Quality
Quality theme ensures that products created during the project meet the expectations and the end
product can be used as intended. Fit for the purpose of satisfying stated needs.
Scope:
Scope is related to the scope of plan which is the sum of its products and is defined using product
breakdown structure and the product description.
Quality management
Activities such as defining quality, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement
Quality management System
Is a complete set of quality standards, procedures and responsibilities for a site or organization.
Prince 2 Approach to Quality
Stept 1 Quality planning
To control quality there must be a plan:
Steps for the quality planning
1. Gather the customers quality expectation
It is important that the customers quality expectations are fully understood and documented
prior to the project commencing.
Customer quality expectations are usually expressed in broad terms and will need to be
discussed and evaluated in order to define measurable acceptance criteria.
2. Acceptance criteria
The acceptance criteria is a prioritized list of attributes that the project product should have
when complete
Attribute to be accepted(taken from the Customers Quality Expectation)
Prioritize status such as must have, should have,
Accepted status :yes/no
3. Write the project product description
Dont confuse the project product description with the normal product descriptions, the project
product description is a description of the main product that will be produces by the project.
The project product description is created in the starting of the project process and becomes
part of the project brief. The product descriptions are created in the IP stage as part of the
planning activity.
The project level tolerance for the main product
Acceptance method stating how the project will be accepted
Acceptance responsibility defining who will be responsible for accepting
4. Create quality management strategy document
This is a document and a plan of action that defines the quality requirements and the quality
control method for all the products in the project. The document also confirms how the quality
systems and the standards from the customer and the supplier are going to be applied on the
project.
5. Write product description
The product description should be created for all the products as part of the planning activities
and before the project plan can be completed. This is not always possible on each project
therefore predict descriptions may get created or updated in the stage boundary process and
the product description will be agreed and baselined before the development starts.
6. Set up the quality register
The quality register is a diary of the quality events that take place during the project such as
workshops reviews tesring and acceptance. At first the quality register will be empty and the
project manager woll get most data from the plans and product descriptions.
Step 2 Quality control
It id the means of ensuring that products meet the quality criteria specified for them. It is about
examining produvcts to determine tjat they meet requirements and so normally takes place after some
work has been done.
There are basically two types of quality method
In-process
Where specialist method are used in the creation of the products and ongoing quality inspections and
Appraisal methods
Where the finished products are assessed for completeness. Testing is carried out where the quality
criteria are objective and measurable and quality inspection methods are used where some subjective
judgment is required.
Difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Quality Assurance (External) is all about setting the standards and processes and ensuring that they are
followed whereas quality control is more to do with inspection of finished goods to ensure they meet
specification.
Quality control is carrying out the activities to control quality as defined in th quality management
strategy. There are three parts in the quality control
1. Carrying out the quality method eg quality review technique
2. Maintaining Quality and Approval records
3. Gaining acceptance and pass acceptance record to the customer
Quality Review Techniques
Is a quality inspection technique. It has defined roles and a specific structure to follow. The purpose is
to inspect products to see that they met the customers quality standards and meet the quality criteria
listed in the product description.
The review technique has four specific roles
Chair: this role is responsible for chairing the review meeting
Presenter: this role is presents the products and represents the producers of the product
Reviewer: this role reviews the products, submits questions and confirms corrections or
improvements.
Administrator: This person provides admin support for the chairperson.
Results of the quality review meeting and the Quality Register
The main output of a decision to quality approve the products or not . these are
Complete: mark as pass in the quality register
Conditionally complete: tidy up some minor issues, no need for another meeting
Incomplete: mark as fail in the quality register creates a new line for the next quality
check.
The purpose of the quality Review technique is to inspect that the product is complete and that
it respects the customers quality standards and meets the quality criteria listed in the product
description and to identify any actions that are still required and promote quality.
