quality management project example

Quality Management Plan Template & Sample Project Example

What is Quality Management Plan?

Quality Management Plan is a well-defined set of documents and information to efficiently manage the quality throughout software development project starting from planning to the software deployment. The primary goal of making a Quality Management Plan is to ensure that the project deliverables are of adequate quality and fit for the software requirements .

Download the below Quality Management Plan Template

• 1 What is Quality Management Plan (QMP)?

1.1 Purpose of this Quality Management Plan

1.2 quality management plan components, 1.3 quality philosophy, 1.4 quality strategy, 2 project quality assurance, 2.1 methodologies and standards, 2.2 quality review, 2.2.1 project quality consultants, 2.2.2 project evaluation and review, 2.2.3 management of changes to project scope, 2.3 risk assessment and management, 2.4 information management, 2.4.1 document management, 2.4.2 record keeping, 3 output quality control, 3.1 output review procedures, 3.2 output acceptance procedures.

• 4 Appendices

The primary goal of the QM plan is to ensure that the project deliverables are of adequate quality and fit-for-purpose. Quality assurance and Quality control is an integral part of the Project Quality Management Plan.

To achieve this, the <project name> Quality Management Plan includes the following components:

• Quality Assurance – to ensure quality project management processes.
• Quality Control – via the development of quality outputs
• Quality Improvement – review points to assess and improve quality where possible.
• The Quality Philosophy describes the overall intentions and approach to be applied for maintaining quality.

The Quality Philosophy for the <Project name> Project involves:

• Standards and methodologies for project management quality assurance
• Effective processes to support arrangements for good governance and accountability;
• Input from individuals with the appropriate subject or technical expertise to ensure the development of outputs that are fit for the purpose.

The Quality Strategy for the <Project name> Project involves:

• Quality related issues faced in the application of the project management processes
• Quality issues encountered in the development of the outputs
• Relevant standards that must be applied
• Activities in the work plan that should be conducted correctly
• Quality assurance will be achieved by defining the defining the relevant quality project management processes.

The relevant methodologies, guidelines should be maintained for following items

• Standards of Risk Management must be maintained
• Records management, web publishing, information security, privacy, etc.
• Relevant business domain driven standards

Any changes to these standards need be recorded as an issue in the Project Issues Register.

The role of any Quality Consultants should be explained in detailed depending on their area of expertise. Project Quality Consultants also contribute to the formal Project Evaluation by providing a Project Performance Review.

In this Quality Management Plan sample, you need to define:

• The timing for reviews, which may be conducted at the end of a phase or every phase.
• A review of project performance and comparison with the defined project target outcomes
• A review of the methodologies needed to produce the outputs
• Learning points of the project
• Area for improvement

Management of changes to the project involves:

• Planning for possible changes through proper risk analysis
• Keeping track of all types of possible unanticipated issues
• Using an iterative approach to make change within the scope of a single project
• Reflecting changes of project scope in Project Business Plan

In this Project Quality Management Plan example, you need to identify the process that helps you to manage changes to the project scope and how it will be reflected in the project business planning.

Risk management aims to ensure that levels of risk are managed properly. It includes the level of resourcing, time, cost, quality, and the realization of outcomes by the Business Owner should appropriately manage to ensure the project is completed successfully.

In this Quality Plan example, you need to explain what review and acceptance procedures will apply to the management of the project business plan and other core documents.

In this Quality Management Plan example, you need to mention relevant government policy, legislation, and rules which can easily affect how records for the project must be kept. It also includes detail of any protocols which needed to apply for records management, and how registration of all official documents should be managed.

Quality control for the <Project Name> Project can easily have accomplished by defining the relevant quality criteria for the outputs, or what characteristics should be used for this purpose.

Quality planning includes identifying the Output Quality Criteria and standards that will be used to determine their acceptability and ‘fitness for purpose.’ In this Quality Plan template, you can define who or what groups will be involved in the specification of the output quality criteria

Relevant methodologies and guidelines may be used to assist. These include technical specifications or other specific criteria. ‘Fitness for purpose’ for each output is also determined by the needs, expectations, requirements, and ‘critical success factors’ of various key stakeholders like:

• Business Owner(s) – The Business Owners need to contribute resources to the project during their development to ensure that the outputs are being developed satisfactorily.
• Advisory Groups: provide advice or technical expertise in relation to output development and quality assurance
• Reference Group: give a forum to achieve consensus among groups of stakeholders
• Working Group(s) – consist of small specialist work groups, which is dedicated to producing a well-defined output within a specific timeframe.
• Consultants – which provide advice about the development of specific outputs.

