Project Quality Planning and Kickoff

Project Quality Planning and Kickoff

• Kick-off meeting formality: Can vary based on project size and type.
• Quality management:
  • Variation understanding is crucial for quality improvement.
  • Statistical methods are crucial for quality improvement rather than only behavioral elements. Each part of a system influences quality independently.
  • The burden of quality improvement rests on those responsible for the work.
• Quality planning, control, and improvement:
  • Identifying customer needs, developing requirements, and creating methods for satisfaction are part of the quality trilogy.
  • Focus on root causes, not symptoms, of quality problems. Establish measurement systems, standards, and compare performance to standards.
• Quality control:
  • Identifying team members and their requirements is part of ongoing quality control.
  • A systematic approach to measurement is essential.
• Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award:
  • Leadership, strategic planning, team learning, and customer focus are key areas covered.
• DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control): A structured process commonly associated with Six Sigma.
• Contemporary project quality concepts:
  • Assumption-based management, stakeholder satisfaction, benchmarking, and earned value management are considered.
• Quality standards development:
  • Stakeholders' needs and requirements identification.
  • Understanding prioritized stakeholder requirements is important.
  • Work system design and decisions are part of the process.
• Design processes with quality in mind:
  • Avoiding rework and time pressures is important.
  • Defects which reach the customer should be avoided.
• Measurement of quality:
  • Quality metrics are used to judge customer satisfaction.
• Fact-based management:
  • Understanding variation, using historical research, relying on routine processes with respect to quality requirements are essential in fact-based management.
• Variations in operations:
  • Common cause variation (normal) compared to special cause variation (non-standard).
• Special cause variations:
  • Special cause variations require specific interventions and finding root causes.
• Empowering performance:
  • Expectations for risk as learning opportunities.
  • Worker training and willingness to take risks.
  • Specialized problem-solving expertise.
• Project quality management plan:
  • Defining quality roles, tracking quality control and assurance issues, identifying key project deliverables, and reviewing those for quality control.
• Project kick-off meeting:
  • Stakeholder trust & relationship building.
  • Clear explanation of all aspects of the project to the team.
• Quality management thought leaders:
  • Deming, Juran, Crosby, and Taguchi contributed key ideas to the quality revolution.
• Quality tools and concepts in project work:
  • The application of relevant tools and concepts to practical project work.