Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) June Meeting Announcement Topic: Accurate Estimating and Scheduling Using the Yellow Sticky Method Speaker: Steve Rakitin When: Tuesday, June 20, 6:30pm-8:30pm 6:30-7:00 Networking and Round Tables 7:00-7:10 Announcements 7:10-8:10 Steve Rakitin: Accurate Estimating and Scheduling Using the Yellow Sticky Method 8:10-8:30 Questions and Answers Who: Everyone (Academia, Government, Industry) Location: General Dynamics, 77 "A" St., Needham MA. Info: See our web page, http://www.cs.uml.edu/Boston-SPIN For SPIN info, contact Johanna Rothman, 781-641-4046, or jr@jrothman.com Abstract: One of the most difficult things for software engineers to do is estimate a software task. As a group, software engineers have had little or no training in estimating and scheduling and tend to be overly optimistic. So it's not surprising that software projects more often than not, miss their schedules. As a result, Management frequently imposes delivery dates for new products. With the end date given, the project team is then forced to "schedule backwards". Schedules developed in this manner are almost always unrealistic since the project team must estimate task duration based on time available rather than time required. Not surprisingly, scheduled-backwards projects almost always are late and the resulting products are of lower quality. A simple and easy-to-learn solution to this problem has evolved into a very powerful tool for helping people develop more accurate estimates and schedules. This technique is commonly known as the "Yellow Sticky" method as it uses Post-It Notes to help build accurate estimates and schedules. This method has been successfully used in a wide variety of industries by hundreds of companies in the US and Europe. At this meeting, we will learn how this simple method works. After a brief presentation, the group will practice the technique by working together on a small "project" that doesn't have anything to do with software. Come prepared to work with your colleagues on this "project" and learn a technique that can help save your company time, money, and improve quality. About the Speaker: Steven R. Rakitin has over 25 years experience as a software engineer and software quality manager in a broad range of industries including nuclear power, defense, computers, automated test equipment, telecommunications, medical instrumentation, and electronic design automation. He was one of the authors of the IEEE Standard for Software Quality Assurance Plans (IEEE-STD-730). He has written several papers on the subject of software quality and recently published a book titled: Software Verification & Validation: A Practitioner's Guide. He received a BSEE from Northeastern University and an MSCS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has earned > certifications from the American Society for Quality (ASQ) as a Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) and Quality Auditor (CQA). He is a member of the IEEE Computer Society and the ASQ Software Division and is on the Editorial Board for the ASQ Journal Software Quality Professional. He presents tutorials and workshops at conferences nationally. As Principal at Software Quality Consulting, he helps companies establish a more predictable software development process. About the Roundtables: Roundtables are focused group or "birds-of-a-feather" discussions, with a facilitator, to stimulate and moderate discussion. Roundtables are held during the Networking portion of the SPIN meeting. See our web page, http://www.cs.uml.edu/Boston-SPIN to see which topics are selected for this SPIN meeting. Directions: From Route 128 in Needham, take exit 19A onto Highland Avenue East. Take your first right by the Ground Round and take your second left onto "A" Street. General Dynamics is the last building on the right. Enter the parking lot by the General Dynamics sign and come into the building by the cafeteria entrance, which is located to the left of the main entrance. There will be a security guard at the entrance. . See http://www.gd-cs.com/needham.html for directions. Cancellations (including weather cancellations): We will notify the membership via email to the SPIN distribution list, post the notice on the SPIN web page, and send the cancellation announcement to Channel 7 TV and radio, WRKO AM 680 starting at 3pm. SPIN Sponsors: General Dynamics Communications Systems, Needham, MA, http://www.gd-cs.com/needham.html Raytheon Corp., Lexington, MA, http://www.raytheon.com Edelman & Associates, http://www.edeltech.com We thank the Computer Science department of UMass-Lowell for providing support and hosting our web page.