Manage Quality in project management is the process of translating the quality management plan into executable quality activities that incorporate the organization’s quality policies into the project. This process’s main benefits are that it raises the chances of meeting quality goals and finds useless methods and reasons for poor quality.
Manage Quality tells the people who matter about the project’s overall quality state using the data and results from the control quality process. The project as a whole goes through this process. Figure below shows the process’s inputs, tools and methods, and outputs.
Some people call Manage Quality “quality assurance,” but the term “Manage Quality” covers more than just projects, so it’s not the same thing. The methods used in the project are what quality assurance is all about in project management. Managing project processes well is an important part of quality assurance. It means following and meeting standards to give people confidence that the final result will meet their wants, needs, and expectations. Manage Quality is in charge of all quality assurance tasks as well as improving processes and designing new products. The work that you need to manage quality will be conformance work in the cost of quality structure.
Manage Quality: Inputs
Project Management Plan
The quality management plan is one of the parts of a project management plan, but it’s not the only one. The quality management plan spells out what level of quality is acceptable for the project and the result, as well as how to make sure that this level of quality is in all of the deliverables and processes. it also says what to do with goods that don’t meet standards and how to fix the problem.
Project Documents
It’s possible to use the following project documents as inputs for manage quality in project management :
Lessons learned register
You can use what you’ve learned about managing quality earlier in the project to make managing quality more efficient and effective in later stages of the project.
Quality control measurements
Quality control measurements are used to compare the processes and deliverables of a project to the standards of the company doing the work or to the requirements that were set. Measurements used for quality control can also compare the methods used to make the measurements and check the accuracy of the real measurements.
Quality metrics
An important part of the Control Quality process is checking the quality measurements. The Manage Quality process uses these quality measures to create test cases for the project and its deliverables and to come up with ways to make things better.
Risk report
Manage Quality uses the Risk Report to find the sources of the project’s total risk and the most significant factors that affect that risk and could affect the project’s quality goals.
Organizational Process Assets
In addition to the ones listed above, the following Organizational process assets can have an effect on the Manage Quality process:
- A quality management method for an organization that includes rules, instructions, and policies;
- Check lists, traceability grids, test plans, test documents, and other quality templates;
- The results of past audits; and
- Lessons learned repository with details from projects that are like this one.
Manage Quality: Tools And Techniques
Data Gathering
If you need to collect information for this process, you can use schedules, but they are not the only option. A checklist is a structured, usually part-specific tool used to make sure that a set of steps has been taken or that a list of standards has been met. Checklists can be easy or complicated, depending on the needs and procedures of the project. Standardized checklists are used by many businesses to make sure that jobs that are done often are done the same way every time. You can also get guides from professional groups or businesses that offer services in some areas. The acceptance factors that are part of the scope baseline should be included in quality checklists.
Data Analysis
For manage quality in project management , you can use data analysis methods such as, but not limited to:
Alternatives analysis
People use this method to look at the options they’ve found and decide which of the different quality choices or approaches is best to use.
Document analysis
One way to find processes that might not be under control and could make it harder to meet requirements or stakeholders’ expectations is to look at the different reports that come out of project control processes. These reports include quality reports, test reports, performance reports, and variance analyses.
Process analysis
Process analysis looks for ways to make a process better. This analysis also looks at problems, limits, and tasks that don’t add value that happen during a process.
Root cause analysis (RCA)
Cause and effect analysis is a way to find the main reason behind a difference, problem, or risk. There may be more than one difference, flaw, or risk that has a root cause. You can also use it to find the real reasons of a problem and fix them. If you get rid of all the reasons why a problem happened, it won’t happen again.
Decision Making
Multicriteria decision analysis is one way to make decisions that can be used in this situation, but it’s not the only one. Multicriteria decision making evaluates several factors when talking about options that might affect the quality of a project or result. Making choices about a project can include picking between different ways to implement it or suppliers. When making a product choice, one may look at the life cycle cost, schedule, stakeholder satisfaction, and risks of fixing product defects.
Data Representation
For manage quality in project management , you can use any of the following data format methods:
Affinity diagrams
You can use affinity diagrams to group possible flaws into areas that need the most attention.
Cause-and-effect diagrams
You might also hear of these diagrams as fishbone diagrams, why-why diagrams, or Ishikawa diagrams. This kind of diagram separates the problem statement’s causes into separate branches. This makes it easier to find the problem’s major or root cause.
