MODULE: EAT 340: PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

TECHNIQUES.

LESSON 11: PROJECT CONTROL & QUALITY MANAGEMENT

11.1 PROJECT CONTROL - INTRODUCTION

No matter how well a project has been planned, there are likely to be
deviations between actual and planned performance. It may be that certain of
the planning assumptions turn out to be invalid. There may be delays in
receiving goods and services from outside suppliers. Perhaps there is an
epidemic leading to staff shortages. In British Standards it is stated that;

“All projects are subject to change and their success depends on

how well they are planned in the first instance and how well
changes are managed.”

So, important though sound project planning is, it is not an end in itself.
Establishment of project objectives and plans is of little value if the plans are
not carried out in such a way that agreed project objectives are achieved.
Therefore, to be effective, project managers must be able to measure
performance, determine if and where deviations from the plan are occurring,
and take appropriate corrective action.

The comments above might convey an impression that control is entirely

concerned with correcting things that have in some way deviated from the
plan. This of course is very far from being the case. Having done everything
possible to ensure that the plan is sound, successful project managers initiate
actions in a timely way so that projects progress in accordance with that plan,
and hence deviations and the need for corrective action are minimised.

Such a plan, as you have seen in earlier lessons, needs to take account of all
the activities and resources necessary to complete the project successfully. It
also needs to be based on a thorough understanding of all the things that can
go wrong and what action needs to be taken, either to prevent them from
going wrong or dealing with them when they do go wrong.

Keeping projects on track requires effective control. That is the subject of this
lesson.

11.2 YOUR AIMS.

On completion of this lesson you should be able to:

 Understand the importance and nature of project control.

 Accelerate the progress of a project where necessary.
 Make a contribution to the control of projects in which you become
involved.
11.3 STUDY ADVICE.

A number of control-related issues have already been raised in earlier

lessons. In this lesson we will revisit control in order to extend our
consideration of the issues and concepts and to reinforce your learning of
them. Much of the material is discursive in nature and you should read it
carefully and as directed to ensure you have a full understanding of it. The
notes in the lesson guide will introduce, signpost and clarify the main issues.
You should pay attention to Burke, Chapter 15 (“Project Control”) and also the
examples concerning project acceleration given in Appendix 2.

*You should now read Chapter 15 of the module text.

11.4 CONTEXT OF PROJECT CONTROL.

As a starting point, let us briefly consider the control process in general.

Control is widely written about and applied and there is general agreement
about its core concepts and processes. It has long been appreciated that the
concept of “control” has wide-ranging application.

Control techniques are essentially the same for just about any given
application. They involve three fundamental steps - (i) establishing and
agreeing standards, (ii) measuring performance against these standards, and
(iii) correcting variations from these standards.”

Setting Standards. Effective control procedures are dependent upon good

planning, without which it is unlikely that there will be a proper understanding
of the objectives an organisation is attempting to achieve. The establishment
and agreement of standards (against which progress and conformity can be
measured) is fundamental to all parties concerned. They form the basis for
providing indications of how things are going without having to check every
step in the process.

Measuring Performance. The measurement of actual performance or results

should, so far as is possible, be an early warning system which aims to detect
deviations from the standards in advance of their occurring. Hence, remedial
action can be taken to correct any deviation.

Corrective Action. Once the deviations have been identified and analysed,
they must be attended to by corrective action. This may be a time-consuming
task and the time-lag between measuring performance and taking remedial
action can be the difference between success and failure.

Effective control depends upon the generation and supply of appropriate

information. Good control information should have the following attributes.
1. Accuracy. Accurate control information is needed to direct the project
manager's attention to those matters actually requiring control action. If the
information is inaccurate, then the project manager is liable to make
incorrect and inappropriate control decisions.

2. Timeliness. The timeliness of information is important since it is of little

consolation to the project manager to know that, although the information
was accurate, it was received too late to make use of it. Timely
information will avoid control delays and encourage prompt control action.

3. Conciseness. Management information systems can produce vast

quantities of information, but the project manager needs relevant
information which highlights the exceptional items which require attention.

4. Comprehensiveness. The information presented needs to provide a

complete picture of events in order to prevent inappropriate control
decisions.

A number of tools and techniques have been developed over the years to
help in applying the process of control. Some general examples are budget
control, break-even analysis, earned value, network analysis and Gantt
Charts. However, although control techniques vary widely in their design and
in what they measure, they all seek the same basic objective (i.e. to detect
any variations from predetermined standards in order to enable managers to
take the appropriate corrective action).

Issues of “control” occur at just about all stages of project management. The
following may be cited:

 Integrated change control - coordinating changes across the entire

project.

 Scope change control - controlling changes to project scope.

 Schedule control - controlling changes to the project schedule.

 Cost control - controlling changes to the project budget.

 Quality control - monitoring specific project results to determine if they

comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to
eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.

 Risk monitoring and control - monitoring residual risks, identifying new

risks, executing risk reduction plans, and evaluating their
effectiveness throughout the project life cycle.
  The Control Cycle.

 Monitoring & Reporting progress.

 Trend Bar Charts.

 Procurement Control

 Cash Flow.