In this Quality Management Plan example, you need to define when and how the outputs will be tested and reviewed and by whom.

This section of Project Quality Management Plan example includes a description of the approach to:

• Output testing and review: Generally, it is assumed that testing is only applied to IT systems, but it is also relevant to other outputs which may require testing to ensure they meet specified functional requirements . It is also important to formalize the output change management procedures that will be used to document problem reporting and rectification.
• Progressive audits or appraisals to be conducted throughout the project. These reviews are undertaken progressively, as quality cannot be built in at the end of a project.

The section should also cover:

• The technological aspects of the project.
• Project compliance with internal and external audit
• The form advice, preferably with dates, and to whom this advice will be provided should also need to mention here.

Change Control

In this Sample Quality Management Plan, mention the process that should be used for changes which need to be approved. Any changes to output specifications need to be controlled through a change process which should include:

• A structured process to facilitate the change to the system.
• Complete assessment of the impact of the projected changed
• A method of authorizing a change
• Output acceptance includes acceptance of related ongoing management responsibilities and accountabilities.

In this section, you need to define:

• Processes that Business Owners will apply to conduct final review and acceptance of the outputs based on the agreed criteria.
• Formal agreement captured in appropriate documentation like Handover Plan

Appendices include:

• Change request/rectification log
• Forms and templates developed by the Project to offer consistent documentation
• Relevant operational documents
• Quality Management Plan is a well-defined set of documents and information to efficiently manage the quality throughout software development project starting from planning to the software deployment.
• Quality assurance and Quality control is an integral part of the Project Quality Management Plan.
• The role of any Quality Consultant should be explained in detailed depending on their area of expertise.
• Quality planning includes identifying the Output Quality Criteria and standards that will be used to determine their acceptability and ‘fitness for purpose.’

Appendix A: Change Request/Rectification Log

Download the above Quality Management Plan Template

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Guide to Project Quality Management

March 9, 2022 by Bernie Roseke, P.Eng., PMP Leave a Comment

It’s not hard to find projects which were delivered on time and budget with stakeholders satisfied in every other respect except for the quality of the project’s deliverables.

Usually, this factor alone causes projects to be considered a failure.

Thus, strong project management demands a strong knowledge of project quality management. But how do you ensure that the products and services coming out of the production end of the project are going to be acceptable to the stakeholders?

Project quality management encompasses three main processes:

• Quality management planning
• Quality Assurance
• Quality Control

Quality Management Planning

As a component of the overall project management plan , the  Quality Management Plan  specifies the project’s quality requirements as well as how they will be measured and controlled.

Each project stakeholder imposes requirements onto the project, and each requirement has a standard of quality associated with it. These are identified in the Project Stakeholder Management knowledge area, but the quality requirements are assessed in the Quality Management Plan.

Quality Management Plan

The quality management plan should contain:

• A list of standards that apply to the project
• Measurement criteria and frequency
• Inspection criteria

Quality standards generally fall into the following categories:

• Internal company standards
• Those imposed by regulatory agencies
• Legal standard of care to the public (or simply, public expectations)
• External standards imposed by the project sponsor or organization
• Other stakeholder standards, like utilities, adjacent landowners, and other affected organizations

Quality Certification

The ISO-9001 standard provides a way for organizations to achieve and maintain certification of a quality management program.  It is focused on the quality management system, not individual technical standards for a company’s products.

Certification for individual quality practitioners can be obtained through the American Society for Quality ( ASQ ) and the SME (formerly the Society of Manufacturing Engineers).

Six sigma is a popular certification for individual practitioners which was popularized by General Electric in the 1990’s.  It involves the statistical analysis of the outputs of a process and limitation of defects to a maximum acceptable standard.

Technical Standards

Technical standards are available in almost any industry, which can be used to judge the quality of individual project deliverables .  These are generally available by country.

