11. Quality Management Flashcards
Quality Management plan documents
methods of verifying that the outputs meet requirements/ acceptance criteria
• the processes and metrics that will be used including quality standards
• resources required for testing activities including equipment, facilities and specialists
• the roles and responsibilities for quality activities
• quality control and quality assurance activities
• frequency of tests, checks or audits that will be carried out
• stakeholder approvals required.
Explain three differences between quality assurance and quality control for a project – 30 marks (10 marks each)
Approach to errors.
• Quality assurance (QA) is a is a management activity designed to prevent errors while quality control (QC) is an activity designed to identify errors in the products.
• QA does this by ensuring that relevant processes and procedures are being complied with, while QC is focused on checking the project’s products against agreed standards.
• QA activities, such as checking that the project team is following the relevant processes and procedures, can be scheduled across the lifecycle. However, if they are scheduled early on then future errors can be prevented from being made so saving on costly rework.
• QC activities will need to wait until the project has generated some output and only then can they be done to check that the output meets the specification. If errors are found at this point, then there is some rework needed.
a)/2 QA is independent of projects while QC is integral to them.
• QA is independent of projects to ensure that there is no conflict of interest while QC is an activity completed by the project team.
• QA activities, such as audits are planned and performed by an external QA team while QC activities are planned and performed by the project team and documented in the quality management plan.
• QA activities will focus on areas where failure to comply are important while QC must be appropriate to each product, such as 100% checking a braking system.
• QA independence means that process must be followed regardless of the pressure on the project to meet deadlines and budgets, while QC is scheduled to meet deadlines.
a)/3 QA supports the organisation while QC demonstrates project progress.
• QA gathers data from projects to build up an understanding of the organisation’s performance while QC records the results of checking in a quality log to demonstrate progress.
• QA gathers this data from QC results and audits while QC gathers evidence of compliance through physical checks and sign-off documentation.
• QA allows an organisation to ‘health check’ its operations, identify trends and areas that require improvement while QC allows the project manager to track progress of production i.e. the number of items that have been approved and signed-off.
• QA uses this data to drive continual improvement (e.g. training staff and refining procedures) while QC uses checking data to either release or reject project products.
Explain two purposes of quality planning for a project – 20 marks (10 marks each)
To agree acceptance criteria.
• The purpose of quality planning (QP) is to take the defined scope and specify the acceptance criteria used to validate that the outputs are fit for purpose to the sponsor.
• To do this, QP involves identifying applicable regulations, standards and specifications against which the products will be checked.
• These acceptance criteria will be agreed and documented in the quality management plan and set both the success criteria in quality terms and stakeholder expectations in terms of the quality of products.
• This ensures that suppliers have clear targets to achieve and that there is a greater likelihood that the final products will be accepted due to agreed standards.
b)/2 To identify timing and resources required for quality activities.
• QP also identifies and documents in the quality management plan the activities, resources and timing required for quality control and quality assurance through the project lifecycle including audits and stakeholder acceptance.
• This ensures that sufficient people with the right skills are in place and any testing equipment/tools etc. are ready when the products become available.
• It also ensures that those involved in quality activities have agreed clear roles and responsibilities, which in turn avoids confusion and potential delays.
• In addition, QP determines the frequency of tests and how non-conforming items will be managed such as quarantining them, re-testing them following remedial work or rejecting and scrapping them.
Explain three considerations a project manager takes into account when planning quality for a project – 30 marks (10 marks each)
Quality standards that must be achieved.
• These may be mandatory externally imposed standards or those agreed within the project between customer and supplier, such as electrical safety standards or performance tolerances.
• Therefore, the project manager (PM) must be sure they are appropriate and achievable within the constraints of the project (e.g. time and cost).
• The PM must also consider what the acceptance criteria should be for the standards, how they will be interpreted and applied by production teams.
• A key aspect of this is how it will be communicated to the teams involved (e.g. via a contract with suppliers) to ensure that they are clear and unambiguous.
a)/2 How the acceptance criteria will be measured.
• This includes considering what methods will be used.
• Consideration must be given to the practicality, the cost/time and likely effectiveness of methods used to verify the outputs.
• It may not be possible, for example, to 100% check some outputs such as software, so a strategy must be developed that targets areas where an output’s failure to meet standards will have a high impact on areas such as safety and reputation.
• Methods may have to be developed to verify new/novel outputs and these along with the training required for those apply them will take time and money.
• Methods may also require progressive testing of an output as it progresses through its development to identify potential errors early on. This will reduce wasted effort and stakeholder disappointment.
a)/3 What resources and time will be required to implement quality control.
• These will include people and teams with the necessary knowledge, and skills and qualifications (e.g. inspectors), tools (e.g. calibrated equipment) and facilities (e.g. inspection area).
• The PM must take into account the availability of these resources as well as their cost of use to ensure that budgets and schedule are realistic, and the activities can be achieved in the time planned.
• In addition, the resources also need to be available for any re-testing of outputs that failure their original test (e.g. correct a report after initial proof-reading).
Explain two differences in quality control activities and quality assurance activities in the deployment phase of a project lifecycle – 20 marks (10 marks each)
Quality Assurance (QA) can audit production while Quality Control (QC) checks products.
• QA activities ensure that the team is following agreed processes and procedures while QC checks products following their production to ensure they meet acceptance criteria.
• For QA this means that any deviations from proven processes are identified and remedial measures put in place to reduce potential errors while for QC early test results can both give confidence that products are fit for purpose and highlights areas where actions need to take to prevent products failing to meet standards.
- The actions include (for QA), clarifying process requirements to suppliers and recommending training for delivery staff while for QC, actions include carrying out remedial work on products that were rejected when checked and remaking them.
b)/2 QA measures trends while QC supports progress measurement.
• QA gathers data from deployment to build up an understanding of the organisation’s performance, while QC records the results of checking in a quality log to demonstrate progress.
• QA gathers this data from QC results and audits while QC gathers evidence of compliance through physical checks and sign-off documentation.
• QA will analyse the data to look for trends (e.g. high number of QC failures in certain areas) while the project manager will review the results of checking in the quality log allowing them to track progress of production i.e. the number of items that have been approved and signed-off.
• This ensures that other projects and the remainder of a single project learn from the data gathered by QA and QC supporting the principle of continual improvement.
List difference between quality assurance and quality controls
- QC - Product based. QA Process based
- QC Integral part of project QA - Independent of project.
- Qc - Records the results of checking in a quality log. QA - Gathers data from projects to build up an understanding of the organisations performance.
- QC - Identifies and quarantines non conforming items. QA - Uses quality tools and techniques to investigate commonly occurring errors and shortfalls.
