PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

- Quality is one of the most important areas in developing a project management plan
- Aside from satisfying goals of triple constraint, customers should be satisfied as well
through quality

WHAT WENT WRONG?

- In 1986, two hospital patients died after receiving fatal doses of radiation form a Therac
25 machine after a software problem caused the machine to ignore calibration data.
o If system will malfunction, it will cause life
o Take project quality management seriously
- In one of the biggest software errors in banking history, Chemical Bank mistakenly
dedicate about $15 million form more than 100,000 customer accounts
- In August 2008, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse stated that more than 236 million data
records of US residents have been exposed due to security breachers since January 2005
- In March 2012, Consumer Reports listed several recalls on its web site less than 10 days,
including LED lights overheating, five different models of cars having problems
-

WHAT IS PROJECT QUALITY?

- The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines quality as “the degree
to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements (ISO9000:2000)
o Meaning varies. Some may consider satisfied customer as quality
- Other experts define quality based on
o Conformance to requirements
 The project’s processes and products meet written specifications
 Product produced conforms to requirements
o Fitness for use
 A product can be used as it was intended
 Serves its function

WHAT IS PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT?

- Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the needs for which it
was undertaken
- Processes include:
o Planning quality management
 Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to
satisfy them; a metric is a standard of measurement
 Any activity assuring product quality should be carefully plan of this stage
 Development of project quality management plan
 There are many ways to measure quality of product or service that you
need to produce
o Performing quality assurance
 Periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure the project
will satisfy the relevant quality standards
 Act of making sure product or service of project has good quality
 Many ways to ensure output has quality
o Performing quality control
 Monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply with the
relevant quality standards
 More on changes that may be introduced later with respect to quality
 Client suggestions or changes based on quality
 Assess and project team must make sure that request will not
make big impact on the project

PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

- Planning
o Process: plan quality management
o Outputs: Quality management plan, process improvement plan, quality metrics,
quality checklists, and project documents updates
 Process improvement plan if there is really a need to improve project
 Quality metrics and checklist used in performing quality assurance
 Updates are done here
- Executing
o Process: Perform quality assurance
 Always check quality of product
o Outputs: Change requests, project management plan updates, project document
updates, and organizational process asset updates
 Change requests
 if change quality result is failed.
 Example is a rework or modification.
 Any action made here is based on output of quality assurance of
quality audit
 If there are changes, update documents
 Depends which document will be affected by change
- Monitoring and controlling
o Process: Perform quality control
 Make sure that product developed conforms to set standards during
planning stage
o Outputs: Quality control measurements, validates changes, validated
deliverables, work performance information, change requests, project
management plan updates, project document updates, and organizational
process asset updates

PLANNING QUALITY
 - Implies the ability to anticipate situations and prepare actions to bring about the desired
outcome
- Important to prevent defects by (done during planning phase):
o Selecting proper materials
 Includes selecting people for the project
o Training and indoctrinating people in quality
 Stakeholders or people working on project must understand importance
of quality and make sure to exert much effort
o Planning a process that ensures the appropriate outcome

SCOPE ASPECTS OF IT PROJECTS

- Functionality is the degree to which a system performs its intended function
o If product produced functions according to specifications to as expected
- Features are the system’s special characteristics that appeal to users
o Characteristics not intended for product but are there to attract more users
o Additional functionality or features or characteristics that are not really
considered as part of the functionality
o For improvement of product or to make it more appealing to user
o If removes, product is still functional
- System outputs are the screens and reports the system generates
- Performance addresses how well a product or service performs the customer’s intended
use
o Measure how the product is performing
o Product may have all functionalities expected from it but it does not have quality
if it is not performing well
o Measure is normally on the speed of execution
- Reliability is the ability of a product or service to perform as expected under normal
conditions
o If product is always malfunctioning during tasks, it is not reliable
- Maintainability addresses the ease of performing maintenance on a product
o Making changes or fixing problems
- Measure quality of project or product based on these

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR THE QUALITY OF PROJECTS?

