(Ability to monitor and maximize quality) Quality management includes the processes required to ensure that project results will satisfy customer requirements. The Ausley Team will continue to practice the following aspects of quality management that we have used successfully in the past; making quality an integral part of the overall process rather than a stand-alone step:
Quality Planning involves identifying which quality standards (PMBOK, CMMI, ISO, etc) are relevant to the project and its products, and determining how to satisfy them. We believe that quality must be planned in, not inspected in.
Quality assurance involves evaluating the overall project processes and must be performed on a regular basis to provide confidence the project will meet or exceed the established quality standards (such as subcontractor management).
Quality control involves monitoring specific project results and products to determine that they comply with the quality standard. Quality control utilizes methods such as sampling, inspection, control charts, Ishikawa diagrams and Pareto charts.
Finally, margin analysis must always be performed to ensure that quality plans and control mechanisms produce real value. It is essential to determine the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) and weigh that against the cost of resolving existing failures in order to make an informed decision about the cost effectiveness of quality. This cost is composed of four factors:
Probability of occurrence for each possible failure event
Potential impact or severity of each failure
Current detection provisions in place
Resolution cost of a single failure
The Ausley Team applies quality management as a means to an end – the purpose being to improve customer satisfaction by understanding and managing project activities so that customer expectations are met. Preventing failures before they occur is far more cost effective than it is to correct them. Quality is integral to the project planning process.