Flowcharts
A flowchart displays a list of steps that result in a problem.
Histograms
Using a histogram, you can see a graph of number data. Not only can histograms show the number of defects per deliverable, but they can also rank the causes of defects and show how many times each process doesn’t follow the rules. They can also show other types of project or product flaws.
Matrix diagrams
There are strong links between the rows and columns that make up the matrix that the matrix diagram tries to show. These links are between factors, causes, and goals.
Scatter diagrams
To show the connection between two factors, you can use a scatter diagram. It is possible to show a link between a quality defect on one axis and any part of a process, environment, or action on the other.
Audits
An audit is a planned, separate process that checks whether project activities follow the rules, policies, and procedures of the company and the project. An external team, like the company’s internal audit department, the project management office (PMO), or an outside inspector of the company usually does a quality audit. The following are some examples of quality audit goals, but they are not all of them:
- Keeping track of all the good and best practices that are being used;
- figuring out all the problems, gaps, and nonconformities;
- Incorporating or introducing good practices used in comparable projects within the company and/or business;
- actively and positively giving help to improve the implementation of processes that will help the team be more productive; and
- Bringing attention to what each report added to the organization’s lessons-learned database.
After that, work to fix any problems should lower the cost of quality and make sponsors or customers more likely to accept the project’s outcome. Quality audits can be planned or done at random, and they can be done by internal or external inspectors.
Quality audits can make sure that accepted change requests are carried out. This includes updates, corrective actions, defect repairs, and preventative actions.
Design For X
One way to improve the design of a product is to follow a set of technical principles called Design for X (DfX). DfX can change or even make the product’s properties better. There are many things that can be X in DfX, such as dependability, deployment, assembly, manufacturing, cost, service, usefulness, safety, and quality. Using the DfX could lead to lower costs, better product, higher performance, and happy customers.
Problem Solving
Finding answers to problems is what problem-solving is all about. It can involve finding out more, thinking critically, being artistic, using numbers, or using logical methods. A key part of both quality assurance and quality improvement is fixing problems in a structured and effective way. As a result of the Control Quality method or quality audits, problems can happen with a process or a deliverable. A structured approach to fixing problems will help get rid of the issue and create a long-lasting answer. The following things are usually part of problem-solving methods:
- Defining the problem,
- Identifying the root-cause,
- Generating possible solutions,
- Choosing the best solution,
- Implementing the solution, and
- Verifying solution effectiveness.
Quality Improvement Methods
Quality can get better based on the results and suggestions of quality control processes, the results of quality checks, or the way the Manage Quality process solves problems. Six Sigma and plan-do-check-act are two of the most popular quality improvement tools used to look for ways to make things better.
Manage Quality: Outputs
Quality Reports
There are different kinds of quality reports, such as qualitative, quantitative, or graphics. Different processes and teams can use the information you give them to fix things and meet the quality standards for the project. Quality reports may include all quality management issues brought up by the team, suggestions for how to make the process, project, or product better, suggestions for corrective actions (like rework, fixing bugs or defects, 100% inspection, and more), and a summary of what the Control Quality process found.
Test And Evaluation Documents
You can make test and review documents based on the needs of the industry and the organization’s templates. They go into the Control Quality process and are used to see how well quality goals are being met. As part of these papers, there may be specific checklists and detailed requirements traceability matrices.
Change Requests
If there are changes in the Manage Quality process that affect any part of the project management plan, project documents, or project or product management processes, the project manager needs to make a change request and follow the steps in the Perform Integrated Change Control process.
Project Management Plan Updates
People in the company have to fill out a change request for any changes they want to make to the project management plan. The following parts of the project management plan may need a change request:
Quality management plan
Based on the real results, the agreed-upon way of managing quality may need to be changed.
Scope baseline
Certain quality control tasks may cause the scope baseline to change.
Schedule baseline
Some actions related to quality management may cause the schedule baseline to change.
Cost baseline
The cost baseline could change because of certain actions related to quality management.
Project Documents Updates
Because of this method, project documents like, but aren’t limited to, the following may be updated:
Issue log
The issue log keeps track of any new problems that come up because of this process.
Lessons learned register
Problems that were faced and how they could have been avoided, as well as methods that worked well for managing quality, are written down in the lessons learned register.
Risk register
As this process goes on, any new risks that are found are written down in the risk register and managed using the risk management methods.
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