- Project managers are ultimately responsible for quality management on their projects
- Several organizations and references can help project managers and their teams
understand quality
o International Organization for Standardization (www.iso.org)
o IEEE (www.ieee.org)

PERFORMING QUALITY ASSURANCE

- Quality assurance includes all the activities related to satisfying the relevant quality
standards for a project
 - Another goal of quality assurance is continuous quality improvement
- Where the project or product is being tested for quality
- 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
o Find similar project and compare and try to see if product you are developing is
not really far from the already developed product
o Compare and improve more
o See rooms for improvement
- 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
o Normally being held in a meeting
o A group of people may be doing this and they try to see if the project team is
really working to make sure that their product has quality
o Check procedures in making product, etc.
o Output is important because it tells project team how they could improve
product of process of developing product further

CONTROLLING QUALITY
- The main outputs of quality control are:
o Acceptance decisions
 If there is nothing else they can do to work on the problem, they just
accept it
 Termination of project
o Rework
 Product did not pass standard, they may repeat the work again
 Project team may be asked to do everything again from scratch
o Process adjustments
 Maybe the reason why quality is not nice is because of the process

SIX SIGMA
- 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”
- Used to measure level of quality
- Way to improve quality the product of project
- Used to ensure quality of product
- Another methodology that can be used to make sure that the requirements you are
getting form the customers are clear and accurate
- The focus is on quality, making sure of product’s quality
- Procedures and activities done in this methodology has something to do with ensure
that the output has good quality
 - Importance is that project team and customer have close interaction. They are working
closely to make sure all requirements have been captured and to make sure that
expectations of customer are being met

BASIC INFORMATION ON SIX SIGMA

- The target for perfection is the achievement of no more than 3.4 defects per million
opportunities
o If not achieved, do more improvements
- The principles can apply to a wide variety of processes
- Six Sigma projects normally follow a five-phase improvement process called DMAIC

DMAIC
- DMAIC is a systematic, closed-loop process for continued improvement that is scientific
and fact based
- DMAIC stands for:
o Define: Define the problem/opportunity, process, and customer requirements
o Measure: Define measures, then collect, compile, and display data
 Measures that will be used for assessing the work or the quality of the
product
o Analyze: Scrutinize process details to find improvement opportunities
o Improve: Generate solutions and ideas for improving the problem
o Control: Track and verify the stability of the improvements and the predictability
of the solution

HOW IS SIX SIGMA QUALITY CONTROL UNIQUE?

- It requires an organization-wide commitment.
o Whole organization should be involved and committed to the project
- Training follows the “Belt” system
o Has black belt, yellow belt, white belt
o Color of the belt will tell level of expertise of six sigma manager
- Six Sigma organizations have the ability and willingness to adopt contrary objectives,
such as reducing errors and getting things done faster
- 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
o Project may look for someone who has six sigma knowledge or expertise if they
are already encountering a problem
o It may be that project team initially works on a project and is working without a
consultant. If there is a problem later on that they cannot manage, they can look
for someone who knows about six sigma that can help them.
o Can look for black belter six sigma expert to help them fix problem
o Quality-based problems only
o You can also have them initially
SIX SIGMA PROJECTS USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- The training for Six Sigma includes many project management concepts, tools, and
techniques
- For example, Six Sigma projects often use business cases, project charters, schedules,
budgets, and so on
- Six Sigma projects are done in teams; the project manager is often called the team
leader, and the sponsor is called the champion
o Team leader and champion work together closely

TESTING
- Many IT professionals think of testing as a stage that comes near the end of IT product
development
- Testing should be done during almost every phase of the IT product development life
cycle
o Not only after the development
o May be done in any phase of the project development
- Another way to make sure project product meets quality

TESTING TASKS IN THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

- Shows steps to be taken from start to end
- There are multiple tests to be used to ensure the quality of the project
- Unit tests, integration test, system test, user acceptance test

TYPES OF TESTS
- Unit testing tests each individual component (often a program) to ensure it is as defect-
free as possible
o In one module, there may be different components – test all of them
o Done by the project team
 - Integration testing occurs between unit and system testing to test functionally grouped
components
o Identify if you combine modules, will the work together or will there be a
problem
o Fix or try to look for problem if there are any
o Done by the project team
- System testing tests the entire system as one entity
o Testing whole system
o Everything is done
o Done by the project team
- User acceptance testing is an independent test performed by end users prior to
accepting the delivered system
o Different test which involves other people aside from project team such as end
users
o If not satisfied, fix what needs to be fixed, then do all tests again

TESTING ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

- Watts S. Humphrey, a renowned expert on software quality, defines a software defect as
anything that must be changed before delivery of the program
- Testing does not sufficiently prevent software defects because:
o The number of ways to test a complex system is huge
 There may be defects not seen during development
o Users will continue to invent new ways to use a system that its developers never
considered
 There is always room for improvement – new versions or models
- Humphrey suggests that people rethink the software development process to provide
no potential defects when you enter system testing; developers must be responsible for
providing error-free code at each stage of testing
- Tester must be non-biased to ensure quality
- Tests does not ensure that product is error-free

