Project Quality

Management

1
Introduction

z Include the processes required to ensure that

the project will satisfy the needs for which it
was undertaken
z Include all activities of the overall
management function that determine the
quality policy, objectives and responsibilities
and implements them by means such as
quality planning, quality assurance, quality
control, and quality improvement, within the
quality system
2
What is Quality?
z The International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) defines quality as “the degree to which a set
of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements”
(ISO9000:2000).
z Other experts define quality based on:
z Conformance to requirements: The project’s processes
and products meet written specifications.
z Fitness for use: A product can be used as it was intended.

3
What Is Project Quality Management?
z Project quality management ensures that the project
will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.
z Processes include:
z Quality planning: Identifying which quality standards are
relevant to the project and how to satisfy them.
z Quality assurance: Periodically evaluating overall project
performance to ensure the project will satisfy the relevant
quality standards.
z Quality control: Monitoring specific project results to
ensure that they comply with the relevant quality
standards.

4
5
z Project quality management must address:
z Management of the project
z Product of the project
z Quality vs grade
z Grade – “a category or rank given to entities having
the same functional use but different technical
characteristics”
z Software product:
z high quality (no obvious bugs, readable manual) but low
grade (a limited number of features
z Low quality (many bugs, poorly organized user
documentation) and high grade (numerous feature)
6
Modern Quality Management Practices

z Customer satisfaction –
z understanding, managing and influencing needs
so that customer expectation are met.
z Conformance to requirements
z Fitness for use
z Prevention over inspection
z Cost of preventing mistakes is always much less
than the cost of correcting them as revealed by
inspection

7
Modern Quality Management Practices

z Management responsibility
z Success requires the participation of all members
of the team,
z the responsibility of management to provide the
resources needed to succeed
z Processes within phases
z Plan-do-check-act cycle
z Quality improvement initiatives by the
performing organization (TQM, Continuous
Improvement etc)
8
Who’s Responsible for the Quality
of Projects?

z Project managers are ultimately responsible

for quality management on their projects.
z Several organizations and references can help
project managers and their teams understand
quality.
z International Organization for Standardization
(www.iso.org)
z IEEE (www.ieee.org)

9
QUALITY PLANNING

z Involves identifying which quality standards

are relevant to the project and determining
how to satisfy them
z Should be performed regularly and in parallel
with the other project planning processes
z Implies the ability to anticipate situations and
prepare actions to bring about the desired
outcome.
z Quality is planned in, not inspected in

10
The processes

Inputs
Inputs Toolsand
Tools andTechniques
Techniques Outputs
Outputs
1.1.Quality
Qualitypolicy
policy 1.1.Benefit/cost
Benefit/costanalysis
analysis 1.1.Quality
Quality
2.2.Scope
Scopestatement
statement 2.2.Benchmarking
Benchmarking managementplan
management plan
3.3.Product
Product 3.3.Flowcharting
Flowcharting 2.2.Operational
Operational
description
description 4.4.Design
Designofof definitions
definitions
4.4.Standards
Standardsand and experiments
experiments 3.3.Checklists
Checklists
regulations
regulations 5.5.Cost
Costofofquality
quality 4.4.Inputs
Inputstotoother
other
5.5.Other
Otherprocess
process processes
processes
outputs
outputs

11
Inputs
z Quality Policy
z The overall intentions and direction of an organization with
regard to quality, as formally expressed by top
management
z Project team can adopt the performing organization policy
“as is” or develop a policy for the project
z Scope statement
z Documents major project deliverables, as well as the
project objectives that serve to define important
stakeholder requirements
z Product descriptions
z Contain details of technical issues and other concerns that
may affect quality planning

