Entering projects with little consideration of quality can be costly in numerous ways. Let's look at the cost of having no quality management plan. Then, we will explore how to develop a practical quality management plan.

The Cost of Poor Quality

So, in what ways is poor quality costly?

First, we may not meet the customer's needs and expectations.

Second, the cost of corrective action and defect repair may be higher than expected.

Third, the cost of quality after the project may be higher and may decrease customer confidence.

Fourth, project communication may be more challenging since people expect different things.

Fifth, your team's morale may suffer. Nobody likes missing deadlines due to rework. This is often a result of  poor quality requirements.

The Quality Management Plan

What is Quality?

Let's first define quality. For project management, quality is "the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements" (PMBOK Guide, Page 718). Project managers and teams focus on meeting the customer's needs.

What is a Quality Management Plan?

The quality management plan "is a component of the project management plan that describes how 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" (PMBOK® Guide—6th Edition, Page 286). 

Management develops, publishes, and communicates quality policies. Why? To support the achievement of the organization's objectives and values.

For example, Nestle has a Quality Policy which includes: "Strive for zero defects and no waste by constantly looking for opportunities to apply our continuous improvement approach to deliver competitive advantage."

What if your organization has no formal quality policy?

Nevertheless, wise project managers define the quality requirements. The quality management plan may be a simple one-page plan for small projects and a more robust plan for larger projects. Furthermore, project managers work with their sponsor, team, and key stakeholders to determine what's needed.

Who Should Develop the Quality Management Plan?

This is determined by the type of project that is being undertaken. A nuclear power plant team will be decidedly different from those helping with the development of an accounts receivable software package. For instance, here are some candidates:

• Project manager
• Selected team members
• Selected stakeholders from quality assurance, legal, and the operations (to name a few)
• Customer representatives (if the project is being undertaken to create a product or service for a customer)

What Should Be Included?

The Quality Management Plan should be fitting to each project. Only include the elements that are necessary and nothing more. The plan may include but not be limited to:

• Your approach to quality management
• The deliverables (i.e., the unique and verifiable products, services, or results) and processes that will be reviewed
• How the quality requirements will be defined for the deliverables and the processes
• Roles and responsibilities
• When and how you will manage quality (i.e., make sure the standards and processes are present)
• When and how you will control quality (i.e., how the team will evaluate the deliverables)
• How defects will be prevented and corrected
• Definitions

It's a good idea to look at prior lessons learned. Additionally, engage your stakeholders in the process to get their input and buy-in.

A Real World Quality Management Plan 

Susie, a project manager, was asked to manage a software development project. She invited her sponsor, the Quality Assurance manager, the lead developer, and business analyst to a meeting. The purpose was to develop the quality management plan.

Susie asked the business analyst to share his recommended approach for developing and managing the requirements. Next, she asked the lead developer about the designs, unit testing, function testing, and integration testing.

Susie invited the QA manager to help determine the testing plans including the individuals who would perform the tests, the order of the tests, the test environments, and the tracking of defects.

Lastly, Susie described a traceability matrix to trace the requirements through each phase of the project. All of this information was captured in a simple quality management plan.

In your next project, think about your approach to quality management. What are one or two steps that you will take to further improve quality?

Project management is "the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project objectives" (PMBOK^®—6th Edition). So, how does project risk management fit in the world of project management?

Hand in Glove Relationship

Project risk management fits in project management like a hand in glove. Project managers can use it to achieve their project objectives and goals. How?

Good risk management always starts with clear project objectives and goals. That is to say, project managers who manage risks without project objectives as the basis are simply playing games. There is an appearance of risk management but these individuals are simply going through the motions.

Just because you've been a project manager since the days of "Gilligan's Island" is no guarantee that you are an effective project manager.

As a matter of fact, you may be still trying to get off your island. Even the Skipper and the Professor can't seem to help...encouraging...huh?

So, how can we produce intended or desired results in our projects? Here are 10 tips. Forming habits requires time and effort, but let's decide first which of these would be most helpful.

How often have you elicited items such as problems, solutions, or implementation ideas from meeting participants? This sounds simple, but often, participants disagree. The meeting can turn into quicksand. Let's look at the Nominal Group Technique (NGT), a powerful technique for reaching consensus.

Imagine that you are planning to facilitate a session to identify the strengths of your organization. What technique would you use to capture their ideas? How would you prioritize the list?

