Software Development & Product Implementation Methodologies – Summit Global Testing (Annapolis, Maryland) & ACCA (London/Glasgow, UK)
The Challenge:
Develop efficient software development and global product implementation roadmaps for companies on two continents and time zones, with contrasting corporate cultures, and diverse project approaches.
The Solution:
We created a bright spot in an otherwise challenging initiative by utilizing our best practices to create clear consensus driven roadmaps for software development and product rollout. The software development methodology recognized the diverse cultures of both companies by incorporating sequential style gates along side Agile/Lean best practices. These best practices included delivering early and often (smaller batch sizes), continuous improvement throughout the project (Kaizen), time boxed approval steps (reduces waiting) standard work, and steps to reduce the creation of unnecessary code (overproduction).
The rollout methodology was specific, defined, and sequential in nature, as you would expect for a global rollout. Our approach was to hold a series of on-site meetings to further understand the business and answer the major questions around rollout approach. Our second set of on-site design sessions began with a review of a “straw man” implementation plan we had prepared based on our first sessions, at the task/time/resource level. With this baseline the stakeholders were able to quickly discuss, make any changes, and articulate the finished plan.