MODERN QUALITY MANAGEMENT

- Modern Quality Management
o Requires customer satisfaction
o Prefers prevention to inspection
o Recognizes management responsibility for quality
- Before delivering product to customer, it has already been tested to the fullest to
ensure that there are no or less problems
- We don’t want customers to be affected by problems that may arise while product is in
use already
- Problems must be detected and fixed before delivering product to customer
- Some quality experts helped develop theories, tools and techniques to define product
quality management
 o Provided to make sure that production of six sigma project ae stable

MALCOLM BALDRIGE AWARD

- The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award originated in 1987 to recognize
companies that have achieved a level of world-class competition through quality
management
o Started in honor of Malcolm Baldridge
 US Secretary of Commerce (1981 to 1987)
 Proponent and key element in improving prosperity and long-term
strength of US organizations
- Given by the President of the United States to U.S. businesses and organizations
- Organizations must apply for the award and they must be judged outstanding in 7 areas
o Leadership
o Strategic Planning
o Customer And Market Focus
o Information And Analysis
o Human Resource Focus
o Process Management
o Business Results
- Three awards each year in different categories:
o Manufacturing
o Service
o Small business
o Education and health care
- The awards recognize achievements in quality and performance and raise awareness
about the importance of quality as a competitive edge

ISO STANDARDS
- Network of national standards institutes that work in partnership with international
organizations, governments, industries, businesses, and consumer representatives
- ISO 9000 is a quality system standard that:
o Is a three-part, continuous cycle of planning, controlling, and documenting
quality in an organization
o Provides minimum requirements needed for an organization to meet its quality
certification standards
o Helps organizations around the world reduce costs and improve customer
satisfaction
o According to the iso website, in march 2015, the iso 9000 family addresses
various aspects of quality management and contains some of iso's best known
standards.
o The standards provide guidelines and tools for companies and organizations who
want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customers
requirements and that quality is consistently improved
 o The iso quality management standards and guidelines have earned a global
reputation as the basis for establishing quality management systems
o Standards continue to be updated and new standards are developed as needed
o Iso continues to offer standards to provide a framework for the assessment of
software processes
o The overall goals of a standard are to encourage organizations that are
interested in improving quality of software products to employ proven
consistent and reliable methods for assessing their software development
processes
o They can also use their assessment results as part of their improvement
programs
o The contributions of quality experts quality awards and quality standards are
important parts of project quality management
o Emphasizing quality in project management helps ensure that project create
products or services that meet customer needs and expectations

LEADERSHIP
- Aside from using good quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control, other
important issues such as strong leadership, understanding the cost of quality, providing
a good workplace to enhance quality, and working toward improving the organization's
overall maturity level in software development and project management can also help
improve quality
- 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”
o Main cause of quality problems is a lack of leadership
o As globalization continues to increase and customers become more and more
demanding, creating high quality products quickly at a reasonable price is
essential for staying in the business
o Having good quality programs in place helps organizations remain competitive
o To establish and implement effective quality programs top management must
lead the way
- A large percentage of quality problems are associated with management, not technical
issues
o Therefore tap management must take responsibility for creating, supporting, and
promoting quality programs
- Leadership provides an environment conducive to producing quality
- Management must publicly declare the company's philosophy and commitment to
quality, implement company-wide training programs in quality, implement
measurement programs to establish and track quality levels, and actively demonstrate
the importance of quality

THE COST OF QUALITY

 - The cost of quality is the cost of conformance plus the cost of nonconformance
o Conformance means delivering products that meet requirements and fitness for
use
 Examples include the costs associated with developing a quality plan,
costs for analyzing and managing product requirements, and costs for
testing
o Cost of nonconformance means taking responsibility for failures or not meeting
quality expectations
- A 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

FIVE COST CATEGORIES RELATED TO QUALITY

- Prevention cost
o Cost of planning and executing a project so it is error-free or within an
acceptable error range
o Includes preventive actions such as training, detailed studies related to quality,
and quality surveys of suppliers and subcontractors
- Appraisal cost
o Cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure quality
o Ensure that a project is error-free or within an acceptable error range
o Includes activities such as inspection and testing of products, maintenance of
inspection and test equipment, and processing and reporting inspection data
- Internal failure cost
o Cost incurred to correct an identified defect before the customer receives the
product
o Includes items such as rework, charges related to late payment of bills
o Inventory costs that are a direct result of the defects costs of engineering
changes related to correcting a design error and premature failure of products
and correcting documentation
- External failure cost
o Cost that relates to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to the
customer
o Includes items such as warranty cost, field service, personal training cost,
product liability suits and complaint handling, and future business losses
- Measurement and test equipment costs
o Capital cost of equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal activities
- Top management is primarily responsible for the high cost of non-conformance in it
- Top managers often rush their organizations to develop new systems and do not give
project teams enough time or resources to do a project right at the first time
- To correct these quality problems top management must create a culture that observes
quality