12
z Standards and regulations
z Must consider any application area-specific
standards or regulations that may affect the
project
z Other process outputs
z Processes in other knowledge areas may produce
outputs that should be considered as part of
quality planning
z Eg in procurement planning may identify
contractor quality requirements that should be
reflected in the overall quality management plan
13
Tools and Techniques

z Benefit/cost analysis
z Primary benefit of meeting quality requirements is
less rework, which means higher productivity,
lower costs and increased stakeholders
satisfaction
z Primary cost is the expense associated with
project quality management activities
z Benchmarking
z Involves comparing actual or planned project
practices to those of other projects to generate
ideas for improvement and to provide a standard
by which to measure performance
14
z Flowcharting
z Any diagram that shows how various elements of
a system relate
z Cause-and-effect diagrams
z System or process flow charts
z Flowcharting can help the project team anticipate
what and where quality problems might occur and
thus can help develop approaches for dealing
with them

15
Cause-and-effect
Cause-and-effectdiagrams,
diagrams,also
alsocalled
calledIshikawa
Ishikawadiagrams
diagramsor
or
fishbone
fishbonediagrams,
diagrams,which
whichillustrate
illustratehow
howvarious
variousfactors
factorsmight
mightbe
be
linked
linkedto
topotential
potentialproblems
problemsororeffects
effects

16
17
An
Anexample
exampleof ofaaprocess
processflow
flow
chart
chartfor
fordesign
designreviews
reviews

18
z Design of experiments
z is a quality planning technique that helps identify which
variables have the most influence on the overall outcome
of a process.
z Also applies to project management issues, such as cost
and schedule trade-offs.
z Eg senior engineers will cost more than junior engineers,
but can also be expected to complete the assigned work in
less time
z Involves documenting important factors that directly
contribute to meeting customer requirements.

19
z Cost of quality
z Refers to the total cost of all efforts to achieve
product/service quality and include all work to
ensure conformance to requirements, as well as
all work resulting from non-conformance to
requirements
z Three types of costs that are incurred
z Prevention cost
z Appraisal costs
z Failure costs

20
Outputs

z Quality management plan

z Should describe how the project management
team will implement its quality policy
z ISO 9000 terminology :- “the organizational
structures, responsibilities, procedures, processes
and resources needed to implement quality
management”
z Provides input to the overall project plan and must
address quality control, quality assurance and
quality improvement for the project

21
z Operational definitions
z Describes in very specific terms what something
is and how it is measured by the quality control
process
z Checklists
z Structured tool used to verify that a set of required
steps have been performed
z Input to other processes
z Identify a need for further activity in another area

22
QUALITY ASSURANCES
z Quality assurance includes all the activities related to
satisfying the relevant quality standards for a project.
z Another goal of quality assurance is continuous quality
improvement.
z Benchmarking generates ideas for quality
improvements by comparing specific project practices or
product characteristics to those of other projects or
products within or outside the performing organization.
z A quality audit is a structured review of specific quality
management activities that help identify lessons learned
that could improve performance on current or future
projects.
23
 Inputs
Inputs Toolsand
Tools andTechniques
Techniques Outputs
Outputs
1.1.Quality
Quality 1.1.Quality
Qualityplanning
planningtools
tools 1.1.Quality
Quality
managementplan
management plan andtechniques
and techniques improvements
improvements
2.2.Results
Resultsofofquality
quality 2.2.Quality
Qualityaudits
audits
control
control
measurements
measurements
3.3.Operational
Operational
definitions
definitions

24
QUALITY CONTROL

z Involves monitoring specific project results to

determine if they comply with relevant quality
standards, and identifying ways to eliminate
causes of unsatisfactory results
z Often performed by a Quality Control
Department

25
z Requires some knowledge of statistical quality
control, especially sampling and probability, to help
evaluate quality control outputs
z Prevention (keeping errors out of the process) and
inspection (keeping errors out of the hands of the
customer)
z Attribute sampling (the result conforms, or it does not) and
variables sampling (the result is rated on a continuous
scale that measures the degree of conformity)
z Special causes (unusual events) and random causes
(normal process variations)
z Tolerances (the result is acceptable if it falls within the
range specified by the tolerance) and control limits (the
process is in control if the result falls within the control
limits)
26
 Inputs
Inputs Toolsand
Tools andTechniques
Techniques Outputs
Outputs
1.1.Work
Workresults
results 1.1.Inspection
Inspection 1.1.Quality
Quality
2.2.Quality
Quality 2.2.Control
Controlchart
chart improvements
improvements
managementplan
management plan 3.3.Pareto
Paretodiagrams
diagrams 2.2.Acceptance
Acceptance
3.3.Operational
Operational 4.4.Statistical
Statisticalsampling
sampling decisions
decisions
definitions
definitions 5.5.Flowcharting
Flowcharting 3.3.Rework
Rework
4.4.Checklists
Checklists 6.6.Trend
Trendanalysis
analysis 4.4.Completed
Completed
checklists
checklists
5.5.Process
Process
adjustments
adjustments

