Performing a Simple Process Health Checkup
At the end of the day, it’s not whether you’re following one process or another that matters, but whether your approach successfully delivers software that people like using—and a process you and your team likes.
Different processes describe different practices to adopt and use. Many tests for good process usually assess whether you’re following the process or not, which doesn’t necessarily mean you’re delivering software people like or that you prefer to work that way.
So, to perform a quick properties-based health check on your current approach, grab a group of your team members, sit down together in a room, and discuss these properties. For each property, ask the team to rate it on a scale of one to five—five meaning you’ve got lots of that property, one meaning that property doesn’t exist for your group at all. Sometimes I use grade levels A through F. Then when looking across properties, I come up with a handy report card.
Jeff Patton
http://www.stickyminds.com/s.asp?F=S15474_COL_2
200912 agile software process improvement