• United States:  American National Standards Association (ANSI)
• India:  Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
• China:  Standardization Administration of China (SAC)

The global organization of these standards organizations is called the International Organization for Standards (ISO), based in Geneva, Switzerland.  There are 164 member countries.

Also, many industries have universal (global) standards bodies which develop standards specific to an industry.  These are often, but not always, more detailed and thus useful.

• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM):   Standards for the construction industry, and used throughout the world in spite of its “American” name.
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE):  Standards forthe electronics and technology industries.
• Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE):   Standards for the automobile industry.

This is not an exhaustive list as there are many others for all types of industries.

Perform Quality Assurance

Performing quality assurance ensures that the processes are in place to produce the project deliverables at the applicable level of quality.  In the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Quality Assurance is part of the Executing process group and is therefore performed throughout the duration of the project.

Quality Assurance asks the following questions:

• What are the applicable quality standards?
• How will quality be measured?
• Who will measure it?
• What will be measured?  (i.e. How many units?  Which types?  Which processes?)
• When will it be measured?
• What is the criteria for rejection?

When quality assurance activities identify a quality problem which leads to project changes, the project management plan may need to be updated.

A project manager might investigate a quality problem, such as “the legs of the couch are prone to break during shipping” and make changes to the production process.  Whether the solution is to strengthen the legs, change the location within the package, change the shipping methods, or some other solution, the work that is involved falls under the category of quality assurance.  Throughout the development project the project manager must perform “quality audits” which range from basic internal inspections to external consultant audits, with the goal of identifying the major quality issues.

Perform Quality Control

Controlling the quality of a project’s deliverables can be the silver bullet that makes everything else feel easy.  Unfortunately, it’s often easier said than done but there are tried and true techniques that help you get there.

On the flip side, a single poor quality deliverable can create a cycle of low performance, whereby an environment is created where quality is not valued and people then do not put in the extra effort to produce top quality products.

Quality Control vs. Quality Assurance

This distinction is commonly misunderstood.  Quality Control , often abbreviated QC, is the measurement of outputs to determine whether they meet the accepted criteria.  Quality Assurance , often abbreviated QA, on the other hand analyzes the processes and systems that are producing the outputs.  If you’re measuring the systems , it’s QA.  If you’re measuring the outputs , it’s QC.

Measuring Outputs

Quality criteria should have been identified during the planning phase for each project deliverable .

When project deliverables are produced, they are subjected to quality control before they are delivered to their end user.  That means they need to be measured and compared against the standard that’s been identified in the project management plan.  If you don’t know the quality of your outputs, you cannot make effective decisions.

Sometimes outputs are singular in nature, like a project report, which doesn’t lend itself well to quantitative measurement against a standard.  But there are always quality standards that apply, for example when the reader of the report notices technical errors or excessive spelling mistakes it is clear that they are applying a quality standard to the work.  Ask yourself, then, what is required to meet this standard.  For example, the project management plan could identify things like expert review, grammatical review, management review, and the like.  When the review is done, quality control has been completed.

Examples of quality control include:

• Inspection of products leaving the production line.
• Expert technical review of reports.
• Trial runs prior to plant commissioning.

Related posts:

About Bernie Roseke, P.Eng., PMP

Bernie Roseke, P.Eng., PMP, is the president of Roseke Engineering . As a bridge engineer and project manager, he manages projects ranging from small, local bridges to multi-million dollar projects. He is also the technical brains behind ProjectEngineer , the online project management system for engineers. He is a licensed professional engineer, certified project manager, and six sigma black belt. He lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with his wife and two kids.

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Project Quality Management: A Quick Guide

When you’re managing a project, the triple constraint should always be top of mind. But there’s a fourth constraint that’s just as important, yet sometimes forgotten by some project managers as they go through the project planning phase—project quality management.

What Is Project Quality Management?

Project quality management is the process of defining quality standards for the deliverables of a project, as well as the quality assurance measures to guarantee those standards are met. However, quality can be an elusive word.

In project management , quality is simply what the customer or stakeholder needs from the project deliverables. Project quality management can be simply defined as the combination of quality planning, quality assurance and quality control activities. Project managers further define these for their projects through a quality management plan.