27
Pareto Analysis

z Pareto analysis involves identifying the vital

few contributors that account for the most
quality problems in a system.

z Also called the 80-20 rule, meaning that 80

percent of problems are often due to 20
percent of the causes.

z Pareto diagrams are histograms, or column

charts representing a frequency distribution,
that help identify and prioritize problem areas.
28
Sample Pareto Diagram

29
30
Statistical Sampling and Standard
Deviation

z Statistical sampling involves choosing part

of a population of interest for inspection.
z The size of a sample depends on how
representative you want the sample to be.
z Sample size formula:
Sample size = .25 X (certainty factor/acceptable error)2

z Be sure to consult with an expert when using

statistical analysis.
31
Six Sigma

z Six Sigma is “a comprehensive and flexible

system for achieving, sustaining, and
maximizing business success. Six Sigma is
uniquely driven by close understanding of
customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data,
and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to
managing, improving, and reinventing
business processes.”*

*Pande, Peter S., Robert P. Neuman, and Roland R. Cavanagh, The

Six Sigma Way, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000, p. xi.
32
Basic Information on Six Sigma

z The target for perfection is the achievement

of no more than 3.4 defects per million
opportunities.

z The principles can apply to a wide variety of

processes.

z Six Sigma projects normally follow a five-

phase improvement process called DMAIC.

33
 DMAIC

z DMAIC is a systematic, closed-loop process for continued

improvement that is scientific and fact based.
z DMAIC stands for:
z Define: Define the problem/opportunity, process, and customer
requirements.
z Measure: Define measures, then collect, compile, and display data.
z Analyze: Scrutinize process details to find improvement
opportunities.
z Improve: Generate solutions and ideas for improving the problem.
z Control: Track and verify the stability of the improvements and the
predictability of the solution.

34
How is Six Sigma Quality
Control Unique?

z It requires an organization-wide commitment.

z Training follows the “Belt” system.
z Six Sigma organizations have the ability and
willingness to adopt contrary objectives, such
as reducing errors and getting things done
faster.
z It is an operating philosophy that is customer
focused and strives to drive out waste, raise
levels of quality, and improve financial
performance at breakthrough levels.
35
Examples of Six Sigma Organizations

z Motorola, Inc. pioneered the adoption of Six

Sigma in the 1980s and saved about $14
billion.*
z Allied Signal/Honeywell saved more than
$600 million a year by reducing the costs of
reworking defects and improving aircraft
engine design processes.**
z General Electric uses Six Sigma to focus on
achieving customer satisfaction.
*Pande, Peter S., Robert P. Neuman, and Roland R. Cavanagh, The Six Sigma Way. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2000, p. 7.
**Ibid. p. 9. 36
Six Sigma and Project Management

z Joseph M. Juran stated, “All improvement takes place

project by project, and in no other way.”*
z It’s important to select projects carefully and apply
higher quality where it makes sense; companies that
use Six Sigma do not always boost their stock values.
z As Mikel Harry puts it, “I could genetically engineer a
Six Sigma goat, but if a rodeo is the marketplace,
people are still going to buy a Four Sigma horse.”**
z Six Sigma projects must focus on a quality problem or
gap between the current and desired performance
and not have a clearly understood problem or a
predetermined solution.

*“What You Need to Know About Six Sigma,” Productivity Digest (December 2001),37p.
38.
**Cliff d L “Wh Y C S f l I Si Si ”F t (J 22 2001)
Six Sigma Projects Use
Project Management

z The training for Six Sigma includes many project

management concepts, tools, and techniques.

z For example, Six Sigma projects often use business

cases, project charters, schedules, budgets, and so
on.

z Six Sigma projects are done in teams; the project

manager is often called the team leader, and the
sponsor is called the champion.

