7 Tools And Techniques For Plan Quality Management
In my previous article, I have looked at some of the inputs that you need when you need to plan cost management for projects. In this article, I want to look at some of the major tools and techniques for plan cost management for projects. Follow me as we are going to look at that together in this article.
Now the tools and techniques…
#1 Expert Judgement
There is a need to seek expert judgement when you are planning for quality for your project. Expertise should be considered from individuals or groups with specialized knowledge about the project. This includes areas such as Quality assurance, quality control, quality measurements, quality improvements as well as a quality system for the project.
#2 Data Gathering
Data gathering techniques that are used include:
Benchmarking: Benchmarking involves comparing actual and planned project practices or the project’s quality standards to those of comparable projects to identify best practices, general ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.
Benchmarked projects may exist within the performing organization or outside of it, or can be within the same application area. Benchmarking allows for analogies from a project in a different application are application area or different industries to be made.
Brainstorming: Brainstorming is used to gather data creatively from a group of team members or Subject matter Experts to develop the quality management plan that best fits the upcoming project.
Interviews: Projects and product quality needs and expectations, implicit and explicit, formal and informal, can be identified by interviewing experienced project participants, stakeholders and Subject Matter Experts. Interviews should be conducted in an environment of trust and confidentiality to encourage honest and unbiased conditions.
#3 Data Analysis
Data Analysis techniques that can be used include:
Cost-Benefit Analysis
A Cost-Benefit Analysis is a financial tool used to estimate the strength and weaknesses of alternatives in order to determine the best alternatives in terms of benefits provided. A Cost-Benefit Analysis will help the project manager determine if the planned quality activities are cost-effective.
The primary benefits of meeting quality requirement include less rework, higher productivity, lower costs, increased stakeholder satisfaction, and increased profitability. A cost-benefit-analysis for each quality activity compares the cost of the quality step to the expected benefit.
Cost of Quality
The Cost of Quality COQ associated with a project consists of one or more of the following:
Prevention cost: These are cost related to the prevention of poor quality in the products, deliverables, or services of the specific project.
Appraisal Cost: These are costs related evaluating, measuring, auditing, and testing the products, deliverables or services of the specific project.
Failure costs: These are costs related to non-conformance of the products, deliverables or services to the needs or expectations of the stakeholders.
The optimal COQ is one that reflects the appropriate balance for investing in the cost of prevention and appraisal to avoid failure costs. Models show that there is an optimal quality cost for the project, where investing in additional prevention/appraisal cost is neither beneficial nor cost-effective.
#4 Decision making
A decision making technique that can be used for this process includes multi-criteria decision analysis.
Multi-criteria decision analysis tools can be used to identify the key issues and suitable alternatives to be prioritized as a set of decisions for implementation.
Criteria are prioritized and weighted before being applied to all available alternatives to obtain a mathematical score for each alternative. The alternatives are then ranked by score. As used in this process, it can help prioritize quality metrics.
#5 Data representation
Data representation technique that can be used for this process includes:
Flowcharts
Flowcharts are also referred to as process maps because they display the sequence of steps and the branching possibilities that exists for a process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more outputs.
Flowcharts show the activities, decision points, branching loops, parallel paths and the overall order of processing by mapping the operational details of procedures that exist within a horizontal value chain.
One of the versions of a value chain, known as SIPOC (Supplier, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Customers ) model.
It may prove useful in understanding and estimating the cost of quality for a process. Information is obtained by using the workflow branching logic and associated relative frequencies to estimate the expected monetary value for the conformance and non-conformance work required to deliver the expected conforming output.
When flowcharts are used to represent the steps in a process, they are sometimes called process flows or process flow diagrams and they can be used to identify where data integrity or other quality issues can arise.
Logical data model: Logical data models are a visual representation of organizational data. It is being described in business language and independent of any specific technology. The logical data model can be used to identify where data integrity or other quality issues can arise.
Matrix Diagrams: Matrix diagrams help find the strength of relationships among different factors, causes, and objectives that exist between the rows and columns that form the matrix. Depending on how many factors may be compared, the project manager can use different shapes of matrix diagram, for example, L, T, Y, X, C and roof-shaped.
In this process, they facilitate identifying the key quality metrics that are important for the success of the project.
mind mapping: This is a diagrammatic method used to visually organize information. A mind map in quality is often created around a single quality concept, drawn as an image in the centre of a blank landscape page to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words, and parts of words are added.
The mind mapping technique may help in the rapid gathering of project quality requirements, constraints, dependencies and relationships.
Testing and Inspection Planning
During the planning phase, the project manager and the project team determine how to test or inspect the product, deliverable, or service to meet stakeholders needs and expectations, as well as how to meet the goals for the products performance and reliability.
The tests and inspections are Industry dependent and can include, for example, alpha and beta tests in software projects, strength tests in construction projects, inspection in manufacturing, and field tests and non-destructive tests in engineering.
Meetings: Project teams may hold planning meetings to develop a quality management plan. Attendees can include the project manager, the project sponsor selected project team members, selected stakeholders, anyone with responsibility for project quality management activities and others as needed.
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