From Interpreting the CMMI: A Process Improvement Approach
Overview
This chapter offers some guidelines for metrics to use in your organization. It presents some metrics that are commonly collected in organizations, some tips on how to devise metrics, and some advice on structuring your metrics process.
We could not possibly discuss everything necessary to set up and administer a top-notch metrics program in one small chapter. To that end, we have listed several books on the subject in the Summary section of this chapter.
For a discussion on the importance of collecting consistent data, and when and how to collect that data, read Chapter 18 ("Statistical Process Control") and Chapter 19 ("A High Maturity Perspective"). By the way, you will find that we use the terms "measurement" and "metric" interchangeably. We apologize if this offends you, but we decided that we really do not want to weigh in on the war of words around measurement. We expect our readers to be smart enough to make the translation from the word "metric" to "measure," if they prefer.
Background
When beginning a process improvement effort in an organization, invariably a project manager or the executive in charge will pull one of us aside and ask, "What metrics should we collect?" We hate that question. We hate it because it shows that the person asking the question has no clue about what process improvement is and generally only wants a "quick fix" for his organization. "Just tell us what to collect, we'll do it, and then we're done." We do not...
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Topics of Interest
Overview This chapter is entitled "Statistical Process Control," or SPC. This topic is often the most dreaded of all subjects when discussing process improvement. Why? Because it involves numbers,...
Chapter List Chapter 16: Measurement within the CMMI Chapter 17: A Boatload of Metrics Chapter 18: Statistical Process Control Chapter 19: A High-Maturity Perspective Overview This...
I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity. Oliver Wendell Holmes [136.] 3.1 Metrics:...
Chapter List Chapter 9: Alignment of Multiple Process Improvement Initiatives Chapter 10: Is the CMMI Right for Small Organizations? Chapter 11: Appraisals using the CMMI Chapter 12:...
Some readers will see the title of this chapter in the table of contents, at first glance, and will start to read the book here. In some ways, I can understand. Metrics are the drivers and source of...
