Use a Defined Process to accomplish a job.

'''Problem''' How to do a job:
	* Determine what needs to be done
	* Decide how to do it
	* Do it
	* Check to make sure it is correct
	* Fix any problems
	* Deliver the final result

''How do you know what needs to be done, and decide how to do it?''

'''Agent'''
	* Yourself

'''Context'''
	* When you need to do a job, and  want to improve your working efficiency.
	* Demands for accuracy, precision, and completeness exceed informal methods.  
	* A systematic framework is required to insure that all the details are properly handled.
	* You want to balance the legs of the
	* Schedule(Time) - Cost(Resources) - Quality(Features) triangle. 

'''Forces'''
	* A well-ordered and structured process can greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of purely routine tasks.
	* Order and structure will inhibit the creative process.

'''Solution'''
	* Use a defined process when you want to improve your work.
	* Treat the creative and routine differently.
	* Break the job up into tasks, and separate the routine tasks from the creative tasks.

'''Rule'''
	* Provide scripts (ProcessAsPattern ?) to make the job easier to do  by showing what needs to be done and how to do it.
	* Provide forms to gather and retain data in a consistent manner.
	* Provide standards and checklists to guide your work and provide a basis for verifying product and process quality.
	* Provide process improvement provisions to ensure the process will evolve to meet your ever-changing needs.

'''Steps ''' to define a process:
	* Determine your needs and priorities.
	* Define the process objectives, goals, and quality criteria
	* Characterize your current process.
	* Characterize your target process.
	* Establish a process development strategy.
	* Define your initial process
	* Validate your initial process
	* Enhance your process.

'''Reason'''
	* Defining the tasks makes it easier to accomplish a challenging job, adds consistency, and enables you to make meaningful measurements.
	* A defined process allows you to separate the routine work from the creative work.  
	* Once the creative tasks have been separated and bounded, the routine tasks can be made much more accurate and efficient.  	* Reducing the time required for routine tasks gives you more time for creative tasks.

'''Benefits'''
	* It enables effective communication about the process.
	* It enhances understanding, and provides a basis for automation.
	* It supports evolution by providing an effective means for learning and improvement.
	* It aids process management and planning.

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit." --- MrAristotle

'''Resulting Context'''  The next time you need to do the same job, you will:
	* have the scripts and forms of the process available to help you.
	* be able to collect meaningful data to help you estimate and plan future jobs.

'''References'''
	* AdisciplineForSoftwareEngineering, WattsHumphrey, Addison-Wesley, 1995, ISBN 0201546108 

'''Examples'''
	* IsoNineThousand (ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9000-3)
	* CapabilityMaturityModel (CMM)

'''Related Patterns'''
	* SoftwareProcess IS-A DefinedProcess
	* ProcessPatterns
	* ProcessAsPattern

'''Author(s)'''
	* KentSchnaith

'''Date(s)'''
	* 22-Jan-97, 11-Feb-97

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I don't understand how the solution balances the forces. I can define a process that offers no insight as to whether I'm doing what needs to be done.  That a process specifies that something be done doesn't mean it needs to be done.

Also, how is the pattern different from: "how do I solve all my problems" for which the proposed answer is: "use a process"?

Last, if Humphrey is the cited example of this pattern, isn't the context limited to academic simulations outside professional practice? -- JimCoplien

''Cope, I'd be very interested in your comments on Humphrey's work and proposals, specifically your thoughts on the extent to which they apply in professional environments.  Thanks - RonJeffries''

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I can see that this needs some work. Not only must the process be defined, but it must have a special quality that encourages people to apply it.  I don't think I have communicated this yet. I'm more interested in process than in organization. I have little power to change the organization I work in, but I do  have freedom to define and use my own personal software process. -- KentSchnaith

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How can we keep this pattern from leading to an ever-growing number of unmaintained and ignored lists of how to do things, ala, for example, IsoNineThousand?  --RonJeffries

''Ron, you can't.  The nature of such defined processes is that they cope with change by adding more process.  There's usually not much meta-process there to eliminate wasteful process.  --ChristianEdwardGruber''
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Also see:
	* PersonalSoftwareProcess
	* TeamSoftwareProcess
	* CollaborativeSoftwareProcess
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CategoryPlanning