38
Six Sigma and Statistics

z The term sigma means standard deviation.

z Standard deviation measures how much
variation exists in a distribution of data.
z Standard deviation is a key factor in
determining the acceptable number of
defective units found in a population.
z Six Sigma projects strive for no more than 3.4
defects per million opportunities, yet this
number is confusing to many statisticians.

39
Six Sigma Uses a Conversion Table
z Using a normal curve, if a process is at six sigma,
there would be no more than two defective units
per billion produced.
z Six Sigma uses a scoring system that accounts
for time, an important factor in determining
process variations.
z Yield represents the number of units handled
correctly through the process steps.
z A defect is any instance where the product or
service fails to meet customer requirements.
z There can be several opportunities to have a
40
defect.
Figure 8-2. Normal Distribution and
Standard Deviation

41
Table 8-3. Sigma and Defective Units

Specification Range Percent of Defective Units

Population
(in +/- Sigmas) Per Billion
Within Range
1 68.27 317,300,000
2 95.45 45,400,000
3 99.73 2,700,000
4 99.9937 63,000
5 99.999943 57
6 99.9999998 2

42
 Six Sigma Conversion Table

The Six Sigma convention for determining defects is based on the above
conversion table. It accounts for a 1.5 sigma shift to measure the number of
defects per million opportunities instead of the number of defects
per unit.
43
Quality Control Charts and the Seven
Run Rule

z A control chart is a graphic display of data that

illustrates the results of a process over time. It helps
prevent defects and allows you to determine whether
a process is in control or out of control.

z The seven run rule states that if seven data points in

a row are all below the mean, above the mean, or are
all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs
to be examined for non-random problems.

44
Six 9s of Quality
z Six 9s of quality is a measure of quality control
equal to 1 fault in 1 million opportunities.

z In the telecommunications industry, it means

99.9999 percent service availability or 30 seconds of
down time a year.

z This level of quality has also been stated as the

target goal for the number of errors in a
communications circuit, system failures, or errors in
lines of code.

45
Quality Control Charts

z A control chart is a graphic display of data that

illustrates the results of a process over time.
z The main use of control charts is to prevent defects,
rather than to detect or reject them.
z Quality control charts allow you to determine whether
a process is in control or out of control.
z When a process is in control, any variations in the results of
the process are created by random events; processes that
are in control do not need to be adjusted.
z When a process is out of control, variations in the results of
the process are caused by non-random events; you need to
identify the causes of those non-random events and adjust
the process to correct or eliminate them.
46
The Seven Run Rule

z You can use quality control charts and the

seven run rule to look for patterns in data.

z The seven run rule states that if seven data

points in a row are all below the mean, above
the mean, or are all increasing or decreasing,
then the process needs to be examined for
non-random problems.

47
Sample Quality Control Chart

48
49
Modern Quality Management

z Modern quality management:

z Requires customer satisfaction.

z Prefers prevention to inspection.

z Recognizes management responsibility for

quality.

z Noteworthy quality experts include Deming,

Juran, Crosby, Ishikawa, Taguchi, and
Feigenbaum.
50
Quality Experts
z Deming was famous for his work in rebuilding
Japan and his 14 Points for Management.
z Juran wrote the Quality Control Handbook and
ten steps to quality improvement.
z Crosby wrote Quality is Free and suggested that
organizations strive for zero defects.
z Ishikawa developed the concepts of quality
circles and fishbone diagrams.
z Taguchi developed methods for optimizing the
process of engineering experimentation.
z Feigenbaum developed the concept of total
quality control. 51
Malcolm Baldrige Award

z The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

originated in 1987 to recognize companies that
have achieved a level of world-class competition
through quality management.
z Given by the President of the United States to
U.S. businesses.
z Three awards each year in different categories:
z Manufacturing
z Service
z Small business
z Education and health care
52
ISO Standards

z ISO 9000 is a quality system standard that:

z Is a three-part, continuous cycle of planning, controlling,
and documenting quality in an organization.

z Provides minimum requirements needed for an

organization to meet its quality certification standards.

z Helps organizations around the world reduce costs and

improve customer satisfaction.

z ISO 15504, sometimes known as SPICE

(Software Process Improvement and Capability
dEtermination), is a framework for the
assessment of software processes. 53
Improving Project Quality

z Several suggestions for improving quality for

projects include:

z Establish leadership that promotes quality.

z Understand the cost of quality.

z Focus on organizational influences and workplace

factors that affect quality.

z Follow maturity models.

