This Article 
   
 Share 
   
 Bibliographic References 
   
 Add to: 
 
Digg
Furl
Spurl
Blink
Simpy
Google
Del.icio.us
Y!MyWeb
 
 Search 
   
Managing Slowdown in Improvement Projects
November/December 2008 (vol. 25 no. 6)
pp. 84-89
ASCII Text
x 
 
Anna B?rjesson Sandberg, Lars Mathiassen, "Managing Slowdown in Improvement Projects," IEEE Software, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 84-89, November/December, 2008.
 
 
BibTex
x
 
@article{ 10.1109/MS.2008.151,
author = {Anna B?rjesson Sandberg and Lars Mathiassen},
title = {Managing Slowdown in Improvement Projects},
journal ={IEEE Software},
volume = {25},
number = {6},
issn = {0740-7459},
year = {2008},
pages = {84-89},
doi = {http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MS.2008.151},
publisher = {IEEE Computer Society},
address = {Los Alamitos, CA, USA},
}
 
 
RefWorks Procite/RefMan/Endnote
x 
 
TY - MGZN
JO - IEEE Software
TI - Managing Slowdown in Improvement Projects
IS - 6
SN - 0740-7459
SP84
EP89
EPD - 84-89
A1 - Anna B?rjesson Sandberg,
A1 - Lars Mathiassen,
PY - 2008
KW - process improvement
KW - progress
KW - commitment
KW - effort
VL - 25
JA - IEEE Software
ER -
 
Lars Mathiassen, Georgia State University
Unaware of the consequences, busy managers and senior engineers often behave in ways that hamper progress in improvement projects. Change agents easily become frustrated when key colleagues are late to meetings, delay responding to requests for information, or don't make decisions as required. However, rather than accepting the slowdown such behavior causes, change agents should analyze and address the challenges it signals. Based on experiences in nine process improvement projects at Ericsson, the authors suggest how change agents can analyze slowdown behavior, respond by increasing the commitment and effort of key colleagues, and reinforce progress and results in improvement projects.

1. W.S. Humphrey, Managing the Software Process, Addison-Wesley, 1989.
2. K.E. Wiegers, "Software Process Improvement: Eight Traps to Avoid," CrossTalk: J. Defense Software Eng., Sept. 1998, pp. 9–12.
3. A. Börjesson and L. Mathiassen, "Successful Process Implementation," IEEE Software, vol. 21, no. 4, 2004, pp. 36–44.
4. N.P. Repenning, "A Simulation-Based Approach to Understanding the Dynamics of Innovation Implementation," Organization Science, vol. 13, no. 2, 2002, pp. 109–127.
5. W.E. Deming, Out of the Crisis, MIT Press, 2000.
6. D. Stelzer and W. Mellis, "Success Factors of Organizational Change in Software Process Improvement," Software Process: Improvement and Practice, vol. 4, 1998, pp. 227–250.
7. P. Abrahamsson, The Role of Commitment in Software Process Improvement, doctoral dissertation, Dept. Information Processing Science, Oulu Univ., 2002.
8. J. Myer and N. Allen, Commitment in the Workplace: Theory, Research and Application, Sage, 1997.
9. A. Börjesson, "Simple Indicators for Tracking Software Process Improvement Progress," Software Process Improvement, I. Richardson, P. Runeson, and R. Messnarz, eds., Springer, 2006, pp. 74–87.
10. G.M. Weinberg, Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic ProblemSolving Approach, Dorset House, 1986.

Index Terms:
process improvement, progress, commitment, effort
Citation:
Anna B?rjesson Sandberg, Lars Mathiassen, "Managing Slowdown in Improvement Projects," IEEE Software, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 84-89, Nov.-Dec. 2008, doi:10.1109/MS.2008.151
Usage of this product signifies your acceptance of the Terms of Use.