Return to Achieving Value and Improving Performance Across the Federal Enterprise (3J6J)
Breakout Session 2: Standards and Best Practices for Process Improvement (3J61)
Topics and Discussion Questions (3J62)
Standards/ Models Being Used: (3J63)
- Does your agency/organization consider standards-based best practices as guidance for improving management, acquisition, engineering, and operation of products and services? (3J64)
- Standards/ Models in Use: Which ones, how decided – any problems, barriers, solutions regarding standards use and selection? If no standards/models being used, why not? (3IWO)
- Multiple Standards/ Models in Use Concurrently: Which ones, are they harmonized/integrated or are they used as stand-alone standards – any problems, issues, barriers, solutions? (3IWP)
Measurement and Benchmarking: (3IWQ)
- How is progress measured, (appraisal methods/tools, certification, ratings, internal/external, multiple standard compliance, etc) – any problems, issues, barriers, solutions? (3IWR)
Implementing Standards and Best Practices: (3IWU)
- What support do you have/need for implementing standards, models and best practices – any problems, issues, barriers, solutions? (3IWZ)
- What are key ingredients to successfully adopting standards, models and best practices? What value do international and national standards provide to the Government? (3IWY)
- Can employing standards/models help overcome resistance to improving practice? (3J65)
- What value do process improvement/capability models provide? (3JRT)
- How can organizations ensure the application of quality/process improvement standards? What incentives/assistance could be provided? (3IZE)
- How can continuous improvement be fostered? (3IZF)
- Could standards-based best practices be included in the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework? Would this encourage improvement within agencies and across the Federal Government? (3IWX)
Next Steps: (3JB9)
- What areas/topics (related to standards/models and best practices for process improvement) are needed to be addressed in further workshops? (3JRU)
Discussion: (3JYE)
Change is inevitable except from vending machines. (3JYF)
Standards/ Models (3JYG)
- Records Management standards in use in agencies. (3JYH)
- Suite of standards from OMG; model-driven; executable in a simulation sense and bring back metrics (3JZH)
- Bring open source to government; standards that map to SOA environments; standards to define lines of business (3JYI)
- Balanced scorecard is used in some agencies; ISO standards sometimes used; some interest in ITIL; capability models, integrated models (3JZI)
- Issue of access to standards and cost of usage; copyright rights; identifying collection of freely available industry standards; ISO 11179 is free; OASIS products are free; FAA's integrated standards-based model is free; check with ANSI for access to standards (3JYK)
- Barriers include: one (model) group trying to solve problems for others; too many models; communication is difficult; levels of abstraction are different; overlap; being able to operationalize models; emphasis on market is a problem; certification costs (3JYL)
Measurement, Appraisal, Benchmarking (3JYM)
- GAO audits processes using industry models so some have implemented models because of this (3JYN)
- Reporting via PART; FISMA (3JYO)
- Process appraisals do not really occur broadly within the government (3JYP)
Implementation (3JYQ)
- Provide FEA models and criteria on helping project manager in determining how to select standards, especially industry standards (3JYR)
- Provide information on how government can initiate projects to do standards if they are not available (3JYS)
- Present standards to the Federal lines of business groups for comment (3JYT)
- Do an OMB best practices guide on selecting standards (3JYU)
- Need to define the problem and apply standards (3JYV)
- Standards are for different levels depending upon roles and responsibilities (3JYW)
- Need to map standards and models to business processes (3JYX)
- Need to evaluate standards for deficiencies (3JYY)
- ISO 9000 is a method for starting standardization (3JYZ)
- Trying to focus on process and getting people to do it (3JZ0)
- People may agree with concept but can't get them to operationalize them (3JZ1)
- Standards are reusable tools that need to be tailored; identify patterns and then can apply standards (3JZ2)
- International standards for process definition are being developed (3JZ3)
- Bodies of knowledge are not normally "standardized"; need to leverage work done by standards bodies (3JZ4)
To Do Next (3JZ5)
- Another workshop (3JZ6)
- Possible training (3JZ7)
- Provide the outcome of today's workshop and presentations (3JZ8)
- EPIC cannot be perceived as getting advice from non-government individuals but non-government individuals can be invited; clarify relations with non-government (3JZ9)
- Look for examples of best practices (3JZA)
- Clarify the scope of the standards/ models that are the focus of EPIC activities (3JZB)
- Issue a data call for next steps (3JZC)
- EPIC (with NIST) work on criteria for selection of standards (3JZD)