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Product Requirements Document Template

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What Is a Quality Management Plan?

A quality management plan is a document that helps project management teams establish quality planning, quality control and quality assurance procedures to maintain quality standards throughout the execution and completion of a project.

Now, let’s define the components of project quality management in more detail.

Quality Planning

First, identify the quality requirements for your project deliverables and how the project needs to be managed. Agree on how this process will be documented and how that information will be delivered. Will you have regular meetings, emails, etc.?

The quality planning section will include these specifics as well as metrics for measuring the quality while managing the project. This should include a quality checklist to collect and organize the marks you need to hit during the project.

Quality Control

Quality control is the first step in project quality management. It consists of determining quality requirements for project deliverables and testing, inspecting and reporting to make sure they’re met.

While it’s similar to quality assurance (QA) , the main difference between them is that quality assurance (QA) focuses on improving processes to maintain quality standards and prevent issues, while quality control (QC) focuses on inspecting and identifying issues.

The main role of quality control is to ensure rules are being followed and that the expected project quality standards are met. Some ways to ensure that the required quality of the deliverables is being achieved is through peer reviews and testing.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is the planned and systemic activities implemented in a quality system so that quality requirements for a product or service will be fulfilled.

Use quality assurance to ensure your processes are in fact working towards making the project deliverables meet quality requirements. Two ways to accomplish this are by using a process checklist and a project audit .

In addition to a quality management plan, you’ll need the right project management software. ProjectManager offers the best project planning, scheduling and tracking tools for effective project quality management. Use Gantt charts, kanban boards, project calendars and other tools to keep track of project tasks, resources, project deliverables in real time. Get started for free.

Key Elements of Project Quality Management

Project managers oversee the implementation of a project quality management plan . The main idea, again, is to deliver a product or service to the specifications of the customer or stakeholder. Doing so requires knowing quality management concepts.

Customer Satisfaction

Without customer satisfaction, there can be no quality. Even if a deliverable meets all aspects of what the customer or stakeholder has required but is done so where the process itself wasn’t satisfactory, there’s a problem.

Of course, the deliverable must meet those requirements, or else the project has failed because the product of the project and the management of the project didn’t meet the expectations of the customer or stakeholder.

That’s why implementing quality control means managing both processes and people. Meet with your customer or stakeholder regularly to keep them abreast of the project’s progress . Get their feedback and make sure that you’re fully transparent to avoid issues arising later.

Prevention Over Inspection

Quality doesn’t come for free. The Cost of Quality (COQ) is the money spent dealing with issues during the project, and then after the project, to fix any failures. These are broken up into two categories: cost of conformance and cost of non-conformance.

The cost of conformance can be considered a preventive cost. These project costs are primarily related to training, the documentation process, the equipment needed, and the time required to get the quality done right. Other costs related to this can include testing, destructive testing loss and inspections.

The cost of nonconformance refers to internal failure costs. These consist of reworking something or even scrapping it entirely. Further costs can come from liabilities, warranty work and lost business.

Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is a technique that allows project teams and project-based organizations to improve how they work over time through small incremental changes, which helps deliver high quality project deliverables.

Applying this concept also means constantly monitoring any issues that come up, so you can then use the lessons learned when managing future projects. This way, you run a more efficient project and likely won’t repeat mistakes.

Traditional Project Quality Management Tools

These project management charts are commonly used for project quality management.

• Project network diagrams: Project network diagrams allow project managers to map out project tasks and deliverables. This helps understand the activities required for each project deliverable, which greatly helps ensure quality at each step.
• Affinity diagrams: Affinity diagrams help project teams group ideas, information and data about project deliverables and products. This helps teams better understand the different quality requirements they need to look out for.
• Matrix diagrams: There are different matrix diagrams that can be used to establish relationships between deliverables and quality standards. They’re a great way to organize project quality management information.
• Process decision program charts: These charts are used to identify what could go wrong in a plan. In project quality management, they help project teams avoid problems and create countermeasures if quality assurance procedures were to fail.
• Interrelationship diagrams: Interrelationship diagrams allow project quality management teams to understand the different cause-and-effect relations between factors that affect the quality of project deliverables.

