Introduction |
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| Quality Control involves monitoring
specific project results to determine if they comply with
relevant quality standards and identifying way to
eliminate causes of unsatisfactory results. Project
results include both product results such as deliverables
and management results such as cost and schedule
performance. The project management team should have a working knowledge of statistical quality control, including the differences between:
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8.3.1 Inputs |
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Work results include both process results and product results. Information about the planned and expected results should be available along with information about the actual results.
Refer quality management plan.
Refer operational definitions.
Refer to checklists.
Inspection includes activities such as measuring, examining and testing undertaken to determine whether results conform to requirements. Inspections may be conducted at any level and variously called reviews, product reviews, audits and walk-throughs.
Control charts are a graphic display of the results, over time, of a process. They are used to determine if a process is "in control". The process may be changed to provide improvements but should not be adjusted when it is in control.
Control charts can also be used to monitor cost and schedule variances, volume and frequency of scope changes, errors in project documents, or other management results to help determine if a "project management process" is in control.
A Pareto diagram is a histogram, ordered by frequency of occurrence, that shows how many results were generated by type or category of identified cause. Rank ordering is used to guide corrective action - the project team should take action to fix the problems that are causing the greates number of defects first.
Statistical sampling involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection. Appropriate sampling can reduce the cost of quality control.
Refer flowcharting.
Trend analysis involves using mathematical techniques to forecast future outcomes based on historical results. Trend analysis is often used to monitor:
Refer quality improvement.
The items inspected will be either accepted or rejected. Rejected items may require rework.
Rework is action taken to bring a defective or non-conforming item into compliance with requirements or specifications. Rework, especially unanticipated rework is a frequent cause of project overruns in most application areas and should be minimised.
When checklists are used, the completed checklists should become part of the project's records.
Process adjustments involve immediate corrective or preventative action as a result of quality control measurements. In some cases, the process adjustment may need to be handled according to procedures for overall change control.