Organizational Process Definition: A Process Management Process Area at Maturity Level 3
Purpose
The purpose of Organizational Process Definition (OPD) is to establish and maintain a usable set of organizational process assets, work environment standards, and rules and guidelines for teams.
Tip
Acquisition organizations come in a variety of configurations. For some larger acquisition programs, responsibility for the organizational elements of the model may rest within the program, which gives guidance to the projects within it. In others, a collection of programs may be gathered under a specific organizational executive. Given this diversity, it is difficult to provide specific guidance on the location of the various model elements associated with the “process management” category.
Introductory Notes
Organizational process assets enable consistent process execution across the organization and provide a basis for cumulative, long-term benefits to the organization. (See the definition of “organizational process assets” in the glossary.)
The organization’s process asset library supports organizational learning and process improvement by allowing the sharing of best practices and lessons learned across the organization. (See the definition of “organizational process assets” in the glossary.)
The acquirer’s organizational process assets also include acquisition guidance and practices established for use across acquisition projects and which refer to applicable statutes and regulations.
Tip
OPD contains specific practices that capture the organization’s requirements, standards, and guidelines that are to be used by all projects across the organization.
The organization’s set of standard processes also describes standard interactions with suppliers. Supplier interactions are characterized by the following typical items: deliverables expected from suppliers, acceptance criteria applicable to those deliverables, standards (e.g., architecture and technology standards), and standard milestone and progress reviews.
Hint
With any library, a key challenge is to enable staff members to locate information quickly. Therefore, it is necessary to catalog, maintain, and archive information.
The organization’s “set of standard processes” is tailored by projects to create their defined processes. Other organizational process assets are used to support tailoring and implementing defined processes. Work environment standards are used to guide the creation of project work environments. Rules and guidelines for teams are used to aid in their structuring, formation, and operation.
A “standard process” is composed of other processes (i.e., subprocesses) or process elements. A “process element” is the fundamental (i.e., atomic) unit of process definition that describes activities and tasks to consistently perform work. The process architecture provides rules for connecting the process elements of a standard process. The organization’s set of standard processes can include multiple process architectures.
(See the definitions of “standard process,” “process architecture,” “subprocess,” and “process element” in the glossary.)
Tip
CMMI models try to capture the “what” and not the “how.” However, notes and examples are provided to give you some tips on the interpretation and implementation of the concepts.
Related Process Areas
Refer to the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about deploying organizational process assets.
Tip
Organizational process assets support a fundamental change in behavior. Projects no longer create their processes from scratch but instead use the best practices of the organization, thereby improving quality and saving time and money.
Specific Practices by Goal
SG 1 Establish Organizational Process Assets
A set of organizational process assets is established and maintained.
SP 1.1 Establish Standard Processes
Establish and maintain the organization’s set of standard processes.
Standard processes can be defined at multiple levels in an enterprise and they can be related hierarchically. For example, an enterprise can have a set of standard processes that is tailored by individual organizations (e.g., a division, a site) in the enterprise to establish their set of standard processes. The set of standard processes can also be tailored for each of the organization’s business areas, product lines, or standard services. Thus the organization’s set of standard processes can refer to the standard processes established at the organization level and standard processes that may be established at lower levels, although some organizations may have only one level of standard processes. (See the definitions of “standard process” and “organization’s set of standard processes” in the glossary.)
Tip
Standard processes define the key activities performed in an organization. Examples of standard acquisition processes include source selection, contract negotiations, planning, and both technical and business reviews.
Multiple standard processes may be needed to address the needs of different application domains, lifecycle models, methodologies, and tools. The organization’s set of standard processes contains process elements (e.g., a work product size estimating element) that may be interconnected according to one or more process architectures that describe relationships among process elements.
The organization’s set of standard processes typically includes technical, management, administrative, support, and organizational processes.
Tip
The organization’s set of standard processes can include processes that are not directly addressed by CMMI, such as project acquisition strategy approval, financial management, and progress reporting to higher management or customers.
Basing standard processes on industry standards and widely accepted models, with common terminology and lexicon, enables seamless interactions between the acquirer and supplier. In a multisupplier environment, this seamless interaction is most important for acquirer standard processes that directly interface with supplier processes. Also, there can be cost and coordination benefits from having suppliers work together to develop or reconcile common support processes that are aligned with acquirer processes.
The level of detail required for standard processes depends on the flexibility needed by an enterprise, for instance, based on differences in business context, project types, and application domains.