ORGANIZATIONAL INFLUENCES, WORKPLACE FACTORS, AND QUALITY

 - Study by DeMarco and Lister showed that organizational issues had a much greater
influence on programmer productivity than the technical environment or programming
languages
- Study found no correlation between productivity and programming language, years of
experience, or salary.
- A dedicated workspace and a quiet work environment were key factors to improving
programmer productivity
- The results of the study suggested that top managers must focus on workplace factors
to improve productivity and quality

EXPECTATIONS AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN QUALITY

- Demarco and Lister argued in their book entitled people where that the major problems
with work performance and project failures are not technological but sociological in
nature
- They suggest minimizing office politics and giving smart people physical space,
intellectual responsibility, and strategic direction
- The manager's function is not to make people work but to make it possible for people to
work
- Project managers must understand and manage stakeholder expectations.
- Project manager must remove political barriers as much as possible
- Many experienced project managers know that a crucial aspect of project quality
management is managing expectations
- Although many aspects of quality can be clearly defined and measured, many cannot
- Different project sponsors, customers, users, and other stakeholders have different
expectations about various aspects of projects
- It's very important to understand these expectations and manage conflicts that might
occur due to differences in expectations
- Expectations also vary by:
o Organization’s culture
o Geographic regions
- Anyone who has traveled to different parts of an organization a country or the world
understands that expectations are not the same everywhere
- Every everyone must realize that different countries are at different stages of
development in terms of quality

MATURITY MODELS
- Maturity models are frameworks for helping organizations improve their processes and
systems
- Majority models describe an evolutionary path of increasingly organized and
systematically more mature processes
- Many maturity models have five levels with the first level describing characteristics of
the least organized or mature organizations and the fifth level describing characteristics
of the most organized or mature organizations
 - These popular maturity models include the SQFD or software quality function
deployment model, the CMMI or capability maturity model integration, and project
management maturity models or PMI maturity models
o The Software Quality Function Deployment Model focuses on defining user
requirements and planning software projects
 Result of SQFD is a set of measurable technical product specifications and
their priorities
 Having clearer requirements can lead to fewer design changes, increased
productivity, and ultimately software products that are more likely to
satisfy stakeholder requirements
o The Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration is a
process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential
elements of effective processes
 Can be used to guide process improvement across a project a division or
an entire organization
 Helps integrate traditionally separate organizational functions, set
process improvement goals and priorities, and provide guidance for
quality processes and a point of reference for appraising current
processes

CMMI LEVELS
- CMMI levels, from lowest to highest, are:
o Incomplete
 Process is either not performed or partially performed
 Lowest
 No generic goals
 One or more specific goals of the process area are bot satisfied
o Performed
 Satisfies the specific goals of the process area
 Supports and enables the work needed to produce work products
o Managed
 Has the basic infrastructure in place to support the process
 The process is planned and executed based on policies and employs
skilled people who have adequate resources to produce controlled
outputs
o Defined
 The process is thoroughly, rigorously defined
 Standards process descriptions and procedures for each project are
tailored from the organization's set of standard processes
o Quantitatively managed
 A process is controlled using statistical and other quantitative techniques
 The organization establishes quantitative objectives for quality and
process performance that are used as criteria in managing the process
 o Optimizing
 Last level
 Process is improved based on an understanding of the common causes of
variation inherent in the process
 The focus is on continually improving the range of process performance
through innovative improvements
- Companies may not get to bid on government projects unless they have a CMMI Level 3

PMI’s MATURITY MODEL

- PMI released the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) in
December 2003 and the third edition was released in 2013
- More than 200 volunteers from around the world were part of the initial opm3 team
- Model is based on market research surveys sent to more than 30,000 project
management professionals and incorporates 180 best practices and more than 2,400
capabilities, outcomes, and key performance indicators
- The standard would help organizations to assess and improve their project management
capabilities as well as the capabilities necessary to achieve organizational strategies
through projects
- Addresses standards for excellence in project, program, and portfolio management best
practices and explains the capabilities necessary to achieve those best practices
- Many organizations are assessing where they stand in terms of project management
maturity just as they did for software development maturity with SQFD and CMMI
maturity models
- Organizations are recognizing that they must make a commitment to the discipline of
project management to improve project quality
-
USING SOFTWARE TO ASSIST IN PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT
- Spreadsheet and charting software helps create Pareto diagrams, fishbone diagrams,
and so on
- Statistical software packages help perform statistical analysis
- Specialized software products help manage Six Sigma projects or create quality control
charts
- Project management software helps create Gantt charts and other tools to help plan
and track work related to quality management