How to analyse plans, meaning objectives, strategies and constraints, when they initially consist of undefined words on slides or websites.
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Synopsis
The workshop will consist of 3 x 1 hour slots. 20 minutes lecture followed by 30 minutes Q&A, with 10 minutes break.
Participants will be given a free textbook, Planalysis, which they are welcome to study in advance and share with colleagues. The link will be provided at completion of registration.
Hour 1. One page Planalysis checklist. Basic Ideas.
Hour 2. Core beliefs about Plans: The Logic of Planning
Hour 3. Examples of analysis of real plans.
10 Tough Questions You can ask about Plan Objectives
(The following is extracted from Page 10 of the ‘Planalysis’ booklet)
- Have you agreed a set of your top-10 critical-value objectives for the product?
- Are those objectives unambiguously clear, to all who might have to understand them; the intended readership?
- Is it clear which requirements the stakeholders support, and are interested in?
- Are the requirements really values, qualities and results: not the technology, we think will get us results.
- Is it clear - what the worst acceptable value delivery level is? (Tolerable level)
- Is it clear - what the Wish level is, and that this is not a commitment yet (Goal level): until we find technology and resources, to reach a promised ‘Goal’ level?
- Is it clear what the requirement’s knock-on value is, for example ‘economic’, or in terms of higher-level objectives, if we reach the Wish or Goal level. What is it worth?
- Do we know the defect density of our specifications? If you can see more than 10 unclear or ambiguous words on a requirements page, is this a threat to understanding your project? (See Terzakis, Intel, [D1])
- Do we have other major stakeholder levels that need a separate specification of requirements? Like; Business Level, Stakeholder Level, Product Level or Sub- Product Level.
- Is there any requirement, which is arguably more- critical than the top-ten, that we failed to include or specify? Now that we think we have a complete set: what is missing?
About the speaker
Tom Gilb HonFBCS
Tom Gilb was born in California 1940, lived in the UK 1956-58, Norway 1958 to present. Joined IBM 1958. Consulted for a very wide variety of organisations, and managed to influence some of them in interesting and well documented ways.
Tom became an Honorary Fellow of BCS in 2012.
See Gilb.com for more details.
Tom is the author of thirteen books and hundreds of papers on these and related subjects. His book ‘Competitive Engineering’ is a substantial definition of requirements ideas. His ideas on requirements are the acknowledged basis for CMMI level 4 (quantification, as initially developed at IBM from 1980). Tom has guest lectured at universities all over UK, Europe, China, India, USA, Korea – and has been a keynote speaker at dozens of technical conferences internationally.
There are very many organizations and individuals who use some or all of Gilb methods. IBM and HP were two early corporate adopters. Over the recent years, 20,000 engineers at Intel have adopted the Planguage requirements methods. Ericsson, Nokia, and A Major Multinational Finance Group use parts of their methods extensively. Many smaller companies also use the methods.
Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.
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For overseas delegates who wish to attend the event, please note that BCS does not issue invitation letters.
This event is brought to you by: BCS Quality specialist group, jointly with BCS Business Change specialist group also Hampshire branch
