Rapid performance and process improvement results

The RPI Methodology attempts to break the old belief that you must wait 12 to 24 months to observe any improvements in performance. This adage is based on the belief that you must get to the next level of CMM or CMMI process maturity before performance gains can be achieved. And it is this belief that prevents many companies from ever starting an improvement program!

Our clients are finding out differently. Here are some examples.

• A client developed an organization-wide quality assurance (QA) program, along with a QA policy, a QA planning template, QA planning procedures, QA auditing and reporting process and QA reporting template in under one week. Two weeks later, they deployed the process. As the VP of Development wrote, "There has been a tremendous value to the organization. With greater visibility into the process, I am better able to manage and control our efforts, and based on the SQA audit results, we have begun to identify process improvement suggestions in other areas."
• In less than two weeks of effort, one client integrated risk management enhancements to their existing project management process. Immediately on deployment, one project found a risk that would have remained unnoticed and would have cost the company over one million dollars in delays in product delivery.
• Another client got immediate results in deploying a set of modifications to their inspection process, boosting their inspection efficiency by 40% within one month.

Why such a focus on "rapid" improvement? It is not a sales gimmick. Quick results are important to sustain both sponsorship from managers who must provide the resources, time and staff to an improvement program and support from those performing the work.

We like to think of the RPI Methodology as an "Agile Improvement Method." In fact, RPI has adopted many of the tenants of Agile Methodologies. An RPI iteration (one cycle through the methodology) typically can be completed in two to four months, and each iteration should show measurable results!