Tools for

Managing Project
Quality
PMI Westchester Quality SIG
-Best Practices-

December 2007

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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., Jurans Quality Handbook, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1999, p. 53.

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Project Quality Overview

Quality Planning
Customers
Requirements
Specifications
Quality Assurance
QA Activities
Quality Plan
Quality Control
Quality Control
Quality Improvements

identify and prioritize customers

identify and prioritize requirements
these are checked with results in quality control
activities are inserted into the quality plan and executed
results of activities are checked in quality control
results are checked with specifications;
exits quality control to quality improvements
improvement of processes toward beneficial change:
May use a plan-do-check-act process

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Tools for Managing

Project Quality

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Tools for Managing

Project Quality

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Contact Information
Linda P. Dowdell, PMP, MBA, MS
President of Dowdell Consulting Services, LLC
A Project Management Services Company
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lpdowdell@mypmtools.com
914-874-4343

Public Relations Program Manager

& Quality Chair for
Project Management Institute Westchester

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