Project Management Methodology Quality Management and Control

Project Management Methodology

Quality Management and Control

What is the quality

ISO gives a vague definition of quality as “the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs”

What is the quality

Good quality Conformance to requirements

The project delivers in accordance to written requirements

Fitness to use The product can be used as it is intended to be

Project team must communicate to key customers to understand what the quality means for them

Quality control/ management

The objective The product must meet the requirements It also must meet the time and cost

constraints Performing quality control means in fact

periodical evaluation of the overall project performance

Quality management processes

Quality planning Performing quality assurance Performing quality control

Quality planning

Decide about the standards Introduce quality requirements and metrics Quality checklists

MS Excel spreadsheet used to track quality requirements implementation

Planning the process of quality assurance and control

Quality planning

Identify relevant quality standards Current standards are developed by

International Standards Organization (ISO). For IT this is a series of ISO 9000

Service Level Agreement (SLA) defines quality requirements from a customer perspective in terms of reliability and usability

Quality planning

Design quality into the products of the project

Design quality into the project management processes

Quality planning

Design of experiments Quality planning technique used to identify

which variables have the most influence on the outcome

In project management this can be used to analyze various issues, such as cost and schedule trade-offs, cost and security trade-offs, etc.

Quality planning

Communicating the correct actions for ensuring quality to the development team

Focus on particular statements of the product and project description which affect quality

Formalize them as the quality criteria list and the quality baseline

Quality planning

Quality criteria apply to Functionality

What functions must be implemented System outputs (GUI, reports, etc)

How the outputs must look to provide high level usability for a customer

Performance Response time, the volume of data and

transactions, number of concurrent users

Quality planning

Quality criteria apply to Reliability

Ability of the product to perform as expected under normal circumstances

Data accuracy, availability as defined by SLA Maintainability

Cost and simplicity of maintenance and operation Scalability

Ability to scale when the business or technology requirements change

Quality assurance

This is the process that runs from start to end of the project

It assumes tracking of the quality requirements implementation both by fact and by process

System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) methodology and supporting documentation create a foundation of the process

Quality assurance

SDLC can be implemented for example as the gate-based process where: each gate assumes completion of a particular

deliverables and A deliverable goes through solution review

performed by a designated organizational body. Normally this is an assembled team of subject matter experts (SME)

Quality assurance

Techniques used in quality assurance Design of experiments Benchmarking

Comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to the Best Industry Practice

Quality audit Structure review of specific quality management

activities in practice Examine and evaluate factual information

Quality Assurance

Processes, standards, organizational requirements, and other documents that outline the company Information Technology development and operational practice must be consolidated into a library, known as Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

A librarian must maintain the library up-to-date

Performing quality control

Quality control process outcomes Acceptance decisions

Determines if a project will be accepted or rejected If a project, or a part of it, is rejected it must be

reworked Rework

This is an action taken to bring rejected part to compliance with the quality requirements.

Often results in change requests, can be very intensive

Performing quality control

Quality control process outcomes Process adjustments

Correct or prevent further quality problems based on quality control measurements

Updates to the quality control baseline, organizational processes, and the project management plan

Quality control tools

Special tools used to monitor project parameters to ensure that they are compliant with the relevant quality standards

Seven Basic Tools of Quality Cause-and-effect diagrams, aka fishbones Control charts Run charts Scatter diagrams Histograms Pareto chart Flowchart

Cause-and-effect diagrams trace complaints about quality problems back to the responsible production operations

They help you find the root cause of a problem Also known as fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams

Cause-and-Effect Diagrams

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Figure 8-2. Sample Cause-and-Effect Diagram


A control chart is a graphic display of data that illustrates the results of a process over time

The main use of control charts is to differentiate issues that are caused by random problems from ones that are systemic

Quality control charts allow you to determine whether a process is in control or out of control 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

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

Quality Control Charts

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Figure 8-3. Sample Quality Control Chart

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A run chart displays the history and pattern of variation of a process over time

It is a line chart that shows data points plotted in the order in which they occur

Can be used to perform trend analysis to forecast future outcomes based on historical patterns

Run Chart


Figure 8-4. Sample Run Chart


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A scatter diagram helps to show if there is a relationship between two variables

The closer data points are to a diagonal line, the more closely the two variables are related

Scatter Diagram


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Figure 8-5. Sample Scatter Diagram


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A histogram is a bar graph of a distribution of variables

Each bar represents an attribute or characteristic of a problem or situation, and the height of the bar represents its frequency

Histograms


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Figure 8-6. Sample Histogram


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Pareto charts

A histogram that can help to identify and prioritize problem areas

The diagram collect stats of a problem occurrences

Use Bar Charts to indicate most common quality problem causes—address these first (taking severity into account of course)

A Pareto chart is a histogram that can help you identify and prioritize problem areas

Pareto analysis is also called the 80-20 rule, meaning that 80 percent of problems are often due to 20 percent of the causes

Pareto Charts


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Figure 8-7. Sample Pareto Chart


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Flowcharts are graphic displays of the logic and flow of processes that help you analyze how problems occur and how processes can be improved

They show activities, decision points, and the order of how information is processed

Flowcharts


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Figure 8-8. Sample Flowchart


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Quality control tools

Statistical sampling Based on stats collected during sufficient period of time

Validity of statistical data is critical

Consult with an expert when using statistical analysis

Quality control tools - Six Sigma

Cannot separate quality from how you run the business

Addresses quality by addressing business processes Key is to reduce variation in process outputs

Five phase improvement process Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control

Toyota, Motorola, GE

DMAIC stands for: Define: define the problem/opportunity, process, and

customer requirements Measure: define measures, then collect, compile, and

display data Analyze: scrutinize process details to find improvement

opportunities Improve: generate solutions and ideas for improving the

problem Control: track and verify the stability of the improvements

and the predictability of the solution

DMAIC


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

Six Sigma Projects Use Project Management


Six Sigma Projects

Focus on Customer Drive out waste Raise quality levels

By reducing variation! Improve financial performance

Quality Assurance - Testing

Define testing “strategy” Unit Regression Integration System User Acceptance

Frameworks, Standards

Figure 8-10. Testing Tasks in the Software Development Life Cycle


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Quality Control Metrics

The Cost of Quality

The cost of quality is the cost of conformance plus the cost of nonconformance Conformance means delivering products that meet

requirements and fitness for use 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

The Cost of Quality


Prevention cost: cost of planning and executing a project so it is error-free or within an acceptable error range

Appraisal cost: cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure quality

Internal failure cost: cost incurred to correct an identified defect before the customer receives the product

External failure cost: cost that relates to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to the customer

Measurement and test equipment costs: capital cost of equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal activities

Five Cost Categories Related to Quality


Maturity models are frameworks for helping organizations improve their processes and systems

The Software Quality Function Deployment Model focuses on defining user requirements and planning software projects

The Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes

Maturity Models


CMM for the processes

Maturity Definition None – process does not exist Initial – process is ad-hoc and disorganized Repeatable – process follows a regular pattern Documented – process is documented and

communicated in a standard, company-wide way Optimized – process is designed to bring added value

to security requirements understanding Project Management and SDLC processes must be at

the level 4 to comply with the best industry practice

Documents

Project Management Methodology Quality Management and Control