What is the Nominal Group Technique?

The nominal group technique is a structured method for group brainstorming that allows every participant to have an equal voice.  It is a particularly effective tool for larger groups.  The technique saves time, engages participants, and improves the probability of agreement.

There may be inherent risks when we make project assumptions. We assume certain things to be true when in fact, they may not be. Consequently, we fail to challenge assumptions and continue planning and executing based on false notions. This can be costly.

An Example of Wrong Assumptions

So, how does this happen? In her book—Thinking in Bets—author Annie Duke shares an illustration:

Suppose someone says, "I flipped a coin and it landed heads four times in a row. How likely is that to occur?" It feels like that should be a pretty easy question to answer. Once we do the math on the probability of heads on four consecutive 50-50 flips, we can determine that would happen 6.25% of the time (.50 x .50 x .50 x.50).

The problem is that we came to this answer without knowing anything about the coin or the person flipping it. Is it a two-sided coin or three-sided coin or four? If it is two-sided, is it a two-headed coin? Is the flipper a magician who is capable of influencing how the coin lands?

In our projects, we may be guilty of this type of thinking. We may assume the world is flat when indeed, it is not. Assumption analysis can help us discover the facts or supporting information when identifying project risks and later when evaluating risks.

So, what are project risk owners and how should project managers identify and assign them? Let's talk.

Imagine that you are the project manager of a two-year, multi-million dollar project. During the execution of your project, you take a beach vacation.

One of your team members calls upset that a major risk has occurred. You cooly reply, "No problem." You text the risk owner and discover that the risk response plan is being executed and everything is fine.

Is this scenario possible? One thing is for sure. If we don't identify and recruit risk owners, this will never happen. Your project will be at greater risk.

What is a Project Risk Owner?

The PMBOK 6th Edition says a risk owner is "the person responsible for monitoring the risks and for selecting and implementing an appropriate risk response strategy." Furthermore, these individuals may aid in evaluating their risks in performing qualitative risk analysis and the quantitative risk analysis. 

What would you do if all hell breaks loose in a critical company project that you are managing? You lose two of your best team members. Your budget is shot. A key stakeholder is breathing down your neck. Behind schedule by four weeks. You haven't slept well in two weeks. And you feel like throwing in the towel.   

Taking on Risky Projects

Some projects are more risky than others. A project sponsor sees an opportunity. It's a stretch and he knows it, but he wants to try anyway. So, the project charter is completed and the top risks are recognized.

The Project Board approves the project. Why? Because there will be tremendous gains if the project is implemented successfully.

And guess what? You've been asked to manage this project. Lucky you.

As you are engaged in the project, you begin to understand just how challenging the project is going to be. How will you approach the uncertainty that lies before you? What can you do to recognize and plan for the events and conditions that may have negative effects on your project objectives?

When is risk exposure greatest in a project? In the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the project? It's actually highest in the beginning. Let's look at how to reduce risk exposure early in your projects.

Why Risk Exposure Is Greatest in the Beginning

So, why is your risk exposure greatest in the beginning? Project managers have the least amount of information. Uncertainty is the greatest. We know very little about the:

• Goals of the project
• Deliverables
• Requirements
• Budget
• Constraints
• Success criteria
• Availability of resources

Here are five activities that you can undertake to reduce the risk exposure early.

Operational risk includes people risk, technology risk, external event risk, and process risk. In this article, let's talk about process risk and how to reduce these risks through process mapping.

When employees leave organizations, these entities may loose daily operational knowledge. You know. The people that know how to get things done are now gone. And these organizations often lack process documentation. Furthermore, they fail to cross train other employees adequately.

So, who is impacted? Employees for sure. But most importantly, the customer is adversely impacted. 

IF. Have you thought about the use of this two-letter conjunction in risk management lately? Let's look at how to use the power of If-Then risk statements. IF is a simple word that can open up new doors to writing clear risk statements. 

If-Then Risk Statements

Once you've identified your project risks, you will need to write opportunity and threat statements.

Write Opportunity Statements

Opportunities are events and conditions, that if they occur, have a positive impact on your project objectives (e.g., schedule, scope, budget, quality). Here are examples of how you might start these risk statements:

• If you purchase ten or more computers from the XYZ vendor, 
• If you add an additional developer to task ABC,
• If you use quick-drying cement,