Sas Presentation
- 2. Agenda Project Background Project Management Models Initiation Planning Executing Controlling Closing Summary Questions
- 3. Project Background Background Opening a new code base involves changing source code control labels, pushing code, creating build and release infrastructure and database work and the contribution from people in CM, Product Packaging, AdminIT, dBA, Dev and QA In 2007 50.8 weeks of elapsed time was spent opening 4 code base suites with the longest taking 14 weeks This was unacceptable to the business and a Lean Six Sigma process improvement activity was initiated to redesign the process with the goal to reduce the time to execute the open code base tasks to 2-3 weeks. Project Overview Opening the code base for EMR 9.10.1 piloting the new process and involved 10-15 people across approximately 10 organizations Incorporates the lessons learned from the Lean Six Sigma activity with the focus on project planning, formal project management, better task ownership and communications management Project Scope Statement To deliver a new code base with the new source code labels, build and test infrastructure in place so that Dev can check in and test their code.
- 4. Project Management Models Companies large and small have their own Project Management models whether they are formal or informal, heavily structured or very flexible but they all have one thing in commonâŚâŚâŚthey can be mapped to all phases of the project lifecycle Phases of the project Initiation Identify and commit to project. Begin to define and formalize it Planning Develop a plan to accomplish the goals of the project Executing Carry out the plan Controlling Monitor project status, performance against plan and corrective actions Closing Acceptance and closure Every project large or small goes through all phases of the project though different tools or techniques may be used based on the size, complexity or duration of the project. It is not one size fits all, the management of a project is tailored to fit the needs of each project.
- 5. Initiation Project Identification As part of the R&D Release strategy a new release is needed to contain server side changes and other enhancements that are unable to be delivered via hot fix or service pack This project will open the code base for the new release Approved by R&D VP Assign Project Manager Assigned by Program Manager to manage the project Collect Information Process defined as part of Lean Six Sigma activity and tasks and effort estimates will be used as starting point This project will be the pilot of the new process Timing of project to be coordinated with hot fix activity currently in progress to minimize the amount of fixes needing to be ported to the new release Stakeholders Identified Manager of the CM group is the main stakeholder/sponsor and owns opening the code base Stakeholders include: Project Manager, Solutions Management, CM, Product Packaging, Developers, QA, AdminIT, dBA, Management
- 6. Planning Start Planning Early Planning started weeks in advance of the anticipated need for a new code base identifying and working the planning tasks with the largest lead time Scope Statement Worked with stakeholders to define the scope statement for the project that all can agree on. The challenge was that to CM opening a code base means one thing and to Dev it means something else. Finalize Team Worked with management to get resources from EMR and Vision Dev, EMR and Vision QA, Vision and EMR CM, Product Packaging and AdminIT assigned and committed BIGGEST challenge was getting management to commit resources as this being there main task Task Identification Worked with team members to identify project tasks, estimate effort and understand dependencies Project Plan/Checklist Created a project task checklist with tasks and owners assigned and got approval from team members Used by all team members as the reference document Updated on a daily basis with task status and actual effort recorded
- 7. Planning Communication Plan Receiver list created in Outlook for use in sharing all information with stakeholders Daily stand up meetings to be held at 9:30 to review progress and plans for day Daily email to stakeholders with project status, updated checklist and open issues Risk Management Worked with the team to identify potential risks and develop mitigation plans should they be encountered Some risks identified were: Continued resource commitments Tasks that were not well understood by owner Impact of manual vs automated upticking of files Risks discussed at daily stand up meeting Milestone Review Meeting Meeting with stakeholders to review all the planning tasks and prerequisites have been completed and get approval to enter the execution phase Key item that needed to be resolved was EMR R&D management committing resource to project.
- 8. Executing Off and Running Coordinating the execution of the tasks outlined in the project checklist Check in with team members throughout the day to keep informed Aim for transparency and being able to verify results Progress Meetings Held daily as outlined in the communication plan to review previous days progress, tasks planned for the day and review issues and risks. Communication Email sent to stakeholders daily as outlined in the communication plan with current status of tasks and issues Issue Management When issues are encountered work to get right people involved and issue addressed as quickly as possible Some issues encountered were: Errors found during builds needing to be debugged and corrected prior to moving on to the next task Other work activities taking priority over project tasks Manual upticking strategy not effective and new strategy needed
- 9. Controlling Manage Ongoing Activities Daily meetings Communication with team members throughout the day Manage the plan Track tasks completion actual vs planned and adjust plan accordingly Track task effort estimates vs actual Take Corrective Action Took action if any of the project variables started to go off track Some actions taken were: Elicit expertise from other teams to provide input on specific issues Add additional resource to activity when true nature of it was understood Meet with stakeholders to get their input on plan to change scope of activities for this project Change Management Manual upticking of EMR files was taking over twice as long as originally planned and an additional resource was added to help mitigate the risk This task is a excellent candidate for automation and the decision needed to be made whether we complete the manual work and do the automation after the project was completed OR invest in the automation as part of the current project Stakeholders agreed to investing in the automation as part of this project
- 10. Closing Verification QA team ran regression/acceptance/sanity test cases on the test environment to verify feature functionality Formal Communication Email sent to entire Dev and QA organization notifying them the code base is open and they can start checking in code and a regular build schedule started Final Team Meeting Meeting held to close of project and release people back to Dev and QA Lessons Learned Meeting Held Up-front planning prior to the execution phase was key to the success Automation of upticking process is key for ongoing improvement Resource commitments continues to need to be emphasized dBA tasks need to be distributed among Dev to avoid dBA to become critical path Owners need to better document tasks for better knowledge transfer Project Artifacts Posted to Sharepoint Lessons learned Checklist and Process Flowchart Task descriptions
- 11. Summary Results The project was considered a SUCCESS by everyone involved Project completed in 17 days against an original target of 15 days, a huge improvement over the 13 weeks, on average, it took previously Key Learnings Planning was key to the project success. Identifying key items that needed to be addressed before the execution phase began saved a huge amount of time later on. Having a milestone review meeting before leaving the planning phase forced the key decisions to be made Resource commitments Management commitment to providing dedicated resources was crucial. It had to be firmly managed daily as there was ALWAYS the temptation for people to pulled off onto some other activity Sponsor Support Having a strong sponsor helps get other organizations attention if not getting the necessary focus Value of Process Improvement This was the pilot of a process that was designed as part of a Lean Six Sigma process improvement activity. The value to the company is reduced costs, greater predictability and more effective use of resources. Should always be looking for ways to improve Clear ownership of deliverables During planning phase all tasks were identified and single owners assigned to the tasks based on discussion among team. This allowed there to be precise communication between team members and warm hand-off of tasks.
- 12. Questions ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Editor's Notes
- #2: Ashley