Faster – better – cheaper. This is the challenge that software companies face every day. How to meet customer expectations in a world where continuously changing environments, organizations and technology is the rule rather than the exception.

One way to meet these challenges is to share knowledge and experience – use what others have already learnt. This may seem self-evident, but experience shows that a lot of people struggle to get started.

A lot of good books have been written on the principles and theories behind for example total quality management, change management and knowledge management.

What makes this book different from the others is that this book is a practical handbook. It is intended for small and medium-sized software companies that develop software – and that need some help to get started with systematic improvement work.

The handbook is filled with useful hints and examples to help leaders and employees to get started quickly. There is not much theory in this book.

On the contrary, this is a book showing how we have carried out improvement work in a number of companies since the mid-nineties.

We have used the methods and techniques in many different contexts, in small and medium sized companies. We have found that they work, that they can be scaled according to the needs, and that they are simple to use. We therefore want to share these experiences with you so that your company can utilize what others have learnt.

The book consists of two parts: Chapters one to six of this book describes methods and techniques for handling processes concerning knowledge and learning, improvement and measurement. Chapter seven describes some of the techniques in more detail, to make it easier for you to start using them.

Read the chapter most relevant to you, take a look at how we have used the techniques, and compare them with your own experiences and get started.