While these charts are a good alternative to managing project quality, using a project management software like ProjectManager is a much better alternative for project managers and team members.

ProjectManager offers dynamic tools such as Gantt charts, kanban boards, task lists and much more so project teams can stay on top of quality planning, assurance and control. On top of that, ProjectManager is fully online, so you can collaborate with team members anywhere, anytime.

Using ProjectManager to Manage Quality

Managing the process of project quality involves many things, such as setting quality targets for your team to meet, defining how to measure those quality targets and reporting on them.  Project management tools like ProjectManager can prove helpful with this.

ProjectManager has online Gantt charts that make scheduling and monitoring tasks related to quality management simple. With ProjectManager, you can upload a task list or spreadsheet, which is then instantly populated on a timeline.

Our online Gantt charts also provide a great collaborative platform for your team. Each task is usually able to link to supporting documents, images and other files, as well as offer a dialogue where team members can talk about the task and resolve any issues that arise.

Related Content

• Total Quality Management (TQM): A Quick Guide
• How to Handle Time, Cost & Quality in Project Management
• Meeting Quality Targets on Projects
• Tips for Quality Testing

Quality is important in any project, and to ensure quality, the right tools are needed to monitor quality management. ProjectManager is online software with a real-time dashboard and an online Gantt chart that makes monitoring and reporting on quality easy. See for yourself by taking this free 30-day trial.

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Project Quality Management 101: Benefits, Elements & Tools

In today’s fast-paced business environment, delivering quality projects on time and within budget is a must. However, in the rush to meet deadlines, the importance of project quality is often overlooked. It is imperative to understand that quality is not just a process, but rather a mindset that drives the success of any project.

Maintaining high project quality from the start can result in flawless deliverables, while poor quality can put your business in a bad light. This is where project quality management comes in.

In this blog, we will delve deeper into the world of project quality management, exploring the benefits, key elements, and various tools used to ensure high-quality project outcomes.

So, whether you are a project manager, team lead, or simply interested in learning more about project quality management, join us on this journey to own the success of your projects by keeping your focus on project quality.

What Is Project Quality Management?

Project quality management is the process of managing and maintaining quality throughout a project. Unlike popular perception, quality does not indicate perfection. The truth is nothing can be perfect. We can just try to make things better than they were before!

In general, quality management in project management aims to meet the quality standards set by the higher management or external customers. The project activities have to be designed and executed, keeping the quality standards in mind.

Quality requirements can differ from project to project, depending on the teams involved and the expectations set. Project managers are usually responsible for the processes related to quality management. In other cases, it can be the responsibility of quality experts or quality assurance experts.

Still wondering how quality can differ from project to project?

Well, while managing project quality, the definition of quality is kept to what the stakeholder or customer expects from the project deliverables. Meeting the requirements mentioned in the beginning and the expectations set by the customers means you are maintaining the quality of the project at hand.

Here, it’s important to understand that quality is a relative parameter, not an absolute one.

This is because quality is not exactly an attribute of a project, product, or service. There are various perspectives involved in defining quality – the customers’ perspectives, the team’s perspectives, the comparison of the project with other projects, and more. So, what’s acceptable for one client may not be for others.

But what is the need to perform project quality management?

Let’s understand this in the next section.

4 Proven Benefits of Project Quality Management

Here are 4 proven benefits of managing project quality. Take a look.

1. Earn & Maintain Customer Confidence

Have you eaten in a restaurant and got so delighted by the meal and services that you want to come back to the same place?

The scenario is totally relatable.  We see examples like this all around, where people stay loyal to a vendor, retailer, or service provider, just because they are getting exactly what they want and sometimes more than what they expect.

Quality is at the core of such customer experiences.

Incorporating quality and maintaining it throughout the project management process is paramount to gaining customers’ trust and confidence. It shows that your team members are working with all their might to achieve the quality standards they have put in place.

When customers know that your processes are high quality, there is no scope for confusion or blame games.

2. Reduce the Chances of Project Failure & Rework

One of the significant benefits of managing project quality management is that it minimizes the chances of project failure and rework since you follow the set procedures and guidelines from the very beginning.

