Project quality management

Prasad Sachintha Mapatunage

Good project quality management techniques are important to ensure that a project delivers and end results are met or have exceeded the customer's expectations. It is important to monitor the project continuously to prevent errors and misinterpretations. “Quality” refers to the ability of a process or product, to satisfy both stated and implied needs, with the needs being defined by the stakeholders.

Having a project quality plan will help determine which quality standards are important to the project. It will also help ensure that the factors and activities required by the stakeholders are included, while unnecessary activities are removed. It is also important to remember that quality is an ongoing process. By refining and improving the processes, the end result is continually improved until the level of quality desired is achieved.

High communication standards should be maintained among the quality team and the project's key stakeholders in order to determine their needs and their definition of quality. In every project, quality should be as much important as the schedule or the budget. Schedules and budgets often require to be adjusted, as the project progresses until the desired outcome is achieved. After all, even if the end result is on time and under budget, the project cannot be considered a success, if the quality does not meet its requirements.

Quality Definition

Project quality management begins by defining the quality standards to be used for the project. These standards will come from stakeholders, beneficiaries and often from the overall standards of the organization. A careful observation of quality standards used, will help insure a successful project outcome that will be accepted by the stakeholders. In addition to quality standards which contribute towards the end result of the project, there may also be organizational quality standards that must be met for the actual management of the project, such as certain types of reporting or project tracking methods.

Quality Characteristics

The end result of the project would be measured against certain characteristics that would determine their level of quality which dependents on how well they meet the needs of the stakeholders. Quality characteristics such as performance, functionality, suitability, reliability and consistency, are commonly used to measure the project's end result. These quality characteristics are not only applied to the end result itself, but also to any processes or methods used to deliver the end product, such as equipment or computers. Therefore, the required quality characteristics must be fully stated and understood before any services, materials or equipment used in any part of the project are procured.

Quality Plan

A quality plan should be written to state the overall activities and tasks that are needed to meet the project's quality standards. This plan will include a description of all relevant quality standards and definitions, as well as a description of all conditions that must be met to satisfy the stakeholders. The procedures that would be used to ensure that all quality standards are followed will also be part of the quality plan.

Procedures designed to deal with inspection testing, non-conformance and resulting in corrective actions, are also important, as are the methods by which quality records are maintained. The schedule for quality audits and any necessary training requirements should also be included.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance processes are used to provide the stakeholders with the guarantee that standards are being maintained, and that the end result will meet their needs. As opposed to quality control, which occurs at the end of the process, quality assurance is planned during the project's earliest stages. To facilitate this assurance, quality audits are scheduled, which provides a structured review of the project activities. As a result of these audits, corrective actions can be approved if necessary via change control processes.

The Shewhart Cycle

Often abbreviated as PDCA, this model includes four steps that have been designed to help ensure quality assurance.

This includes “planning” to establish a process and objectives, “doing” to implement the processes, “checking” to evaluate and monitor the processes and “acting” to implement changes if required, to achieve the desired quality result.

This cycle is considered to be never-ending in a constant quest for continual improvement.

Quality Control

Quality control is used to evaluate the project's end results as compared to the stated goals and requirements, as well as how successful the project was in terms of budget, schedule and scope management.

Evaluations are performed during quality control that will determine if the stakeholders accept or reject the end result. If rejected, rework actions must be planned in order to bring the end result up to expectations. As a result, adjustments are added to the overall process by means of a change control process.

Quality Improvement

Quality improvement is a continuous and systematic process which is used to finding ways to minimize wastage or unnecessary actions to make processes more efficient and effective.

If the current level of quality does not match the expected level, quality improvement processes can be used to help identify and address the issues that may be causing the discrepancy. Quality improvement concentrates on identifying what needs to be improved, analyzing the processes, developing solutions or revisions that will solve the problem, and testing to verify that the new solution is effective.

Cost of Quality

In every project, there is a cost associated with the methods used to maintain quality levels. Poor quality is defined as the end result failing to meet the stakeholders’ requirements, or any level of error or waste. These costs include any expenses that would be associated with the overall failure of the project, if that were to occur, in addition to the preventative costs needed to avoid quality problems and the appraisal costs for testing, evaluation and inspection.

Challenges of Quality Management

Operating a successful and profitable business can be very challenging. There are so many aspects which need to be addressed, including the quality management system that is in place to ensure ISO certification. For many businesses, the quality management is one of the first things that gets left behind when the more pressing situations come pushing to the front of the line for attention. While it can be easy to ignore the need to maintain good quality management, when the time comes for an ISO audit, the stress level seems to rise drastically. All of the things that have been put on the back of the list suddenly need to be addressed very quickly. It takes extra man power and many stressful decisions to get things back on track so that they do not lose their ISO certificate.

This is why many people are turning towards an ISO consultant to help with quality management. This person will make sure that all documents and procedures are up to date and are accurate. They will constantly make suggestions so that the problems can be resolved one at a time, not all at once the ISO audit comes around.

This is a very cost effective way to manage the quality management system that is in place. You are outsourcing the attention that is needed and can go forward with the pressing issues that you are working with in the business. When something needs to be brought to your attention, the consultant will be there to address it. If you do not hear from them, you can forget that process and move forward with the improvements that you want to make on other ends of the spectrum.

Someone that has taken the ISO courses will know what they need to look for and what things must be in place in order to pass the audit and maintain the certification. They have taken the ISO course work and have a working knowledge of what is necessary. As they evaluate the documentation and guidelines that are in place in your work force, they will speak up to make suggestions when they are necessary.

There is a lot of training that goes into becoming an ISO consultant. This person must spend a great deal of time gaining complete understanding of what is necessary in the niche that your business is in. When you have someone with much information and expertise on your team, you will do very well when auditors come along and you will not have to worry about some of the harsh penalties that can come from a failed audit.

A strong and organized quality management process is what makes a business succeed. When this process begins to deteriorate, the business suffers. The quality will drop, customers and clients will definitely see the difference.

The initial investment to have an outside ISO consultant to provide continuous monitoring of your quality management system is something that can prove to be very valuable.

(The writer is at present studying international transportation and logistics management at the CINEC Maritime Campus in Malabe. He could be reached at [email protected])