1. What Is Quality?
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines quality as ‘the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements’ (ISO9000:2000).
Quality can also be based on conformance to requirements and fitness for use.
Conformance to requirements - The project’s processes and products meet written specifications.
Fitness for use - A product can be used as intended in the design

2. Conformance vs Fitness Example
Many people fail to understand the difference between ‘Conformance to Requirements’ and ‘Fitness for Use’, here is an example…
I need to buy a new car that can safely get me from Sydney to the Gold Coast. If this is my only requirement then I can buy any car on the market, and it would make sense to buy the cheapest possible car, as it would be meet ‘Fitness for Use’ criteria.
Why then, do I wait to buy the new Subaru Outback V6 turbo diesel?
It is probably due to the fact that I had other non stated requirements such as wanting an All Wheel Drive; a brand preference for Subaru; and a high safety expectation.
Buying the cheapest car would have met the ‘Fitness for Use’ criteria, but buying the Subaru meets my ‘Conformance to Requirements’ criteria.

3. What Is Project Quality Management?
Project quality management ensures that the project outcomes will satisfy the needs for which the project was undertaken
It is critical to plan for quality outcomes.
Quality planning involves identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project, product and deliverables and how these will be –
Included in the design and build processes – Quality Assurance
Checked for conformance on completion – Quality Control

4. What Is Project Quality Management?
Project quality management addresses the quality requirements of the overall project and any products or deliverables are produced
The quality measures and techniques used are unique to the characteristics of the product
Project quality management is compatible with many different types of quality management approaches such as Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation)

5. Basic Principles of Quality Management
Quality management complements project management, both disciplines recognise the importance of –
Customer satisfaction
Prevention over inspection
Continuous improvement
Customer satisfaction – defining requirements and managing expectations so that customer requirements are met
Prevention over inspection – quality should be built in to the processes used to produce product and deliverables as the cost of preventing defects is less than the cost of fixing them at the end
Continuous improvement – learning from previous projects is built into future projects to ensure improvement, learnings can also be incorporated during project execution

6. Project Quality Responsibilities
Project Managers are ultimately responsible for quality management on their projects
Many large organisations have internal quality and risk management departments that should be able to assist with the identification of relevant standards and methodologies, as well as internal policies and procedures
Project Managers must seek out the quality standards relevant to –
their industry,
the project, and
the product

7. The Importance of Quality Management
Failure to meet the quality requirements is a common reason for project failure and can have serious negative results
The quality of the end product of a project is critical, things can go drastically wrong if the end product does not meet the requirements
People can die if machinery and medical equipment malfunctions
People can loose their money if new banking systems don’t work correctly
Space missions can fail if there are errors
in project execution
Copyright NASA

8. Quality Management Terms for Projects
the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill the requirements
Cost of Quality –
total cost of all efforts related to quality throughout the project or product development lifecycle
Quality Audit –
the process of examining the quality system or quality management plan, often carried out by an internal or external quality auditor or an audit team. A key element in the ISO quality system.

9. Quality Management Terms for Projects
Quality Assurance –
quality activities that are built in to the processes used to create the product and deliverables, can be performed by a manager, client, or even a third-party reviewer. E.g. reviews, process checklists and quality audits.
Quality Control –
quality activities performed at the completion of a product or deliverable, used to verify that deliverables meet the requirements and that they are complete and correct. E.g. inspection and testing.

10. Quality Assurance vs Quality Control
Quality control and quality assurance are important concepts, yet most project managers have only a vague understanding of the meanings and the differences between these terms.
Quality Assurance –
Quality assurance activities are focused on the process used to create the deliverable.
periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards.
Quality Control –
Quality control activities are focused on the deliverable itself
monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply with the relevant quality standards

11. Quality Assurance vs Quality Control
An important distinction –
Finding and correcting defects during quality assurance
is much cheaper than finding and correcting
defects during quality control
Quality Assurance
During Development
Quality Control
On Completion

12. Quality Assurance vs Quality Control
Many people fail to understand the difference between
‘Quality Assurance’ and ‘Quality Control’, here is an example…
My husband recently started to do the grocery shopping and he very diligently follows the shopping list and tries as hard as possible to bring home everything on the list.
Unfortunately, sometimes when he gets home some of the produce doesn’t meet my requirements. The avocadoes are too hard and the strawberries are often mouldy. In this case the ‘Conformance to Requirements’ criteria has been met as he got everything on the list, but the ‘Fitness for Use’ criteria has not.
Other times he won’t have bought everything on the list as he couldn’t find it in his preferred supermarket. This can be a problem when I need mushrooms for the beef stroganoff that I wanted to make that night. In this case, neither ‘Conformance to Requirements’ nor ‘Fitness for Use’ criteria have been met.