Keeping a watch on a project’s quality helps you identify common problems repeatedly occurring along with their root cause. You can then take corrective actions on time to ensure that the project deliverables are free of errors and match the quality standards set by customers or internal teams.

3. Conduct Consistent Improvement

Committing to manage project quality and making it a single, non-negotiable goal is vital to get the best out of your employees. When you work on a project, there are things that go well and things that can be done better.

Quality management across all stages of project management brings consistent improvement as you progress. It helps you improve in every project phase, evaluates what went right and what went wrong, and accordingly takes your next steps.

Keeping a constant check on the project’s quality brings the entire project, including the minor details, into focus. This helps your team give their best and achieve impeccable deliverables as the project reaches completion.

4. Reduce Time & Cost on Future Projects

Quality management in project management compels you to get things done in the best possible way. You utilize the learning from a specific project (even if it was a failure) and implement it in future projects. This allows for continuous improvement. Over time, you’ll see a reduction in these errors and a significant improvement in the way projects are executed. As a result, fewer errors and more efficient team members help you reduce the cost of future projects and the time your team spends working on them.

Now that you’ve understood the benefits of project quality management, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the key elements of a project quality management plan.

3 Key Elements of a Project Quality Management Plan

A project quality management plan is a document that outlines the project’s quality objectives, the procedures that will be used to achieve those objectives, and how quality will be monitored and controlled throughout the project lifecycle.

The plan provides a roadmap for project managers to ensure that the project meets the quality standards required by the stakeholders.

Here are its key elements.

1. Quality Planning

Have you heard of the adage – “ If you fail to plan, you plan to fail ”?

Projects started without planning are prone to catastrophic failure.

To create an effective quality plan, the goals need to be defined and clearly communicated by the project’s stakeholders. Based on the goals, assign the right tasks to the right teams, and state the quality requirements expected from the project members.

2. Quality Assurance

Once you have laid down the guidelines to meet the quality requirements, evaluate all activities to support quality standards until project completion.

Quality assurance in project management is an integral part of a project’s life cycle . This phase allows you to take corrective measures and necessary steps if things do not proceed as planned. Ensure that every task goes through stringent quality checks so that the ultimate deliverable comes out error-free.

For example, a software development team might implement automated tests to ensure that the code meets the project’s quality standards, and conduct regular code reviews to identify any issues.

Also, when you come across quality standards being neglected, take timely steps to mend the issues and prevent them from happening in the future.

3. Quality Control

For quality control in project management, the project team or other designated team monitors the project activities to ensure that the deliverables meet the set expectations and standards defined in the first phase.

If the quality management process and the final deliverables are not in alignment with the quality expectations, necessary changes must be made to keep the project from failing.

This includes reviewing the deliverables for defects, identifying the root cause of any issues, and taking corrective action as required. For example, a manufacturing company might use statistical process control to monitor the quality of the products being produced and make adjustments to the manufacturing process as needed to ensure that quality standards are being met.

Quality control in project management should ideally be done at every step of the project. Doing it, at last, makes no sense, as the deliverable is already ready by then. 

Also, when Quality Control is implemented during the process, it gives you a chance to make improvements and adjustments right when they are required.

Let’s now dive in to understand what a project quality management plan entails.

What Is a Project Quality Management Plan?

A project quality plan describes the activities, methodologies, standards, and procedures required for achieving high-quality deliverables that meet the project goals and stakeholder expectations. 

To be properly maintained and followed, the standards and procedures stated in the quality management plan should be practical. They should be reasonable enough for your team to follow them and achieve the desired quality results. 

Here’s how a project quality management plan is created:

Step 1: Write down all the things that the customers want in the project. To get an in-depth understanding, get answers to questions like:

What does project success mean to the team and the stakeholders?

What are the mandatory areas of the project where quality should be given utmost importance?

How would you measure project quality?

Also, keep in mind the unstated demands and requirements that are merely common sense.

Step 2: Create a quality checklist and inform your team about its importance. This gives your team a sense of ownership and responsibility toward the project.

They can use the checklist to verify that all requirements have been met and that the project is ready for delivery. A well-structured quality checklist saves time, avoids mistakes, and helps maintain consistency throughout the project. Share the checklist with your team and emphasize its importance to ensure everyone understands their role in delivering a high-quality project.

