Summary

Prepare for peer reviews of selected work products.

Description

Preparation activities for peer reviews typically include identifying the staff to be invited to participate in the peer review of each work product; identifying key reviewers who should participate in the peer review; preparing and updating materials to be used during peer reviews, such as checklists and review criteria and scheduling peer reviews.

Example Work Products



  1. Peer review schedule
  2. Peer review checklist
  3. Entry and exit criteria for work products
  4. Criteria for requiring another peer review
  5. Peer review training material
  6. Selected work products to be reviewed


Subpractices



1. Determine the type of peer review to be conducted.

 

Examples of types of peer reviews include the following:
  • Inspections
  • Structured walkthroughs
  • Active reviews
  • Architecture implementation conformance evaluation



2. Define requirements for collecting data during the peer review.

Refer to the Measurement and Analysis (MA) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about obtaining measurement data



3. Establish and maintain entry and exit criteria for the peer review.

4. Establish and maintain criteria for requiring another peer review.

5. Establish and maintain checklists to ensure that work products are reviewed consistently.

 

Examples of items addressed by the checklists include the following:
  • Rules of construction
  • Design guidelines
  • Completeness
  • Correctness
  • Maintainability
  • Common defect types


The checklists are modified as necessary to address the specific type of work product and peer review. The peers of the checklist developers and potential end-users review the checklists.



6. Develop a detailed peer review schedule, including the dates for peer review training and for when materials for peer reviews will be available.

7. Ensure that the work product satisfies the peer review entry criteria prior to distribution.

8. Distribute the work product to be reviewed and related information to participants early enough to enable them to adequately prepare for the peer review.

9. Assign roles for the peer review as appropriate.

 

Examples of roles include the following:
  • Leader
  • Reader
  • Recorder
  • Author



10. Prepare for the peer review by reviewing the work product prior to conducting the peer review.