54
Leadership

z As Joseph M. Juran said in 1945, “It is most

important that top management be quality-
minded. In the absence of sincere
manifestation of interest at the top, little will
happen below.”*
z A large percentage of quality problems are
associated with management, not technical
issues.

*American Society for Quality (ASQ), (www.asqc.org/about/history/juran.html).

55
The Cost of Quality
z The cost of quality is the cost of conformance plus
the cost of nonconformance.
z Conformance means delivering products that meet
requirements and fitness for use.
z Cost of nonconformance means taking responsibility for
failures or not meeting quality expectations.
z A 2002 study reported that software bugs cost the
U.S. economy $59.6 billion each year and that one
third of the bugs could be eliminated by an improved
testing infrastructure.*

*RTI International, “Software Bugs Cost U.S. Economy $59.6 Billion Annually, RTI Study
Finds,” July 1, 2002. 56
 Costs Per Hour of Downtime Caused by Software
Defects

Business Cost per Hour Downtime

Automated teller machines (medium-sized bank) $14,500
Package shipping service $28,250
Telephone ticket sales $69,000
Catalog sales center $90,000
Airline reservation center (small airline) $89,500

57
 Five Cost Categories Related to Quality

z Prevention cost: Cost of planning and executing a project

so it is error-free or within an acceptable error range.
z Appraisal cost: Cost of evaluating processes and their
outputs to ensure quality.
z Internal failure cost: Cost incurred to correct an identified
defect before the customer receives the product.
z External failure cost: Cost that relates to all errors not
detected and corrected before delivery to the customer.
z Measurement and test equipment costs: Capital cost of
equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal
activities.
58
 Media Snapshot*
z A 2004 study by Nucleus Research Inc. estimates
that spam will cost large companies nearly $2,000
per employee in lost productivity in 2004 alone,
despite investments in software to block spam.
Spam currently accounts for more than 70 percent
of total e-mail volume worldwide.
z In just one month (August 2003), at least 50 new
Internet viruses surfaced, and losses related to
computer viruses cost North American companies
about $3.5 billion. Businesses have suffered at least
$65 billion in lost productivity because of computer
viruses since 1997.
*McGuire, David, “Report: Spam Costs Are Rising at Work,” Washington Post (June 7, 2004).
59
Organizational Influences, Workplace
Factors, and Quality

z Study by DeMarco and Lister showed that

organizational issues had a much greater influence on
programmer productivity than the technical
environment or programming languages.
z Programmer productivity varied by a factor of one to
ten across organizations, but only by 21 percent
within the same organization.
z Study found no correlation between productivity and
programming language, years of experience, or
salary.
z A dedicated workspace and a quiet work environment
were key factors to improving programmer
productivity. 60
Expectations and Cultural Differences
in Quality

z Project managers must understand and

manage stakeholder expectations.

z Expectations also vary by:

z Organization’s culture

z Geographic regions

61
Maturity Models

z Maturity models are frameworks for helping

organizations improve their processes and
systems.

z The Software Quality Function Deployment

Model focuses on defining user requirements and
planning software projects.

z The Software Engineering Institute’s Capability

Maturity Model is a five-level model laying out a
generic path to process improvement for software
development in organizations.
62
Using Software to Assist in Project
Quality Management

z Spreadsheet and charting software helps create

Pareto diagrams, fishbone diagrams, and so on.
z Statistical software packages help perform statistical
analysis.
z Specialized software products help manage Six
Sigma projects or create quality control charts.
z Project management software helps create Gantt
charts and other tools to help plan and track work
related to quality management.
63