Step 3: Assign tasks and delegate responsibilities to the team members. Track the team’s performance by checking how much time they spend on each project and task, the progress they’ve made so far, and more.

Here is where using a simple project management software like ProProfs Project comes in.

You can set up the project dashboard by adding tasks, setting due dates, and assigning team members.

You can even track the accurate time spent by a team member on a task using the platform.

This prevents micromanaging and enables you to monitor team activity effortlessly.

Using a project management tool is essential for maintaining project quality while staying on top of all project-related activities. The tool offers multiple project views, including Gantt, Kanban, and Calendar views, allowing you to track progress in real-time. Thus, by using such a tool, you can focus on the quality of the project and ensure that all tasks and activities are on track.

Step 4: Have a quality testing method to assess the quality at each step and ensure the project output is exactly as the client expects. 

One of the biggest mistakes project managers make is believing that once there is a plan, it can’t be changed. While executing the project, if you discover a better way of doing things, do not hesitate to modify the plan.

6 Project Quality Management Tools

There are some tools commonly used in quality management to identify pitfalls and make process improvements.

Let’s look at the six popular tools that can help you assess the quality of your project and improve it when you still have time.

• Affinity Diagrams : A visual tool that helps in organizing and categorizing ideas, issues, or problems into related groups. It helps in identifying patterns and relationships among the data.
• Process Decision Program Charts : A tool that helps in identifying and analyzing different decision options to determine the best course of action.
• Interrelationship Diagrams : A tool that helps in identifying and analyzing the relationship between different factors, issues, or problems. It helps in identifying the root cause of problems.
• Prioritization Matrices : A tool that helps in prioritizing different options based on specific criteria. It helps in making informed decisions.
• Network Diagrams : A tool that helps in identifying and analyzing the dependencies between tasks in a project. It helps in managing the project schedule effectively.
• Matrix Diagrams : A tool that helps in identifying and analyzing the relationship between different factors, issues, or problems. It helps in identifying the cause-and-effect relationships between different factors.

Project quality management tools play a critical role in ensuring that the project meets the desired quality standards and customer requirements. It is essential to choose the right tool for the right purpose and use it effectively to achieve project quality management goals.

Quality Management: Indispensable for Project Success

Now that you have understood how to define the project requirements and quality criteria, you must stick to them diligently throughout the project.

Have a project blueprint created after a thorough discussion with the clients or internal stakeholders.  Sit with your project team, and develop a practical approach to manage project quality as per the processes and standards defined in the blueprint.

You can use a robust project management software to plan and execute projects efficiently while ensuring quality and controlling results. The tool helps delegate tasks and monitor how well the team follows the plan to meet the customers’ quality expectations.

Q1: What techniques are used for project quality management?

Tools like Gantt Charts, flow charts, Pareto Chart, Checksheets, and many more are quite helpful in analyzing the quality of projects and tasks and taking corrective actions on time. You can use them to identify project flaws, existing gaps, or possible problems that the project might encounter. 

Leverage this data to make informed decisions on time and ensure top-notch project quality management. 

Q2: How do you create a project quality plan?

Start by identifying the quality expectations of the stakeholders. Once you know the quality expectations, create a quality checklist and share it with your team. Assign tasks and delegate responsibilities to the right team members. Don’t forget to incorporate a quality testing method to keep a check on project quality. 

Q3: What are the main characteristics of project quality management?

The main characteristics of project quality management are:

• Single, definable outcome or result
• Project planning and monitoring
• Quality assurance and quality control
• Risk avoidance and management
• Reliability and consistency

Q4: What are the quality requirements in project management?

Quality requirements in project management are the standards or expectations set by the client or internal stakeholders. Such requirements are defined in the beginning to allow teams to create a project plan that shows them the right path to achieve the expected quality goals. 

The quality criteria help teams monitor the quality of all activities throughout the project lifecycle and produce the finest deliverable possible. 

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About the author

David miller.

David is a Project Management expert. He has been published in elearningindustry.com , simpleprogrammer.com . As a project planning and execution expert at ProProfs, he has offered a unique outlook on improving workflows and team efficiency. Connect with David for more engaging conversations on Twitter , LinkedIn , and Facebook .

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