Tip
Often, organizations look at the exemplar processes from their successful acquisition projects or from other organizations as starting points to populate the organization’s set of standard processes.
The organization’s set of standard processes should collectively cover all processes needed by the organization and projects, including those processes addressed by the process areas at maturity level 2.
Example Work Products
1. Organization’s set of standard processes
1. Decompose each standard process into constituent process elements to the detail needed to understand and describe the process.
Each process element covers a closely related set of activities. The descriptions of process elements may be templates to be filled in, fragments to be completed, abstractions to be refined, or complete descriptions to be tailored or used unmodified. These elements are described in such detail that the process, when fully defined, can be consistently performed by appropriately trained and skilled people.
Tip
The objective is to decompose and define the process so that it can be performed consistently across projects, yet allow enough flexibility to meet the unique requirements of each project.
2. Specify the critical attributes of each process element.
3. Specify relationships among process elements.
The rules for describing relationships among process elements are referred to as the “process architecture.” The process architecture covers essential requirements and guidelines. Detailed specifications of these relationships are covered in descriptions of defined processes that are tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes.
4. Ensure that the organization’s set of standard processes adheres to applicable policies, standards, and models.
Adherence to applicable process standards and models is typically demonstrated by developing a mapping from the organization’s set of standard processes to relevant process standards and models. This mapping is a useful input to future appraisals.
5. Ensure that the organization’s set of standard processes satisfies process needs and objectives of the organization.
Refer to the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about establishing organizational process needs.
Hint
Your initial focus should be on standardizing what you already do well.
6. Ensure that there is appropriate integration among processes that are included in the organization’s set of standard processes.
Hint
Break down stovepipes: When capabilities residing in different organizations are routinely needed to understand tradeoffs and resolve system-level problems, consider establishing a standard end-to-end process for performing joint work. To improve workflow, consider process integration between acquisition and supplier elements where appropriate.
7. Document the organization’s set of standard processes.
8. Conduct peer reviews on the organization’s set of standard processes.
The acquirer’s review of its standard processes can include the participation of suppliers for those processes and process elements that define standard interactions with suppliers.
Refer to the Acquisition Verification process area for more information about performing peer reviews.
9. Revise the organization’s set of standard processes as necessary.
SP 1.2 Establish Lifecycle Model Descriptions
Establish and maintain descriptions of lifecycle models approved for use in the organization.
Lifecycle models can be developed for a variety of customers or in a variety of situations, since one lifecycle model may not be appropriate for all situations. Lifecycle models are often used to define phases of the project. Also, the organization can define different lifecycle models for each type of product and service it delivers.
Lifecycle models describe acquisition lifecycles, depending on the acquisition strategy chosen. The acquisition lifecycle typically begins with the pre-award phase of a supplier agreement, continues through the phases of awarding and managing the supplier agreement, and ends when the supplier agreement period of performance ends, usually with the acceptance and completion of the warranty for the acquired product and the transition of the product to the support organization.
Tip
When managing a project, it is helpful to have a standard description for the phases that the project moves through (i.e., project lifecycle model) to organize and assess the adequacy of project activities and to monitor progress.
Example Work Products
1. Descriptions of lifecycle models
Subpractices
1. Select lifecycle models based on the needs of projects and the organization.
2. Document descriptions of lifecycle models.
Lifecycle models can be documented as part of the organization’s standard process descriptions or they can be documented separately.
Tip
It helps to provide guidance about which lifecycle models work best with which types of projects. This guidance may be found in organizations’ process asset libraries based on their previous experiences.
3. Conduct peer reviews on lifecycle models.
The acquirer’s review of lifecycle models should include the participation of suppliers for those processes and process elements that define expectations and constraints for suppliers.
Refer to the Acquisition Verification process area for more information about performing peer reviews.
4. Revise the descriptions of lifecycle models as necessary.
Tip
Tailoring allows projects to adapt the organization’s set of standard processes and other assets to meet their needs. The challenge is to provide guidance that has sufficient flexibility to meet the unique needs of each project while simultaneously ensuring meaningful consistency.
SP 1.3 Establish Tailoring Criteria and Guidelines
Establish and maintain tailoring criteria and guidelines for the organization’s set of standard processes.
