Walkthroughs and Inspections

How to conduct and participate in walkthroughs, inspections and informal reviews

Course contents:

Course benefits

Who should attend

Prerequisites

What you will learn

What you will cover

How you will learn

Duration and availability

Course of the month

Course directory

Public schedule and prices

Terms of business

Course benefits:

The technique of inspecting documents in formally convened meetings was devised by Michael Fagan of IBM in the early 1970s, and was fully described in the IBM Systems Journal (Vol 15, No 3, 1976). It is now an established component of quality processes that aim to meet the latest British and International Quality standards. It is almost axiomatic that defects are easier and cheaper to correct if they are found early rather than late in the development cycle, and this course addresses the problems of finding such defects. It is essential to the success of the Inspections Process that the meetings be conducted correctly: only if the leader (called the Moderator) is skilled in his job will the meeting be effective. The importance of a defect-free development cycle applies equally to projects, products and the delivery of services. The formal Inspection Process applies to documents of all kinds. It has grown out of its original application to software design and code, and has since proved to be equally successful when applied to other documents such as specifications, reference and legal material.

Who should attend:

• Senior and experienced people who are responsible for assuring the high quality of documents of all kinds
• A minimum of eight and a maximum of fifteen can be accommodated on the course

Prerequisites:

General experience of the Inspections Process is desirable but not essential.

What you will learn:

This course teaches the Inspection Process but also introduces participants to less formal forms of review like Walkthroughs, Round Robin Reviews and Art Gallery Reviews. On successful completion of the course, attendees will be able to:

• Organise and conduct Inspections in an effective and economical manner
• Understand the differences between an Inspection and other techniques for removing defects
• List the component parts of the Inspection Process and the advantages to be gained from them
• Understand the roles played by the members of an Inspection team
• Understand why the Moderator is the key member of an Inspection team, what his responsibilities are, and how he can most effectively control the process
• Record the results of the Inspection in the recommended manner

What you will cover:

This is a formal class, including lectures and discussions together with trial Inspections undertaken by the participants. The general principles upon which the Inspections technique is based are covered in the discussions that continue throughout the course. Additionally, the participants are asked to make a careful study of several documents and to inspect them formally. These Inspections, which are observed and commented upon by the instructor, serve to provide necessary practice to all the participants in turn.

Apart from the mechanics of carrying out the Inspection meeting itself, particular attention is given to the records that ought to be kept.

A recommended format is provided (and used by the participants), and may be freely copied or modified on return to the office.

How you will learn:

This is a highly interactive course with many exercises and examples. Attendees may request to bring documents from their own projects to submit to the inspection process.

Duration and availability:

Three days non-residential. In-house only.

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