Software process improvement would be easy if people wouldn't be involved... But, as long as there are people involved, process improvement has much more to do with the people, then with technology.
Getting Started
Managing the Software Process by Watts Humphrey. See also: CMMI @ SEI. This is the "Original CMM (Capability Maturity Model)" book. As you read it, keep in mind that the CMM has its many detractors, but one thing that is—at least in my opinion—hard to argue with: the practices described in the book and in the CMM make sense for software development projects. Granted, you can screw up the implementation in a big way, especially if you don't know why you are doing the practices that are recommended by the CMM. The challenge is to get the implementation of the practices right.
Process Improvement: The Nitty-Gritty Details
A Discipline for Software Engineering by Watts Humphrey. See also: PSP/TSP @ SEI. This is "The PSP (Personal Software Process) Book." Humphrey presents a straightforward way to apply statistical methods to the individual software developer's work with the intent to understand and improve personal software development performance. If you want to get the full benefit out of reading the book, then I would urge you to work through the A Series assignments.
The Unified Software Development Process by Ivar Jacobson, Grady Booch and James Rumbaugh. There seem to be a prevailing belief among software developers that the Unified Process is a heavyweight process. I think that heavyweight is not the right description. A much better description would be that it is a rather completely specified process. What makes it heavyweight in many people's eyes, is that it mentions activites that belong to the software process that most people have no idea how to do. As a result it takes them a really long time to do those activities the first time they attempt to do them. Then they give up on trying it again.
On the other hand if you know how to do those activities that this process calls for then you are able to do two very important things:- Decide if a certain activity needs to be done or not.
- Do the activity efficiently if it needs to be done.
Before you give up on this book and declare the Unified Process too heavyweight for your use like 80% of the developers who wonder how come they never ship anything on time and within budget, consider it again. You might just change your mind.
The Rational Unified Process by Philipe Kruchten. Rational Software Corporation's version of the Unified Process. Similar to the Unified Process, but much shorter.
Organizational Change
The Fifth Discipline, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook & The Dance of Change by Peter Senge et. al. The fifth discipline, Systems Thinking, ties together the contributions of the other four: Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Shared Vision, and Team Learning. Together the five disciplines contribute to a much better understanding of what it takes to create an organization that continuously learns and evolves. The first book describes the theory behind the five disciplines. The second book contains stories of people and organizations who tried to implement them in practice. The third book writes about the challenges that people encounter when they try to implement these ideas.
Generic Process Improvement
The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are Honing Their Performance, by Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman, Roland R. Cavanagh. A very good first book on Six Sigma. You'll learn all of the ideas, but you will have to find other books that describe all the statistical methods and tools and how to apply them.
Out of the Crisis, by W. Edwards Deming. If you don't have time to read the whole book at least read the 14 Points for Management from MIT/CAES. Deming is credited with the Japanese quality revolution after World War II.
Four Days with Dr. Deming by William J. Latzko & David M. Saunders. The book is an account of Deming's famous seminar.