Powerful Quality Strategies

In addition to the powerful quality tools and techniques we reviewed earlier, there are five other key strategies related to managing project quality that we need to discuss:

• Use customer-focused project approaches This may be self-evident by now, but utilizing project approaches that accomplish the following:
  • Fully engages the customer throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Partners the project team with the targeted customers.
  • Allows the customer to provide feedback on "solution-like" deliverables as soon as possible.
  • Emphasizes prevention and early detection of quality defects.

  Popular, modern-day project approaches and techniques that fall into this category include

  • Iterative development
  • Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
  • Prototyping
  • Computer simulation
  • Agile development
  • Rational Unified Processing (Use Case development)
  • Scenario development
  • Storyboarding

• Take customer's perspective From the development of requirements to the testing approach, make sure to take the customer's perspective. In particular, the testing environment needs to simulate the real-world customer environment to the greatest extent possible. Without this approach, your verification procedures are incomplete at best and misleading at their worst.
• Pre-verify deliverables To better manage client expectations, including confidence in the project team, make sure to conduct an internal quality check on any deliverable that will be reviewed by the client. Make sure to schedule these internal verification steps too.
• Focus on the people There is no better quality management technique than to have people who are good at what they do, who take pride in their work, and who are focused on the customer experience. The project management processes of staffing, managing, and leading a team are key project quality factors.
• Leverage expertise A great way to deal with unanticipated project quality issues is to structure the team with one or more mentors (or coaches). Since many organizations do not have an effective way to formally pass along the lessons from the past, this strategy is an effective way to leverage the wisdom that lies within the social fabric of the organization. The two positions that are most needed are a mentor for the project manager and a technical mentor for the technical aspects of the project. In many cases, the technical mentor may actually provide the QA function for the technical deliverables.