The GP 2.8 Game - – Deploying a Balanced Measurement Plan by the ‘Play’n’Learn’ Approach

22° International Workshop on Software Measurement (IWSM) and
7th International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement (MENSURA)
Assisi (Italy) - October 17-19, 2012

The GP 2.8 Game Deploying a Balanced
Measurement Plan by the
‘Play’n’Learn’ Approach

Alain Abran
Luigi Buglione

www.eng.it

The GP 2.8 Game Goals of the workshop

G1. Understand the main purpose for a measure and its value
and “return on information” to projects
G2. Be able to properly define the basic elements for a
measure, according to ISO/IEC 15939 MIM
G3. Balance a set of measures by concurrent perspectives, in
order to create a balanced measurement plan
G4. Select and prioritize measures for a measurement plan
taking care of budget constraints

2 IWSM-MENSURA 2012 – The GP 2.8 Game - October 17, 2012 www.eng.it
© 2012 A.Abran, L.Buglione

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The GP 2.8 Game Agenda

• Introduction
– IT Project Trends
– How To Control T&C Costs?
– The BMP technique
• The ‘Play’n’Learn’ approach
– Reasons and previous experiences
– Introducing the “GP 2.8 Game”
– Rules
• The GP 2.8 Game
– Stage 1: Guess the Measure!
– Stage 2: Fill the ‘Measure Card’
– Stage 3: Balance your Measurement Plan
– Stage 4: Create your Measurement Plan
– Final Scores
• Conclusions & Future Works
• Q&A


Introduction IT Project Trends

• Projects failure: three (3) major causes
 Amount of Tracking & Control (T&C) resources
 Lack of historical data
 Limited ability of internal staff to estimate effort & costs
• Several studies confirmed these trends along 10+ years
 Chaos Report (Standish Group): figures from 1994 to 2008


Introduction How to Control T&C Costs?

• Perspectives typically
analyzed
 Time & Cost
 Typical PM approach
 Other viewpoints?
 Estimating (dis)ability:
reskilling?

Q: so, which % of project
budget for T&C process
should be the proper one
for improving results?


Introduction How to Control T&C Costs?

Legend:
 CONQ = Cost Of Non Quality
 COQ = Cost of Quality
 QL = Quality Level

• Objectives: determine the right Break-Even-Point (BEP) by:
 Improving Estimation abilities:
 Gathering & using historical data (e.g. CMMI PP, OPD), at least initially using external
repositories for benchmarking purposes (e.g. ISBSG)
 Not using in a non-critical manner estimation models such as COCOMO or SLIM
 Learn & apply Statistics (101-features!)
 Choosing & applying the proper number of measures for T&C process:
 How many measures we use? Are they the right one? Are they properly linked
through the strategic map? How much do they cost (% of project budget)?


Introduction BMP - General Issue & Objective

• Q: how can a proper balance of perspectives and indicators be
selected when managing a portfolio of projects?

The famous Linus’s
blanket

PEANUTS © United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

The real issue is not to reduce the cost of the measurement process,
process
but optimising it against the informative value provided by the number of
measures/indicators balancing them by each perspective of analysis.


Introduction BMP - The Measurement procedure

 Determine the dimensions of interest in the project.
 Determine the list of the most representative measures associated with
each dimension.
 For each of the measures selected, identify which other control variables
might be impacted negatively.
 Figure out the best combination of indicators and the causal relations
between them in order to build a measurement plan for the project.


Introduction BMP - Causal Relationships

• Not sufficient to perform steps#1 and #2 (design a measurement plan)
• Next (required) step: establish coherent and proper relationships
among goals through measures (i.e. the BSC strategic map) for achieving
both single perspective goals, as well as overall organizational ones

NB: also explicitly
NB
required by ISO
9001:2008
(§4.1 lett.c)



• Introduction
– Rules
• The GP 2.8 Game
– Final Scores
• Q&A


Play’n’Learn Reasons and previous experiences
Some relevant questions…
• Verification of the modalities for training & learning (“Shape is not only a
shape”)
• Notions or knowledge?
• “High-level” or “Deep” knowledge?

http://www.semq.eu/leng/proimplo.htm
• Which level of depth is transferred to the listener?
…and a possible approach: “Play’n’Learn”
Play’n’Learn
• Simulators (es: Flight Simulator)
• Role games
• Electronic games
• Appraisals with dedicated maturity models (e.g. OCDMM)

• Source:

