This chapter presents our approach for generating the piles of documentation necessary for process improvement. The thing to remember is that this documentation is necessary documentation. You do not write just to get credit for finishing your assignment to write a particular piece of documentation. The old CMM tenet still applies: "If it isn't used, it doesn't exist." Process improvement is not a documentation drill. Generally speaking, if your procedures are not used throughout the organization, then you have no procedures! The whole purpose of the CMMI is to use what you have developed. Your documentation is not "for show."

Introduction

Why is documentation necessary? Consider this example. Suppose you are stuck at work one evening. You think you can get home in time to fix dinner, but doing some shopping beforehand is definitely out. So you call your teenage son and ask him to go to the store and buy some food for dinner. Would you leave it at that? Those of you that have teenagers know the answer is a resounding "No." You decide that you will fix macaroni and cheese for dinner, and you tell him this over the phone. Consider all of the different options someone would have with only that requirement. Do you get the boxed stuff? If yes, do you get the name brand or the store generic? If you are fixing it from scratch, what kind of cheese do you get? How much? What kind of macaroni? How much? Do you need...