Tailoring criteria and guidelines describe the following:
• How the organization’s set of standard processes and organizational process assets are used to create defined processes
• Requirements that must be satisfied by defined processes (e.g., the subset of organizational process assets that are essential for any defined process)
• Options that can be exercised and criteria for selecting among options
• Procedures that must be followed in performing and documenting process tailoring
Flexibility in tailoring and defining processes is balanced with ensuring appropriate consistency of processes across the organization. Flexibility is needed to address contextual variables such as the domain; the nature of the customer; cost, schedule, and quality tradeoffs; the technical difficulty of the work; and the experience of the people implementing the process. Consistency across the organization is needed so that organizational standards, objectives, and strategies are appropriately addressed, and process data and lessons learned can be shared.
Tailoring is a critical activity that allows controlled changes to processes due to the specific needs of a project or a part of the organization. Processes and process elements that are directly related to critical business objectives should usually be defined as mandatory, but processes and process elements that are less critical or only indirectly affect business objectives may allow for more tailoring.
The amount of tailoring could also depend on the project’s lifecycle model, the supplier, or the acquirer-supplier relationship.
Tip
Finding this balance usually takes time, as the organization gains experience from using these assets.
Tailoring criteria and guidelines can allow for using a standard process “as is,” with no tailoring.
Example Work Products
1. Tailoring guidelines for the organization’s set of standard processes
1. Specify selection criteria and procedures for tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes.
To fully leverage the supplier’s process capability, the acquirer can choose to minimize the tailoring of the supplier’s standard processes. Depending on the interfaces of the acquirer’s processes with the supplier’s processes, the acquirer’s standard processes can be tailored to allow the supplier to execute its standard processes.
Hint
Streamline the waiver process to enable new projects to establish their defined process quickly and to avoid stalling.
2. Specify the standards used for documenting defined processes.
3. Specify the procedures used for submitting and obtaining approval of waivers from the organization’s set of standard processes.
4. Document tailoring guidelines for the organization’s set of standard processes.
Tip
Both the tailoring process and guidelines may be documented as part of the organization’s set of standard processes.
5. Conduct peer reviews on the tailoring guidelines.
Refer to the Acquisition Verification process area for more information about performing peer reviews.
6. Revise tailoring guidelines as necessary.
SP 1.4 Establish the Organization’s Measurement Repository
Establish and maintain the organization’s measurement repository.
Tip
The organization’s measurement repository is a critical resource that helps new projects plan by providing answers to questions about similar projects undertaken in the past (e.g., How long did it take? How much effort was expended? What was the resultant quality?).
Refer to the Use Organizational Process Assets for Planning Project Activities specific practice in the Integrated Project Management process area for more information about the use of the organization’s measurement repository in planning project activities.
The repository contains both product and process measures that are related to the organization’s set of standard processes. It also contains or refers to information needed to understand and interpret measures and to assess them for reasonableness and applicability. For example, the definitions of measures are used to compare similar measures from different processes.
Standard measures that must be collected from the supplier are included as requirements in standard supplier agreements and can appear in the organization’s measurement repository.
Tip
Although this practice concentrates on establishing and maintaining a repository, the real value becomes evident when the people in the organization begin to use the data in the repository when they establish defined processes and plans.
Example Work Products
1. Definition of the common set of product and process measures for the organization’s set of standard processes
2. Design of the organization’s measurement repository
3. Organization’s measurement repository (i.e., the repository structure, support environment)
4. Organization’s measurement data
Subpractices
1. Determine the organization’s needs for storing, retrieving, and analyzing measurements.
2. Define a common set of process and product measures for the organization’s set of standard processes.
Measures in the common set are selected for their ability to provide visibility into processes critical to achieving business objectives and to focus on process elements significantly impacting cost, schedule, and performance within a project and across the organization. The common set of measures can vary for different standard processes. Measures defined include the ones related to agreement management, some of which may need to be collected from suppliers. Operational definitions for measures specify procedures for collecting valid data and the point in the process where data will be collected.
Tip
These measures change over time and, therefore, should be reviewed periodically.
X-Ref
Measurement and analysis practices (see MA) are a prerequisite to establishing the organization’s measurement repository.
3. Design and implement the measurement repository.
Functions of the measurement repository include the following:
• Supporting effective comparison and interpretation of measurement data among projects
• Providing sufficient context to allow a new project to quickly identify and access data in the repository for similar projects
• Enabling projects to improve the accuracy of their estimates by using their own and other projects’ historical data
• Aiding in the understanding of process performance
• Supporting potential statistical management of processes or subprocesses, as needed
4. Specify procedures for storing, updating, and retrieving measures.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about specifying data collection and storage procedures.