Play’n’Learn Reasons and previous experiences


Play’n’Learn IGR - http://www.gqs.ufsc.br/igr


Play’n’Learn Introducing “The GP 2.8 Game”
Game

• Issue:
o What to measure?
o How much does it cost?
o Are we achieving our goals?
• Inputs:
o Organization informative needs and business goals
• Tools:
o BMP technique and templates
o ISO/IEC MIM template
o CMMI-DEV GP 2.8 elements (examples)
• Process:
o The GP 2.8 Game
• Outcomes:
(a) understand the main purpose for a measure and its value and “return on
information” to projects;
(b) be able to properly define the basic elements for a measure, according to
ISO/IEC 15939 MIM;
(c) balance a set of measures by concurrent perspectives, in order to create a
balanced measurement plan;
(d) select and prioritize measures for a measurement plan taking care of budget
constraints.


Play’n’Learn Rules

• Game duration:
o 1hour (max)
• Participants:
o N/A (grouped)
• Phases/Steps:
o Four (4) steps:
• …and the winner is:
o …who creates the Measurement plan with the higher ROI within an
established period for achieving as fast as possible the BEP (Break-Even
Point) allowing an organization to better monitor & control its projects



• Introduction
– Rules
• The GP 2.8 Game
– Final Scores
• Q&A


The GP 2.8 Game Stage 1 – Guess the Measure!

 Goal: associate measures and processes using CMMI-DEV v1.3
 Materials: measure cards (with title and yearly management cost)
from CMMI-DEV GP2.8, using the Taboo (http://goo.gl/GPbBa) game plan
 Rules: play as with Taboo with 2+ teams with a timer, and an
established number of turns; guess measure cards will be ‘held’ for playing
during next stages


The GP 2.8 Game Stage 2 – Fill The ‘Measure Card’

 Goal: insert the core details for any guess measure card from Stage 1
against the “5H+H” criteria
 Materials: ISO/IEC 15939:2007 MIM customized template (5W+H)
 Rules: fill in 10 minutes those details for any guess metric card


The GP 2.8 Game Stage 3 – Balance your Measurement Plan

 Goal: establish the perspectives with a better fit with guess measures
 Materials: BMP template for positioning measures, taking care of their
counter-effects
 Rules: graphical positioning of metrics available on the BMP template,
validating stakeholders, perspectives and possible values that those
metrics can bring in the decision-making process


The GP 2.8 Game Stage 4 – Create your Measurement Plan

 Goal: establish the final measurement plan, showing the list of chosen
measures
 Materials: BMP template with the list of measures by perspective, ROI
(Return on Information) calculation
 Rules: establish the final list of measures to be included in the
measurement plan choosing or resigning to a certain measure based on
its yearly management cost (shown in the measure card from Stage 1)
and the list of pros & cons from the thoughts arisen in Stage 3


The GP 2.8 Game Final Scores

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Tot. Ranking
Score

Team #1

Team #2

Team #3

Team #4



• Introduction
– Rules
• The GP 2.8 Game
– Final Scores
• Q&A


The GP 2.8 Game Conclusions & Prospects
• Project Management is not Measurement!
 Measurement is a Support process for Project Management, not a part of it
 Establishing a measurement plan is the goal, but some criteria are needed
 A different skill is needed, otherwise projects wouldn’t fail so often
• Why ‘playing’?
 It’s a different way to focus on an issue
 The funnier, the easier, the lower the cognitive cost for understanding something
 ‘Play’n’Learn’ is an approach to do it, choosing your own useful elements
 Why ‘balancing’?
 Balancing is a natural way to act  Optimization
 It’s not possible to achieve the best for any concurrent perspective, thus...balance!
 The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is an example of linking goals and measures
 The BMP technique is a way to support also the choice for a reduced set of measures
 The GP 2.8 Game
 It’s a four-step game for executing the measurement process with some adjustments
 The best measurer is the one choosing few, core measures with the higher ROI
 Coaching and motivating your people is fundamental for stimulating creativity and
assuring better organizational performance for the mid-long term
 ...try & see!

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep
(Scott Adams, Cartoonist)

The GP 2.8 Game Lessons Learned...


The GP 2.8 Game Q&A

Thanks for your attention!
Grazie per la vostra attenzione!

The GP 2.8 Game Our Contact Data

Alain Luigi
Abran Buglione
ETS Engineering.IT/ETS
Alain.Abran@etsmtl.ca luigi.buglione@eng.it


The GP 2.8 Game - – Deploying a Balanced Measurement Plan by the ‘Play’n’Learn’ Approach

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