Generic Goals and Generic Practices, and the Process Areas
GG 3 Institutionalize a Defined Process
The process is institutionalized as a defined process.
GP 3.1 Establish a Defined Process
Establish and maintain the description of a defined process.
The purpose of this generic practice is to establish and maintain a description of the process that is tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes to address the needs of a specific instantiation. The organization should have standard processes that cover the process area, as well as have guidelines for tailoring these standard processes to meet the needs of a project or organizational function. With a defined process, variability in how the processes are performed across the organization is reduced and process assets, data, and learning can be effectively shared.
Refer to the Integrated Project Management process area for more information about establishing the project’s defined process.
Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more
information about establishing standard processes and establishing tailoring criteria and guidelines.
The descriptions of the defined processes provide the basis for planning, performing, and managing the activities, work products, and services associated with the process.
Subpractices
1. Select from the organization’s set of standard processes those
processes that cover the process area and best meet the needs of the project or organizational function.
2. Establish the defined process by tailoring the selected processes
according to the organization’s tailoring guidelines.
3. Ensure that the organization’s process objectives are appropriately
addressed in the defined process.
4. Document the defined process and the records of the tailoring.
5. Revise the description of the defined process as necessary.
GP 3.2 Collect Process Related Experiences
Collect process related experiences derived from planning and performing the process to support the future use and improvement of the organization’s processes and process assets.
The purpose of this generic practice is to collect process related
experiences, including information and artifacts derived from planning and performing the process. Examples of process related experiences include work products, measures, measurement results, lessons learned, and process improvement suggestions. The information and artifacts are collected so that they can be included in the organizational process assets and made available to those who are (or who will be) planning and
Generic Goals and Generic Practices 116
performing the same or similar processes. The information and artifacts are stored in the organization’s measurement repository and the organization’s process asset library.
Examples of relevant information include the effort expended for the various activities, defects injected or removed in a particular activity, and lessons learned.
Refer to the Integrated Project Management process area for more information about contributing to organizational process assets. Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets.
Subpractices
1. Store process and product measures in the organization’s
measurement repository.
The process and product measures are primarily those measures that are defined in the common set of measures for the organization’s set of standard processes.
2. Submit documentation for inclusion in the organization’s process asset
library.
3. Document lessons learned from the process for inclusion in the
organization’s process asset library.
4. Propose improvements to the organizational process assets.
CAR Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Action proposals
Number of action plans that are open and for how long Action plan status reports
CM Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Trends in the status of configuration items
Configuration audit results Change request aging reports DAR Elaboration
Examples process related experiences include the following: Number of alternatives considered
Evaluation results
IPM Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Project’s defined process
Number of tailoring options exercised by the project to create its defined process Interface coordination issue trends (i.e., number identified, number closed) Number of times the process asset library is accessed for assets related to project planning by project members
Records of expenses related to holding face-to-face meetings versus holding meetings using collaborative equipment such as teleconferencing and videoconferencing Project shared vision
Team charters MA Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Data currency status
Results of data integrity tests Data analysis reports OPD Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following:
Submission of lessons learned to the organization's process asset library Submission of measurement data to the organization's measurement repository Status of the change requests submitted to modify the organization's standard process Record of non-standard tailoring requests
OPF Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Criteria used to prioritize candidate process improvements
Appraisal findings that address strengths and weaknesses of the organization's processes
Status of improvement activities against the schedule
Records of tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes and implementing them on identified projects
Generic Goals and Generic Practices 118
OPM Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following:
Lessons learned captured from analysis of process performance data compared to business objectives
Documented measures of the costs and benefits resulting from implementing and deploying improvements
Report of a comparison of similar development processes to identify the potential for improving efficiency
OPP Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Process performance baselines
Percentage of measurement data that is rejected because of inconsistencies with the process performance measurement definitions
OT Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Results of training effectiveness surveys
Training program performance assessment results Course evaluations
