better project understanding

Estimation- Recommendation

• Very rough order of magnitude is good enough initially in place of detailed estimation
• Define clearly what need to be estimate
• InScope and Out of Scope should mentioned clearly.
• While doing estimation, we should take suggestions from the Developer/Tester or any technology expert.
• Risk and Assumptions should be clearly mentioned in the estimation.
• Tasks can be divided into more granular level. Calculate the efforts/time required at granular level.
• Clearly mention that any risk/delay involved with third party (if any) to be taken care by client only.
• Well defined resource plan
• Mentioned Hardware/ software dependency.
• Identify the critical points in your schedule. Include dependency
• It is good practice to have estimation by project stage (kickoff, Pre-Baseline, Baseline, Build phase)
• Estimation should be reviewed by two level hierarchy.

Development- Recommendation

• Functional Specification document should be signed off before starting development.
• Database Project and VSTF should be configured for the project.
• Write Pseudo code and get reviewed by senior developer before writing any SP/code
• Apply code reusability that reduces development efforts.
• Follow standards for coding. A standard code is easy to review and understand.
• Use the code review tool for code optimization e.g FXCops
• Refer any existing project having similar features. It will help us to understand implementation
• Always log all the efforts into VSTF.
• Daily Sync up call
• Daily Status report should go to Onsite Manager/Team and clients.
• Daily Database Backup to avoid any data loss required for Development.
• Proper unit testing will reduce lot of bugs at development stage, it reduces test efforts.
• Provide standard drop note/ deployment guide to test team with build.
• Developing the documentation for QMS, this includes quality manual, processes, working instructions, forms, templates, and checklists and base lining.
• Conduct the periodical audit to discover the potential issues.
• Conducting regular (at least monthly) process focused meetings with all key process area members to ensure steady progress
• Management should encourage the developers to do Certifications based on their Technical skills.

Test - Recommendation

• Testing cycle should start with the study of Client’s requirement.
• Create a document / list of all possible scenarios before writing test cases. Include it into test planning.
• Keep developers away from test environments.
• Keep track of bug fixing time taken by development team. Keep informed about the time remaining for regression testing to relevant stack holders.
• Tester should try to understand the logic behind the screen and try to break that logic.
• Use the appropriate tool for testing is added advantages for test team.
• While doing test execution, a code review will be helpful to understand the process.
• Reusing existing test cases from repository is a good practice.
• Encourage the testers to do ISTQB certifications to enhance their testing skills.
• We should have well planned test execution time to meet project deadline.
• Establish a defect prediction model in the project using Six sigma, CCM5 methodology.
• Always do the BVT after deployment.

Build and Deployment – Recommendation

• Review Drop note and Deployment guide. Escalate in case of any issue.
• For any deployment, Rollback process should be mentioned in the deployment document.
• Take Backup of all the existing items before deployment.
• Verify access to required servers and file share.
• Always send notification to the required team in an automated way.

Project Execution – Recommendation

• Lead/PM should have thorough knowledge about the client requirement
• Onboard the team for project based on technical/Management/Personal interview.
• Conduct trainings for the team to meet technical requirement for the project.
• Establish process roadmap for project execution with clear responsibilities and well defined control points.
• Managers should utilize leadership, project management trainings and certifications conducted by the organization.
• Follow the Quality improvement model in the project – CMM5, Six Sigma ISO, IEEE
• Strictly follow the sign off process.
• Ensure timely participation of all the team members in the daily/weekly status meeting.
• Identify and set the project priorities.
• Conduct the post implementation audit.
• Post mortem meetings must be planned after every release
• Encourage and keep motivate the team member for their work.