Task: Conduct Review
This Task describes how to facilitate a review so as to maximize the productivity of the reviewers and meet defined quality requirements.
Disciplines: Project Management
Purpose
  • To facilitate the review process and ensure the review is undertaken appropriately.
Relationships
RolesPrimary Performer: Additional Performers:
InputsMandatory:
    Optional:
      Outputs
        Steps
        Conduct review meetings
        Purpose:  To facilitate the review so as to maximize the productivity of the reviewers and meet defined quality requirements.

        This task is just a generic task; for specific information on how to coordinate and organize reviews see the Organize Review task. Depending on the work product under review, see also the Technical and Management Reviewer's tasks for getting a better understanding of the steps that need to be followed.

        While each of the specific review tasks and accompanying guidelines in RUP provides specific guidelines and suggestions about how to conduct each review, the following guidelines are generally helpful when conducting any review:

        • Always set aside specific time to conduct the review, usually in a recognized and repeatable meeting format, even if the meeting itself is casual or informal.
        • To improve productivity, have the meeting participants prepare their own detailed reviews feedback on their own prior to the meeting.
        • Check:
          • the quality of what has been produced to make sure the work meets an appropriate and acceptable standard of workmanship.
          • the completeness of what has been produced to make sure the work is sufficient for the subsequent work it will be referenced or consumed in. In many cases, a checklist is provided to help with this task; refer to the checklist for each work product or its associated tasks.
          Note: you should consider using these checklists in your daily work on each work product: this will potentially save you time and effort in downstream rework. Note also that these checklists are useful for informal as well as formal review meetings.

        Following each review meeting, the results of the meeting should be documented in some form of Review Record. In addition, change request may be formally recorded (and eventually assigned to someone to own and drive to resolution).

        Once of the most important yet surprisingly often neglected aspects of reviews is the management to resolution of the follow-up tasks or actions identified during the review. While you can usually assign many of the identified actions during the course of the review meeting itself, be prepared to reassign tasks as needed to help balance the workload of team members.

        The main input work product(s) for this task depend on the specific review type: in a technical review it could be a set of requirements, design model or code; in a management review the information resides in one or more of the project plans. The work products mentioned in the "Input work products" section define a review framework, providing guidance and directions with regards to what the overall scope of the reviews should be, when they should take place, what is the level of formalism, and so forth. More detailed guidance could be found in the the Measurement Plan, the Quality Assurance Plan, the Development Process, and the Project Specific Guidelines).


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