Training requirements from an advisory group PI Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following:
Records of the receipt of product components, exception reports, confirmation of configuration status, and results of readiness checking
Percentage of total development effort spent in product integration (actual to date plus estimate to complete)
Defects found in the product and test environment during product integration Problem reports resulting from product integration
PMC Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Records of significant deviations
Criteria for what constitutes a deviation Corrective action results
PP Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Project data library structure
Project attribute estimates
Risk impacts and probability of occurrence PPQA Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Evaluation logs
Quality trends
Noncompliance reports
Status reports of corrective actions Cost of quality reports for the project QPM Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following:
Records of quantitative management data from the project, including results from the periodic review of the process performance of the subprocesses selected for management against established interim objectives of the project
Suggested improvements to process performance models RD Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following:
List of the requirements for a product that are found to be ambiguous Number of requirements introduced at each phase of the project lifecycle Lessons learned from the requirements allocation process
REQM Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Requirements traceability matrix
Number of unfunded requirements changes after baselining Lessons learned in resolving ambiguous requirements RSKM Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Risk parameters
Risk categories Risk status reports
Generic Goals and Generic Practices 120
SAM Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Results of supplier reviews
Trade studies used to select suppliers Revision history of supplier agreements Supplier performance reports
TS Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Results of the make, buy, or reuse analysis
Design defect density
Results of applying new methods and tools VAL Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following: Product component prototype
Percentage of time the validation environment is available
Number of product defects found through validation per development phase Validation analysis report
VER Elaboration
Examples of process related experiences include the following:
Peer review records that include conduct time and average preparation time Number of product defects found through verification per development phase Verification and analysis report
Applying Generic Practices
Generic practices are components that can be applied to all process areas. Think of generic practices as reminders. They serve the purpose of
reminding you to do things right and are expected model components. For example, consider the generic practice, “Establish and maintain the plan for performing the process” (GP 2.2). When applied to the Project Planning process area, this generic practice reminds you to plan the activities involved in creating the plan for the project. When applied to the Organizational Training process area, this same generic practice reminds you to plan the activities involved in developing the skills and knowledge of people in the organization.
Process Areas that Support Generic Practices
While generic goals and generic practices are the model components that directly address the institutionalization of a process across the organization, many process areas likewise address institutionalization by supporting the implementation of the generic practices. Knowing these relationships will help you effectively implement the generic practices.
Such process areas contain one or more specific practices that when implemented can also fully implement a generic practice or generate a work product that is used in the implementation of a generic practice.
An example is the Configuration Management process area and GP 2.6, “Place selected work products of the process under appropriate levels of control.” To implement the generic practice for one or more process areas, you might choose to implement the Configuration Management process area, all or in part, to implement the generic practice.
Another example is the Organizational Process Definition process area and GP 3.1, “Establish and maintain the description of a defined process.” To implement this generic practice for one or more process areas, you should first implement the Organizational Process Definition process area, all or in part, to establish the organizational process assets that are needed to implement the generic practice.
Table 6.2 describes (1) the process areas that support the implementation of generic practices and (2) the recursive relationships between generic practices and their closely related process areas. Both types of
relationships are important to remember during process improvement to take advantage of the natural synergies that exist between the generic practices and their related process areas.
Generic Goals and Generic Practices 122
Table 6.2 Generic Practice and Process Area Relationships Generic Practice Roles of Process Areas in
Implementation of the Generic Practice
How the Generic Practice Recursively Applies to its Related Process Area(s)11
GP 2.2
Plan the Process
Project Planning: The project planning process can implement GP 2.2 in full for all project related process areas (except for Project Planning itself).
GP 2.2 applied to the project planning process can be characterized as “plan the plan” and covers planning project planning activities. GP 2.3 Provide Resources GP 2.4 Assign Responsibility
Project Planning: The part of the project planning process that
implements Project Planning SP 2.4, “Plan the Project’s Resources,” supports the implementation of GP 2.3 and GP 2.4 for all project related process areas (except perhaps initially for Project Planning itself) by identifying needed processes, roles, and responsibilities to ensure the proper staffing, facilities, equipment, and other assets needed by the project are secured.
GP 2.5