Project Quality Management According to the PMBOK

Project Quality Management is the 5th knowledge area within the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). It contains the knowledge and processes required to ensure the highest quality products and deliverables are produced by the project. Although the highest quality should always be a goal, the highest grade is not necessarily so.

• Quality: The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements.
• Grade: The performance specification to which a product is produced.

For example, a particular child’s toy might be high grade (many features, etc.), but if the parts break easily the quality could be unacceptable.

There are three processes within this knowledge area:

1. Plan Quality Management. The selection of the quality standards and production of the Quality Management Plan.
2. Manage Quality Auditing the processes being used to achieve the quality standards.
3. Control Quality. Measuring the quality of the deliverables.

Plan Quality Management

This process involves the determination of the quality standards that govern the project deliverables and/or product and how the project will achieve compliance to those standards. Many projects have standards that are given to them directly, such as design standards for buildings. However, many other standards often exist which are not explicitly stated but expected to be complied with. The project manager could purchase the applicable standards from organizations such as ASTM, IEEE, or ANSI to ensure a complete set.

The main output of this process is a quality management plan which dictates the quality standards and outlines how those standards will be met as well as the quality assurance and quality control activities.

PMBOK, 6th Edition, Section 8.1.3.1, “Quality Management Plan”

The quality management plan is a component of the project management plan that describes how the applicable policies, procedures, and guidelines will be implemented to achieve the quality objectives. It describes the activities and resources necessary for the project management team to achieve the quality objectives set for the project.

The quality management plan may be formal or informal, detailed, or broadly framed. The style and detail of the quality management plan are determined by the requirements of the project.

Inputs

• Project Charter
• Project management plan
  • Requirements Management Plan
  • Risk Management Plan
  • Stakeholder Engagement Plan
  • Scope baseline
  • Assumption log
  • Requirements documentation
  • Requirements traceability matrix
  • Risk register
  • Stakeholder register

  Tools & Techniques

  • Expert judgment
  • Data gathering
    • Benchmarking
    • Brainstorming
    • Interviews
    • Cost-benefit analysis
    • Cost of quality
    • Multicriteria decision analysis
    • Flowcharts
    • Logical data model
    • Matrix diagrams
    • Mind mapping

    Outputs

    • Quality management plan
    • Quality metrics
    • Project management plan updates
      • Risk management plan
      • scope baseline
      • Lessons learned register
      • Requirements traceability matrix
      • Risk register
      • Stakeholder register

      Manage Quality

      Manage Quality is the process of auditing the quality requirements and the results from quality control measurements to ensure that appropriate quality standards and operational definitions are used. The quality audits test and/or confirm that the system is functioning correctly. Quality assurance should always be based on a foundation of continuous improvement.

      Inputs

      • Project management plan
        • Quality management plan
        • Lessons learned register
        • Quality control measurements
        • Quality metrics
        • Risk report

        Tools & Techniques

        • Data gathering
          • Checklists
          • Alternatives analysis
          • Document analysis
          • Process analysis
          • Root cause analysis
          • Multicriteria decision analysis
          • Affinity diagrams
          • Cause-and-effect diagrams
          • Flowcharts
          • Histograms
          • Matrix diagrams
          • Scatter diagrams

          Outputs

          • Quality reports
          • Test and evaluation documents
          • Change requests
          • Project management plan updates
            • Quality management plan
            • Scope baseline
            • Schedule baseline
            • Cost baseline
            • Issue log
            • Lessons learned register
            • Risk register

            Control Quality

            Quality Control is the process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes. In short, it is the measurement of defects.

            Inputs

            • Project management plan
              • Quality management plan
              • Lesson learned register
              • Quality metrics
              • Test and evaluation documents

              Tools & Techniques

              • Data gathering
                • Checklists
                • Check sheets
                • Statistical sampling
                • Questionnaires and surveys
                • Performance reviews
                • Root cause analysis
                • Cause-and-effect diagrams
                • Control charts
                • Histogram
                • Scatter diagrams

                Outputs

                • Quality control measurements
                • Verified deliverables
                • Work performance information
                • Change requests
                • Project management plan updates
                  • Quality management plan
                  • Issue log
                  • Lessons learned register
                  • Risk register
                  • Test and evaluation documents