5. Conduct peer reviews on definitions of the common set of measures and procedures for storing, updating, and retrieving measures.
Refer to the Acquisition Verification process area for more information about performing peer reviews.
6. Enter specified measures into the repository.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about specifying measures.
7. Make the contents of the measurement repository available for use by the organization and projects as appropriate.
8. Revise the measurement repository, the common set of measures, and procedures as the organization’s needs change.
SP 1.5 Establish the Organization’s Process Asset Library
Establish and maintain the organization’s process asset library.
Example Work Products
1. Design of the organization’s process asset library
Hint
Think about why you are storing this information and how often it will be retrieved.
2. The organization’s process asset library
3. Selected items to be included in the organization’s process asset library
4. The catalog of items in the organization’s process asset library
Subpractices
1. Design and implement the organization’s process asset library, including the library structure and support environment.
Tip
A major objective of the process asset library is to ensure that information is easy to locate and use.
2. Specify criteria for including items in the library.
Items are selected based primarily on their relationship to the organization’s set of standard processes.
3. Specify procedures for storing, updating, and retrieving items.
4. Enter selected items into the library and catalog them for easy reference and retrieval.
5. Make items available for use by projects.
6. Periodically review the use of each item.
Tip
Library maintenance can quickly become an issue if all documents from every project are stored in the library.
7. Revise the organization’s process asset library as necessary.
Tip
Some organizations regularly review their process asset library contents every 12 to 18 months to decide what to discard or archive.
SP 1.6 Establish Work Environment Standards
Establish and maintain work environment standards.
Work environment standards allow the organization and projects to benefit from common tools, training, and maintenance, as well as cost savings from volume purchases. Work environment standards address the needs of all stakeholders and consider productivity, cost, availability, security, and workplace health, safety, and ergonomic factors. Work environment standards can include guidelines for tailoring and the use of waivers that allow adaptation of the project’s work environment to meet needs.
Tip
Work environment standards must make sense for your organization given its line of business, the degree of collaboration to be supported, and other factors.
Hint
If your organization has a shared vision, your work environment must support it.
Tip
Typically, projects have additional requirements for their work environment. This specific practice establishes the standards to be addressed across the organization.
Tip
Specific practice 1.7 is included in this process area to address the use of integrated teams, as these groups are more likely to be needed to meet the complex needs of the acquisition organization in its interactions with other acquisition organizations, supplier organizations, and customer organizations.
Example Work Products
1. Work environment standards
Subpractices
1. Evaluate commercially available work environment standards appropriate for the organization.
2. Adopt existing work environment standards and develop new ones to fill gaps based on the organization’s process needs and objectives.
SP 1.7 Establish Rules and Guidelines for Teams
Establish and maintain organizational rules and guidelines for the structure, formation, and operation of teams.
In an acquisition organization, teams are useful not just in the acquirer’s organization but between the acquirer and supplier and among the acquirer, supplier, and other relevant stakeholders as appropriate. Teams can be especially important in a system of systems environment.
Tip
This specific practice establishes organizational rules and guidelines so that projects do not get “bogged down” when establishing their team structure, integrated teams in that structure, and adequate collaboration among interfacing teams.
Operating rules and guidelines for teams define and control how teams are created and how they interact to accomplish objectives. Team members should understand the standards for work and participate according to those standards.
When establishing rules and guidelines for teams, ensure they comply with all local and national regulations or laws that can affect the use of teams.
Structuring teams involves defining the number of teams, the type of each team, and how each team relates to the others in the structure. Forming teams involves chartering each team, assigning team members and team leaders, and providing resources to each team to accomplish work.
Example Work Products
1. Rules and guidelines for structuring and forming teams
2. Operating rules for teams
Subpractices
1. Establish and maintain empowerment mechanisms to enable timely decision making.
In a successful teaming environment, clear channels of responsibility and authority are established by documenting and deploying organizational guidelines that clearly define the empowerment of teams.
Tip
Teams cannot operate at a high performance level if they must consult management to obtain approval of every action or decision.
2. Establish and maintain rules and guidelines for structuring and forming teams.
Tip
This specific practice also addresses issue resolution.
Tip
The authority initially given to a newly formed team may be expanded later as project phases are completed and as the team demonstrates mature use of the authority granted to it. The rules and guidelines for the degree of empowerment should support making such adjustments.
3. Define the expectations, rules, and guidelines that guide how teams work collectively.