PMP Exam Cram 2. Project Management Professional

The PMBOK spends a significant amount of time on quality assurance, and you should be familiar with the impact of quality on a project, both for the exam and for your own projects. When looking at the triumvirate of project aspects time, price, and scope you should note that quality is at the center of the three elements and is paramount to the understanding of the PMBOK. Quality assurance involves following up to make sure everything is done correctly and fulfills the requirements of the project.

Quality assurance may be provided by the project team or any other stakeholder responsible for maintaining or assisting with the maintenance of quality for the project. Alternatively, an external organization may be utilized to provide quality assurance assistance.

The project manager is ultimately responsible for the quality of the project.

The costs of nonconformance to quality standards tend to increase over time; therefore, the project manager should adhere to the quality conformance requirements of the project from the onset.

Two terms regarding quality assurance are quality planning and quality control. Quality control concerns auditing of the project to make sure it adheres to the guidelines that are required in the quality management plan. Quality planning involves the setting of these standards, which will later be controlled.

Another term you should know concerning quality is probability, which is the likelihood that an event or activity will occur. Probabilities are frequently assigned to risks and outcomes that can have a direct impact on quality.

Six Sigma is a combination of philosophy and tools involved with quality improvement. Many companies use Six Sigma methodologies for improvements, ranging from manufacturing to inventory management and design. Process engineering and business process improvement are also closely tied with the Six Sigma strategies.

The charting of quality is frequently done to isolate variances that impact the quality of the project. You need to know that variances are abnormalities in the quality of a project.

Inputs to Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is an integral part of a project and the PMP exam. PMI constantly emphasizes that unless a high-quality project is provided, it does not matter if the project arrives on time and on budget. PMI's philosophy is that the project should be on time and on budget and that high-quality standards should be maintained through the use of control mechanisms. Projects of sloppy quality are not successful projects, according to the methodologies of PMI.

The three inputs to project quality assurance are the quality management plan, the results of quality control measurements, and the operational definitions. The quality management plan and the operational definitions are defined and detailed further in Chapter 8 of the PMBOK as outputs from quality planning.

The results of the quality control measurements are the reports, records, and test results concerning quality testing. These allow readers to perform analysis of the quality standards and see whether they are met. This includes analysis of variances and explanations for patterns of quality irregularity.

Tools and Techniques for Quality Assurance

Quality assurance and quality planning use the same set of tools and techniques. These are summarized in Table 6.2.

Table 6.2. Quality Assurance Tools and Techniques

Technique

Description

Benefit/cost analysis

Answers the question: How much did the project cost monetarily in comparison to the benefits of the project?

Benchmarking

Comparing similar projects to determine feasibility.

Flowcharting

Using cause-and-effect diagrams to show where problems occur.

Design of experiments

An analytical technique that shows the elements that affect project outcomes.

Cost of quality

Asks the question: How much does it cost to maintain our quality standards?

These techniques are described in Section 8.1.2 of the PMBOK, and you should know them for the exam.

Another tool for measuring and assuring quality in a project is quality audits. The reason for the audits is to document and explain the strengths and weaknesses associated with the project. The summary of the audit should include what was learned from the project for future reference to make other projects more successful.

The PMBOK refers to "lessons learned" in this section. You should understand that lessons learned describes the knowledge the team and stakeholders gain by actually performing the project. The experience and knowledge development gained from lessons learned is referenced throughout the PMBOK, and you must understand this concept for the test. These lessons are frequently used to set quality assurance standards for the current project or future projects.

Quality Assurance Outputs

The only output to quality assurance is quality improvement, which involves any actions taken to improve the quality of the project in response to quality deficiencies or irregularities. In order words, if quality is not up to the standards set, corrective action is taken to bring it back in line with the quality requirements for the project. Frequently, such corrective actions will require a change order request and will utilize the change control integration processes referenced in other sections of the PMBOK.

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