Effective Engineering e-Newsletter – 7/17/2003
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eN-030717:
Write It Down and Sign It Off!
By
Tom Dennis – President, Effective Engineering [tdennis@effectiveeng.com]
At the start of efforts on new product or a product
improvement, people generally gather together to brainstorm about what that
new product should be. Most
critical, of course, is to recognize what customers want, and to incorporate
that into the product definition (see eN-030619 –
What Do Your Customers Really Want?).
Beyond that, this is a time for a variety of diverse views to be
raised, discussed, and for decisions to be made.
These decisions should include not only what the product is, but also
what it isn’t (see eN-030703 – Product Definition:
Define What It Is and What It Isn’t!).
This is a valuable time, and the effort should be as thorough and
complete as possible, since this will set the stage for the ensuing
development process. Generally,
the outcome of such discussions is verbal agreement, but this is not always
followed up with a written document specifying the details of what decided,
and even when it is, such a document is not always signed off by all of the
key parties involved. Writing it
down, and signing it off is imperative! Failure
to write it down and sign it off can, and usually does, spell doom to that
product development effort.
Why must it be written?
A written document specifies what decisions have been made, and often why
(the rationale behind the decisions). It
defines what is included in the product and project, and what is not included.
It is the baseline that states what will and what won’t be done.
This avoids confusion, and creates a common piece of “sheet music”
that everyone can play from. Further, this forms the “contract” that people will work
from. As elsewhere in life, if it
isn’t written in the “contract”, it doesn’t really count.
What happens when it’s not written down?
Memories are often selective, and fade with time.
If the product definition is not written down, different people’s
“firm memories” of feature definitions or decisions made will be
different. Definitions/decisions
made at the time will tend to morph into slightly different to vastly
different definitions/decisions. Arguments will tend to arise, and people will start to engage
in the “blame game”. By
having a written document, all of these problems can be avoided. Further, with time, new information will come to light that
will suggest changing the product definition.
New features will be suggested, and these will continue to arise with
time (creeping features). By
having a written document stating what the product is and is not (at least at
the time of the writing), the impact of such changes can be properly assessed
and intelligent decisions can be made on making changes based on facts and not
on opinions.
Why must it be signed off?
When you have to review a document and comment on it, you will try to do a
diligent job on such a review, but you will give it only the time you really
have to spend on it. When you
have to sign your name to that document, it means that you are taking
ownership in the document, and you will take more seriously exactly what you
are signing up for. If you are
one of the “owners” of the document, then you realize that you will be
held accountable for that document and the ensuing product/project, further
increasing the importance of that document on your priority list.
If you’ve signed your name to a document, you have signed up for the
commitments made in that document, and there is little wiggle room to say you
didn’t understand what you signed up for.
What happens when it’s not signed off?
If people have not signed off on a document, you can clearly predict the
cries of, “If I was aware of that requirement, I would never have agreed to
it”, or “When was that ever part of the product definition”, or the
like. The sense of ownership and
accountability will simply not be there.
As was the common saying during the cold war, “Trust, but verify!”
You can generally trust people, but having them sign-off on documents
verifies their concurrence.
Who should be involved in writing and signing off?
All affected parties should be part of the initial discussions, the review
and revision process for the written document, and in signing off on the
document. In this way there are
no surprises, and everyone buys in and signs up for the commitments made.
What happens when it is signed off?
A signed off document becomes the baseline document for all further work
on that product/project. It means
that everyone who has signed off has signaled their commitment to the
features, functions, milestones, timelines, etc. included in the document.
Any changes to the product/project can be measured from this baseline,
and a costs/benefits analysis can, and should, be created for each change. All parties who signed off on the document should likewise
sign off on any change, recognizing and agreeing to accept the costs (usually
time, cost, price, features, etc.) in return for the benefits.
I have concentrated here on the Product Definition document, which is clearly
a key document in the early stages, and serves as a foundation document for
what will follow. However, this
is only the first in a line of documents, including Product Requirements,
Project Plans, Test Plans, Documentation Plans, etc.
All of these documents should go through a similar process.
Remember, for all of them, WRITE IT DOWN, and SIGN IT OFF!
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Effective Engineering Consulting Services, All Rights Reserved
