Tools for Managing Project Quality

1. Tools for Managing Project Quality PMI Westchester Quality SIG -Best Practices- December 2007

2. Objectives • The objective of this presentation is to first provide an overview of the three quality processes, planning, assurance and control -- defined by the PMI methodology, followed by a quality improvement overview and a list of quality tools. www.mypmtools.com

3. Quality Planning QUALITY PLANNING • The PMBOK defines quality planning as “…identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them.”1 • During quality planning a Quality Management Plan is developed (includes the quality policy) Quality Planning Elements • Identify customers Prioritize customers • Identify requirements (generally stated) Prioritize requirements • Identify specifications (requirement details – specific & measurable) 1. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge – Third Edition, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, PA, 2004, p. 179. www.mypmtools.com

4. Quality Assurance QUALITY ASSURANCE The PMBOK defines quality assurance as “…the application of planned, systematic quality activities to ensure that the project will employ all processes needed to meet requirements.”2 It means that the processes used must satisfy the standards (e.g. requirements specifications) identified during the quality planning process. Quality assurance is the set of activities that the project team needs do perform to ensure that project performance is meeting the requirements using the defined specifications as the targets. Activities are based on the specifications and operational definitions developed in quality planning. Quality Planning Elements • Develop assurance activities: • Select the standard or specification e.g., Responsive telephone service (requirement) e.g., Answer 80 percent of calls within two rings (specification) • Define the activities (action to be taken to collect the data) that will collect the data and that will compare results to the specifications (in quality control). Develop and apply metrics for the activity. e.g., Activity: “Determine (action) the percentage of calls answered on two rings during a 24-hour period.” e.g., Metric: “Percent of calls answered on two rings” – you may create a column to log the metric • Define and provide resources – types of resources • Assign responsibility to a specific entity – who will do it • Assemble activities into a Quality Assurance Plan -- place them in the quality plan 2. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge – Third Edition, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, PA, 2004, p. 187. www.mypmtools.com

5. Quality Control QUALITY CONTROL • The PMBOK defines quality control as “…monitoring specific project results to determine if they comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.”3 Quality Planning Elements • Quality control addresses the outcomes (results) of the project activities executed during quality assurance. It monitors performance and does something about the results -- thus eliminating the causes of unsatisfactory results. • Results provide feedback to quality assurance and disclose the effectiveness of quality assurance activities. • In-process inspection activities in quality control include measuring, examining and testing. • Results from Quality Control provide the data that is examined during quality audits. Note: Quality audits may use the results obtained from quality control to determine if quality assurance activities are having the desired result. If not (not showing conformance to specifications), quality assurance activities should be reviewed and improved. Audits should be completed at the end of major milestones or when requested. 3. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge – Third Edition, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, PA, 2004, p. 190. www.mypmtools.com

6. Quality Improvement QUALTIY IMPROVEMENT • Joseph M. Juran describes quality improvement as “…the organized creation of beneficial change; the attainment of unprecedented levels of performance… breakthrough.”4 Therefore, it is a deliberate process which uses objective measurement and data. Because it is a deliberate process, it is associated with customer satisfaction and competitiveness – not necessarily with conformance to project requirements specifications, which is a quality control process. • Quality improvement is the creation of beneficial change, and thus it is the responsibility of top management. • All quality improvements begin with data collection • The Plan-do-check-act cycle developed by Walter Shewhart, is a proven, disciplined approach to quality improvement • Plan – selects a process for improvement – that will have beneficial effect • Do – apply the change on a small scale like a test case • Check – observe the effects of the change – to determine effectiveness • Act – If the results are as expected, implement the change – implement the change system-wide if it is effective, or return to the plan step and start over with better information. Note: Many of the tools used for quality control are used for quality improvement. 4. Juran, M.M. and Godfrey, A.B., Eds., Juran’s Quality Handbook, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1999, p. 53. www.mypmtools.com

7. Project Quality Overview Quality Planning Customers ↓ identify and prioritize customers Requirements ↓ identify and prioritize requirements Specifications ↓ these are checked with results in quality control Quality Assurance QA Activities ↓ activities are inserted into the quality plan and executed Quality Plan ↓ results of activities are checked in quality control Quality Control Quality Control ↑ results are checked with specifications; ↓ exits quality control to quality improvements Quality Improvements ↓ improvement of processes toward beneficial change: May use a plan-do-check-act process www.mypmtools.com

8. Tools for Managing Project Quality www.mypmtools.com

9. Tools for Managing Project Quality www.mypmtools.com

10. Contact Information Linda P. Dowdell, PMP, MBA, MS President of Dowdell Consulting Services, LLC A Project Management Services Company www.mypmtools.com lpdowdell@mypmtools.com 914-874-4343 Public Relations Program Manager & Quality Chair for Project Management Institute Westchester www.mypmtools.com