Process Disintegration Antipattern occurs in a process intensive organisation. Dr R Srinivasan writes that it is caused by people and not because of loopholes or the nature of processes followed in software development

WE have seen in an earlier article that every software development organisation should have the right type of process to undertake and execute a project. Adopting a good process methodology leads to successful software development because it provides very important umbrella activities that ensure high quality. Unfortunately, in some organisations, there is misconception among members of project teams that the process is actually an overhead during the developmental cycle of the project. On the other hand, the process should also be viewed as a tool like others that help developers to improve their productivity.

It has also been observed that software tools, like the mechanical ones, can also be misused. According to William Brown, processes may be made to inflict pain, anguish and even mortal wounds on others by intentionally preventing steps that would lead to success. If such a situation happens, it is a clear indication of the onset of Process Disintegration Antipattern, which will definitely ruin the enthusiasm and success of unsuspecting software professionals in the organisation. Experts in software development illustrate that this kind of antipattern is likely to be observed in a process intensive organisation.

The question is that if this situation arises, what will be the adverse affect on project development and management? Because of process disintegration, the organisation will now try to focus more on intensifying the implementation of the process properly through thorough reviewing procedures and necessary corrective action. This will make the entire team, including the manager, to concentrate and spend more time on the processes than the core of the project development. A situation where the process becomes the project! The manager will be under tension to see that there is minimal non-conformities identified in each review so that he can proceed towards the next phase of the project. The situation will be aggravated more, tending towards even the failure of the process, if a project manager or project leader does not have adequate experience. Everyone in the team and in the organisation will develop a tendency to blame each other.

Experts like Hays McCormick and Scott Thomas say that in this situation, the top management in the organisation dictate their own processes and because of its ad hoc nature, things will not be right in the project development. The project will become leaderless with nobody coming forward to undertake necessary steps to make the situation risk-free and successful. If many projects in that organisation have the same pattern, it is surely towards doomsday-the only hope for the organisation will be to refactor the entire organisation!

Generally speaking, an organisation having the following aspects may be prone to Process Disintegration Antipattern: Excessive use of standards and checklists, excessive focus on processes rather than on project development, inexperienced project manager or project leader, tendency of not taking risks in the project development, team members are either not aware or do not give importance to the deadlines and deliverables, too much dependency on the consultants rather than the team members and the manager, etc. It may also be because of the reason that a state of apathy has overcome the organisation where the business processes are given far more importance than resources responsible for the process. In very rare cases it is possible that the senior management dictates an unreasonable deadline due to some business pressures.

Looking at the above reasons for the Process Disintegration Antipattern, it is clear that it is primarily caused by people and not because of the loopholes or nature of the processes which have to be followed in software development. Hays McCormick says, "As process advocates in a seemingly process-resistant world, we are often faced with the dilemma of just how to handle situations in which a group of professionals are determined to pull defeat from the jaws of victory, and all in the name of principle." The process will disintegrate, if it is wrongly understood that it is a burden or overhead by the team. So the best-refactored solution for this antipattern is to be found in people and technology.

  ( To be continued)

(The author is Chief Technology Officer, Internet Component Management Group, Bangalore and can be contacted at: r.srinivasan@iCMGworld.com)