From: "Mike Barker" <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
To: ilead@MIT.EDU
Subject: One-Year Goals for Process Improvement
Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 20:53:57 EDT

    In a year, what would you like to see change?

    I've been thinking about this for a while, and worked out 
the following "short list" of things that I think would help us in 
our work together.  I've put this in the form of four questions, 
and the answers I suggest we try.

What are the steps we need to take to accomplish this project?

1.  Planning and estimation - I would like to see us all practicing 
    breaking jobs (tasks, projects, any work) into multiple steps 
    or sub-tasks, then doing three-point estimates for each part.  
    It may seem like extra work, it will take some time and energy 
    to start practicing planning, but I think we have to quit 
    guesstimating, underestimating, and otherwise fooling ourselves 
    about how much work is involved in our various projects.

What has been done on this project?
 
2.  Project Notebooks - I would like to see every project producing 
    a project notebook.  Such a notebook can be used for any 
    project, no matter whether it involves one person or many 
    people or is a short or a long term project. This "notebook" 
    can be a locker or a set of web pages, but the key is that from 
    the original charter or vision statement through to the latest 
    maintenance modification, the documents, thinking, and other 
    parts of the project are put into a unified repository.

    I think it is important to start with a basic outline of what is 
    expected to be in the notebook, then modify that as needed 
    during the life of the project.  While there are various 
    methods of tracking and compiling records for projects, the 
    project notebook is one of the most flexible ones I know, which 
    can be applied to both very short or small projects (with a 
    correspondingly simple set of contents in the notebook) and to 
    long-term or large projects (with a larger set of records in 
    the notebook).
 
How do we know the work being done is the best possible?
 
3.  Peer Reviews and Walkthroughs - I would like to see every 
    project making use of peer reviews.  No matter what steps a 
    project takes, peer reviews provide a powerful mechanism for 
    making sure that we are really producing great systems.
 
How do we know what we are working on?
 
    4.  Project Billboard - I would like to see a common list of 
    projects.  This can include priorities, resource needs, and 
    other characteristics, but the main thing is to have a common 
    list of all projects.  I call it a billboard because at least 
    part of what I have in mind is publicizing what projects are 
    going on.  Like the project notebook, the project billboard 
    could be made available through the web, as files in a locker, 
    or through other means.  As a list that many people contribute 
    to, it should be easy for people to provide and modify their 
    own information.  However, before we spend too much time 
    working out the design of the underlying technology, we need to 
    consider the requirement. 

I realize this is sketchy.  But I think the four techniques are 
fairly well-understood, and achievable.  Further, I think adopting 
these techniques will make a significant difference in the process 
of working together.

I will be interested in hearing your ideas.

Mike