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TSP Launch

PS&J recommends launching a TSP team four to six weeks after completion of PSP training followed by a re-launch approximately every three months until the project is completed.

Ideal team size is 5 to 15 people.  Larger teams can be accommodated by breaking the project down into sub-projects.

A typical initial launch usually takes a little under 4 days. During an initial launch, the team:

1. Reviews project objectives with management and agrees on and documents team goals;

2. Establishes team roles;

3. Defines the team's development process;

4. Makes a quality plan and sets quality targets;

5. Plans for any required support facilities;

6. Defines a top-level development strategy;

7. Makes a top-level development plan for the entire project;

8. Makes detailed plans for each engineer for the next three months;

9. Merges the individual plans into a team plan;

10. Rebalances the team workload to achieve a minimum overall schedule;

11. Assesses project risks and assigns tracking responsibility for each key risk;

12. Reviews their plans and the project's key risks with management.

Once the review is complete, and any necessary adjustments have been made, the plan documents management’s commitment of resources to the project team, and the project team’s commitment to management to achieve the planned results. Most TSP plans are much more comprehensive and much more realistic than what is typical in the organization.  The typical outcome of a TSP launch is a more realistic plan earlier in the project life cycle, better buy-in by all concerned parties, and better cost, schedule, and quality performance once the project gets underway.

Developers are generally very positive about the TSP launch process.  They do the planning. They assign the tasks to themselves.  There is a strong sense of empowerment that can engender a high level of commitment.  One engineer put it this way: “For my entire working life tasks have been given to me one or two at time.  This is the first time I ever had a clear understanding of what I will be doing and why.”  That kind of understanding is what it takes to have a self-directed high performance work team.

Once the project gets underway, requirements invariably change, new tasks pop up, and the need to do other tasks goes away.  The detailed plan will gradually be overtaken by events.  Making adjustments to the plan as the project proceeds can accommodate minor re-planning.  These are usually quick and easy to do. However eventually, a new detailed plan will be required. Our experience is that this usually happens in about three months.  At that point, a re-launch is held to generate a new detailed plan.  This approach gives TSP the same sort of flexibility that is targeted by the agile methods in dealing with changing requirements and business conditions.

Re-launches don’t need to cover every topic that is handled in an initial launch. Project teams are also a lot better organized once they know what is expected. A typical re-launch takes about 3 days.  The outputs include:

• Written team goals.

• Defined team roles.

• A process development plan.

• The team quality plan.

• The project's support plan.

• An overall development plan and schedule.

• Detailed next-phase plans for each engineer.

• A project risk assessment.

Teams mature rapidly as they move the TSP re-launch cycle. By the third re-launch their focus has shifted from just getting the work done to making improvements in their practices to get the work done faster, better, and cheaper.  By the third launch lots of CMM level 4 and 5 behaviors are usually evident, even to the casual observer.

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