Chapter 8 Project Quality Management

normal distribution

a bell-shaped curve that is symmetrical around the mean or average value of the population (the data being analyzed).

six sigma

a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success. uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business processes.

internal failure cost

a cost incurred to correct an identified defect before the customer receives the product.

fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams

a diagram that traces complaints about quality problems back to the responsible production operations to help find the root cause.

control chart

a graphic display of data that illustrates the results of a process over time.

pareto chart

a histogram that can help you identify and prioritize problem areas.

six 9s of quality

a measure of quality control equal to 1 fault in 1 million opportunities.

software quality function deployment model integration

a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes

fitness for use

a product can be used as it was intended

ISO 9000

a quality system standard developed by the ISO, is a three-part, continuous cycle of planning, controlling, and documenting quality in an organization.

quality audit

a structured review of specific quality management activities that help identify lessons learned that could improve performance on current or future projects.

DMAIC

a systematic, closed-loop process for continued improvement that is scientific and fact based, stands for define, measure, analyze, improve and control.

5 whys

a technique in which you repeatedly ask the question "Why?" to help peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause of a problem.

design of experiments

a technique that helps identify which variables have the most influence on the overall outcome of a process.

main outputs quality control

acceptance decisions, rework, process adjustments

rework

action taken to bring rejected items into compliance with product requirements, specifications, or other stakeholder expectations.

performance

addresses how well a product or service performs the customer's intended use.

maintainability

addresses the ease of performing maintenance on a product.

pareto analysis

also called the 80-20 rule, meaning that 80 percent of problems are often due to 20 percent of the causes

user acceptance testing

an independent test performed by end users prior to accepting the delivered system.

kaizen

another goal of quality improvement, Japanese word for improvement or change for the better.

defect

any instance in which the product or service fails to meet customer requirements.

software defect

anything that must be changed before delivery of the program

system outputs

are the screens and reports the system generates.

seven basic tools of quality

cause-and-effect diagrams, control chart, checksheet, scatter diagram, histogram, Pareto chart, flowcharts

perform quality assurance outputs

change requests, project management plan updates, project documents updates, and organizational process asset updates. EXECUTING PHASE

process adjustments

correct or prevent further quality problems based on quality control measurements.

external failure cost

cost that relates to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to the customer.

measure

define measures, then collect, compile and display data

Define

define the problem/opportunity, process, and customer requirements

conformance

delivering products that meet requirements and fitness for use

acceptance decisions

determine if the products or services produced as part of the project will be accepted or rejected.

run chart

displays the history and pattern of variation of a process over time.

unit test

done to test each individual component (often a program) to ensure that it is as defect-free as possible.

project quality management

ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.

maturity models

frameworks for helping organizations improve their processes and systems

scope aspects of IT projects

functionality, features, system outputs, performance, reliability, maintainability.

improve

generate solutions and ideas for improving the problem

benchmarking

generates ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other products within or outside the performing organization.

flowcharts

graphic displays of the logic and flow of processes that help you analyze how problems occur and how processes can be improved, show activities, decision points, and the order of how information is processed.

scatter diagram

helps to show if there is a relationship between two variables. The closer data points are to a diagonal line, the more closely the two variables are related

1. planning quality management

identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to satisfy them; a metric is a standard of measurement.

planning quality

implies the ability to anticipate situations and prepare actions to bring about the desired outcome.

quality assurance

includes all the activities related to satisfying the relevant quality standards for a project.

CMMI levels

incomplete, performed, managed, defined, quantitatively managed, optimizing

statistical sampling

involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection.

lean

involves evaluating processes to maximize customer value while minimizing waste.

histogram

is a bar graph of a distribution of variables

standard deviation

measures how much variation exists in a distribution and there is relatively greater variability.

3. performing quality control

monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply with the relevant quality standards.

integration testing

occurs between unit and system testing to test functionally grouped components.

malcom baldrige national quality award

originated in 1987 to recognize companies that have achieved a level of world-class competition through quality management

2. performing quality assurance

periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards.

project quality management processes

planning quality management, performing quality assurance, performing quality control.

five major cost categories related to quality

prevention cost, appraisal cost, internal failure cost, external failure cost, measurement and test equipment costs.

perform quality control

quality control measurements, validated changes, validated deliverable, work performance information, change requests, project management plan updates, project documents updates, and organizational process asset updates. MONITORING & CONTROLLING PHASE

plan quality management outputs

quality management plan, process improvement involvement plan, quality metrics, quality checklists, and project documents updates. PLANNING PHASE

yield

represents the number of units handled correctly through the process steps.

modern quality management

requires customer satisfaction, prefers prevention to inspection, recognizes management responsibility for quality

analyze

scrutinize process details to find improvement opportunities

seven run rule

states that if seven data points in a row are all below the mean, above the mean, or are all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be examined for non-random problems

cost of conformance

taking responsibility for failures or not meeting quality expectations.

system testing

tests the entire system as one entity.

reliability

the ability of a product or service to perform as expected under normal conditions.

measurement and test equipment costs

the capital cost of equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal activities

cost of quality

the cost of conformance plus the cost of nonconformance.

appraisal cost

the cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure that a project is error-free or within an acceptable error range.

prevention cost

the cost of planning and executing a project so that it is error-free or within an acceptable error range.

Quality

the degree to which a set of characteristics fulfills requirements. must be on an equal level with project scope, time and cost.

functionality

the degree to which a system performs its intended function.

conformance to requirements

the project's processes and products meet written specifications

features

the system's special characteristics that appeal to users.

cause-effect-diagrams

trace complaints about quality problems back to the responsible production operations. help you find the root cause of a problem.

control

track and verify the stability of the improvements and the predictability of the solution

project managers

ultimately responsible for quality management on their projects.

checksheet

used to collect and analyze data. It is sometimes called a tally sheet or checklist, depending on its format

kanban five core properties

visual workflow, limit work-in-process, measure and manage flow, make processes policies explicit, use models to recognize improvement opportunities.