13. Quality Assurance vs Quality Control
What Quality Assurance processes are evident in my
husband’s grocery shopping process?
I prepare a detailed list and he works from that list whilst he is shopping
He checks the list during his shopping trip to ensure he has everything
What Quality Control processes are evident in my husband’s grocery shopping process?
I check the quality of the produce when he returns home
I check that he has bought everything on the list
What Improvements could be made to the process in order to increase Quality?
He can have an alternate process if his preferred supermarket is out of something, then he can go to another supermarket for the additional items
I can train him to select better produce

14. International Organisation for Standardisation
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards.
ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 161 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
ISO is a non-governmental organisation that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. Many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. Other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.

15. ISO Quality Standards
ISO 9000 is a quality system standard that -
is a three-part, continuous cycle of planning, controlling, and documenting quality in an organization.
provides minimum requirements needed for an organization to meet its quality certification standards.
helps organisations around the world reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.
The most commonly implemented family of quality standards is ISO 9001: Quality management systems – Requirements

16. Standards Australia
Standards Australia is the nation’s peak non-government Standards organisation. It is charged by the Commonwealth Government to meet Australia’s need for contemporary, internationally aligned Standards and related services.
The work of Standards Australia enhances the nation’s economic efficiency, international competitiveness and contributes to community demand for a safe and sustainable environment.
It leads and promotes a respected and unbiased Standards development process ensuring all competing interests are heard, their points of view considered and consensus reached.
Standards are printed by their publishing company SAI Global, where you can purchase any ISO, AS (Australian Standard) or IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards.

17. Common Quality Standards
There are many common quality standards available that cover different industries
AS ISO 10006:2003 – Quality management system – guidelines for quality management in projects
BCA 2008 and BCA Building Codes of Australia
ISO Food Safety
AS/NZS 4801: Occupational health and safety management
ISO 14000/ Environmental Management Standard
ISO/IEC Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE)
ISO/IEC 25000: Software product Quality Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE)

18. Different Quality Tools and Techniques
There are many different quality tools and techniques, the selection of these is determined by –
the type of product being delivered by the project,
organisational policies and procedures, and
selected external standards
Run
Chart
Pareto
Chart
Quality
Standards
Control
Charts
Statistical
Sampling
Inspection
Histograms
Quality
Management
Methodologies
Design of
Experiments
Cost of
Quality
Benchmarking
Cost-Benefit
Analysis
Cause &
Effect Diagrams
Flowcharting
Failure
Mode
(FMEA)

19. Quality Management Methodologies
Six Sigma –
mathematically based process improvement approach focusing on customer satisfaction and defect reduction, used first at Motorola and used extensively at GE Corporation
Total Quality Management (TQM) –
management strategy that embeds awareness of quality in all organisational processes. TQM has been widely used in manufacturing, as well as NASA space and science programs
Other Proprietary Methodologies –
Lean Six Sigma, Quality Function Deployment, Deming, Juran, Cosby etc
Can be selected by your organisation for quality management purposes

20. Deming’s Quality Equation
Results of Work Efforts =
Quality
Total Costs
Increased Quality
Focus on Quality
Decreased Costs
Decreased Quality
Focus on Cost
Increased Costs

21. Meeting Quality Outcomes
To meet the quality requirements, Project Managers must –
Ensure that detailed requirements and specifications are documented and agreed with stakeholders
Understand the relevant quality standards for their industry and product
Understand and follow organisational quality methodologies, policies and procedures
Plan for quality assurance and quality control activities in detail
Detail the impacts of change requests on quality requirements and processes
Ensure that defects are repaired and monitored

22. Project Quality Management Processes
PMBOK Project Quality Management Processes -
Related processes from Project Integration Management –
4.2 Develop Project Management Plan
4.6 Close Project
8.1 Plan Quality Management
8.2 Perform Quality Assurance
8.3 Control Quality
PMBOK 5th Edition