The Control Quality process is part of the Quality Management Knowledge Area and belongs to the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group. It focuses on evaluating whether project deliverables meet the defined quality standards and ensuring the final product or service aligns with stakeholder requirements.
This process involves inspection, monitoring, and recording the results of quality activities to assess project performance and recommend changes when necessary. By implementing Control Quality, project teams can validate deliverables, meet requirements, and address quality issues proactively.
Inputs to the Control Quality Process
- Project Management Plan:
- Definition: A document integrating subsidiary plans, including the quality management plan.
- Purpose: Provides guidelines for quality control activities and defines quality metrics.
- Example: A manufacturing project’s plan specifies the acceptable tolerance levels for product dimensions.
- Quality Metrics:
- Definition: Standards and criteria used to measure project quality.
- Purpose: Provides benchmarks for assessing deliverables.
- Example: In software development, a metric might specify that the application should load within two seconds.
- Quality Checklists:
- Definition: A list of items to be inspected or verified to ensure compliance with quality standards.
- Purpose: Ensures all required quality checks are conducted.
- Example: A checklist for a construction project might include inspections for structural integrity and material quality.
- Work Performance Data:
- Definition: Raw data on project activities and performance.
- Purpose: Offers insights into how well the project is meeting quality requirements.
- Example: Data on the number of defects identified during testing phases.
- Approved Change Requests:
- Definition: Modifications to project scope, schedule, or resources that have been approved.
- Purpose: Ensures quality activities account for updated project requirements.
- Example: A change request to enhance a product feature requires additional quality checks.
- Deliverables:
- Definition: Outputs produced during the project that require validation.
- Purpose: Assesses whether deliverables meet quality criteria.
- Example: A software module delivered for testing.
Tools and Techniques for Control Quality
- Inspection:
- Definition: Examining deliverables to ensure they meet specified quality standards.
- Purpose: Identifies defects or non-conformance issues.
- Example: Inspecting construction materials to confirm compliance with building codes.
- Data Gathering:
- Definition: Techniques like checklists, focus groups, or surveys to collect quality-related data.
- Purpose: Provides insights into quality performance.
- Example: Using a defect log to record and analyze product issues.
- Data Analysis:
- Definition: Techniques like root cause analysis, Pareto charts, and statistical sampling to evaluate quality performance.
- Purpose: Identifies patterns and causes of quality issues.
- Example: A Pareto chart highlights the most common defects in a production process.
- Testing and Product Evaluation:
- Definition: Techniques such as stress testing or user acceptance testing to validate deliverables.
- Purpose: Confirms that deliverables meet quality requirements.
- Example: Performing stress tests on a bridge to ensure it can withstand maximum load.
- Meetings:
- Definition: Collaborative discussions to review quality performance and recommend corrective actions.
- Purpose: Aligns stakeholders on quality issues and solutions.
- Example: A weekly quality review meeting to discuss inspection results.
Outputs of the Control Quality Process
- Quality Control Measurements:
- Definition: Data collected during quality control activities to assess performance.
- Purpose: Provides metrics for evaluating whether quality standards are met.
- Example: Measurements showing that 98% of produced parts fall within tolerance limits.
- Validated Changes:
- Definition: Changes that have been implemented and verified as meeting quality requirements.
- Purpose: Ensures modifications do not compromise quality.
- Example: A software update validated through regression testing.
- Verified Deliverables:
- Definition: Deliverables that have been inspected and meet the acceptance criteria.
- Purpose: Confirms readiness for stakeholder acceptance.
- Example: A construction project delivers an approved blueprint.
- Work Performance Information:
- Definition: Analyzed data on project performance.
- Purpose: Provides insights into trends and quality performance.
- Example: A report showing defect rates decreasing over successive iterations.
- Change Requests:
- Definition: Requests for modifications to address quality issues or enhance performance.
- Purpose: Ensures continuous improvement.
- Example: A request to update product specifications based on user feedback.
- Project Documents Updates:
- Definition: Updates to documents such as quality checklists, issue logs, or risk registers.
- Purpose: Reflects the latest quality performance and decisions.
- Example: Adding new inspection criteria to the quality checklist.
Benefits of the Control Quality Process
- Validation of Deliverables:
- Ensures that deliverables meet the specified requirements before stakeholder acceptance.
- Example: Validating a mobile app’s functionality against user stories.
- Identification of Quality Issues:
- Detects defects early, minimizing rework and associated costs.
- Example: Identifying design flaws during the prototype phase.
- Improved Stakeholder Satisfaction:
- Ensures deliverables align with stakeholder expectations.
- Example: Delivering a product that passes all agreed-upon quality checks.
- Continuous Improvement:
- Recommends corrective actions to enhance quality processes.
- Example: Adjusting manufacturing processes based on quality trends.
Practical Examples of the Control Quality Process
- Construction Project:
- Scenario: Building a commercial complex.
- Application:
- Conduct inspections to verify material quality and structural integrity.
- Analyze defect logs to identify recurring issues.
- Outputs: Approved changes to address detected issues; verified deliverables for completed floors.
- IT Project:
- Scenario: Developing an enterprise application.
- Application:
- Perform user acceptance testing to validate software modules.
- Conduct root cause analysis to address identified bugs.
- Outputs: Verified software modules; change requests for additional functionality.
- Event Management:
- Scenario: Organizing a corporate conference.
- Application:
- Inspect venue setup and AV equipment for quality standards.
- Use checklists to ensure all items meet client requirements.
- Outputs: Validated venue setup; updates to the quality checklist for future events.
Summary Table: Control Quality Process
| Category | Details | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Inputs | Project Management Plan, Quality Metrics, Quality Checklists, etc. | Checklist for inspecting construction materials |
| Tools and Techniques | Inspection, Data Analysis, Testing, Meetings | Root cause analysis to identify recurring defects |
| Outputs | Verified Deliverables, Change Requests, Work Performance Information | Verified deliverables for a completed software module |
Conclusion
The Control Quality process is essential for ensuring that project deliverables meet stakeholder expectations and quality standards. By leveraging inputs such as the project management plan and quality metrics, using tools like inspections and testing, and producing outputs like verified deliverables and change requests, project managers can proactively address quality issues and enhance project success. A robust quality control process not only minimizes risks but also builds trust and satisfaction among stakeholders.
Control quality involves activities used to evaluate whether the product or service meets quality requirements that are specified for the project. Quality control is very crucial in project management because it ensures that everything is within the scope of the project planning.
In project management, the project managers define as well as codifies the standards of the project that needs to be required in order to be successful. Moreover, how the standards will be confirmed or achieved is also stipulated in quality planning. Quality planning is very important because it influences the scheduling, costs and other factors involved. Without it, the project has a huge tendency to carry risks that it will be difficult to satisfy the requirements in the end.
One of the tools in quality management is control quality. It is a process of inspecting and verifying the product and services provided by the seller. It also involves monitoring and recording the results of executing the quality activities in order to assess the performance of the project. This process is also necessary for creating recommendations for changes if necessary.
There are many benefits of control quality and these include (1) validating the deliverables, (2) meeting the requirements as specified by the stakeholders, (3) identifying cause of poor product quality, (4) recommending necessary actions to eliminate problems related to quality.
In order to implement control quality, it is necessary to use the right inputs. Information from project management plan, quality metrics, quality checklist, work performance data, approved change requests, as well as deliverables, are necessary. The control quality is used to create quality control measurements, validated changes, verified deliverables, work performance information and change requests.
The control quality is an important process in quality planning and all effective project management processes should utilize it.