 Earned Value.

The above lists clearly illustrates that control is not a bolt-on activity but that it
is integrated throughout the project life-cycle. The Project Manager must
exercise control over the process from the moment that he or she is appointed
to the time that the project is finally completed.

This is taken up more fully in the Project Management Body of knowledge

(PMBOK) in which it is argued that projects are composed of processes – a
process being “a series of actions bringing about a result”.

The PMBOK suggests that project management processes can be organized

into the following five groups, with one or more processes in each.

 Initiating processes - authorizing the project or phase.

 Planning processes - defining and refining objectives and selecting the

best of the alternative courses of action to attain the objectives that the
project was undertaken to address.

 Executing processes - coordinating people and other resources to carry

out the plan.

 Controlling processes - ensuring that project objectives are met by

monitoring and measuring progress regularly to identify variances from
plan so that corrective action can be taken when necessary.

 Closing processes - formalizing acceptance of the project or phase and

bringing it to an orderly end.

Finally, the PMBOK gives a good overview of how project control permeates
the whole field of project management. In the following table we see how
control relates to and is integrated with the 9 PMBOK project phases and
knowledge areas. Remember that more recent versions of PMBOK (i.e. Fifth
Edition) include a further knowledge area relating to ‘Stakeholder
Management’.
 Knowledge Area Control Function

Project Integration Management Integrated Change Control

Project Scope Management Scope Verification

Scope Change Control
Project Time Management Schedule Control

Project Cost Management Cost Control

Project Quality Management Quality Control

Project Human Resource Management

Project Communications Management Performance Reporting

Risk Project Management Risk Monitoring and Control

Project Procurement Management

In your reading of Chapter 15 you will see that Burke also stresses that
planning is a pointless exercise unless the execution of the plans are tracked
and controlled through accurate reporting on performance. After the project
plan or baseline plan is completed, the next phase is project execution and
control using the baseline plan as the basis for monitoring and measurement
of progress. The baseline plan is generally a collection of documents which
taken together indicate the path the project should follow.

Burke points out that a structured approach to planning and control is

recommended by experienced practitioners, because through a well-
disciplined system all parties will know what is expected of them, their
required performance, and the reports they must generate. The two following
pre-requisites are suggested for effective control.

 Establish a Baseline. Deviations from the plan can only be measured and
interpreted if we have a fixed view of what the original plan was. Fixing the
original plan is known as `setting the baseline'. By setting the baseline of a
project we will have a permanent record of how much time and resource
we planned to spend on each individual activity and from this we can
quantify the variances that occur. The actual plan will change during the
course of the project, but we should not lose sight of our original
intentions.
 Establishing a formal control procedure. Control of projects should, by
and large, be formalised. This is not to mean that it necessarily has to
become a bureaucratic burden on all those involved. Merely that a regular
and disciplined approach is taken to the control process.

Burke also makes the point that it is essential for effective project control that
performance is measured while there is still time to take corrective action. He
adds the equally important point that not only is it cheaper to take effective
action early on in the project, but as the project approaches completion, the
project manager may in fact be powerless to take any effective corrective
action at all (e.g. see “Cost-to-Change” discussions in Burke, Chapter 3)

11.5 INFORMATION / DATA CAPTURE

In Section 3, Burke draws attention to the importance of good information and

talks of Data Capture. He identifies a number of attributes of “good”
information.

In the simple example, Burke uses a Data Capture Proforma. A wide range of
project management forms are commercially available and, of course, project
management software packages normally generate them too. Such forms can
also be produced manually and have the advantage of being tailored to the
specific requirements of the project control system. You will note that in the
example, an earned value approach is employed to measure progress. Such
an approach makes it possible to obtain a quantified assessment of progress
and deviation in terms of time and cost. In this case cost is measured in
hours, which of course could be easily translated to money.

Anyone can collect information but the effective project manager does
something with it. The incorporation of information / data into a control
“framework” is one such example:

11.6 CONTROL FRAMEWORKS

A framework for using information to keep the project on track and bring it to a
successful conclusion may be:

1. Assessing the situation. This involves answering the following questions

about the current situation.

 How much will this affect other activities?

 What must I do to correct this particular problem?

 What must I do to put the project back on track?

  Why did it happen?

 What must I do to ensure that it does not happen again?

2. Impact analysis. One output from the assessment of the situation will be
a number of possible actions. Some of these will be concerned with
keeping the project on track. Others will be concerned with getting the
project back on track. It must however be remembered that a remedial
action on one part of a project might have an adverse effect on another
part. The impact of all the changes needs therefore to be thoroughly
analysed. This analysis of the impact of changes cannot be done by the
Project Manager working alone. The knock-on effect of change should not
be underestimated, and - within reason and depending on the sensitivity of
the circumstances - consultation should be as wide as possible.

3. Resolving issues and problems. Although action to resolve issues will

be very varied, it can be generalised into the following basic categories.

 Genuinely creative solutions to problems e.g. re-examine the plan

and particularly the planning assumptions, check to see if resource
constraints still exist the work, check to see if new or emergent
technology or techniques allow you to review your plan, etc.

 Using contingency. Once contingency is used it cannot be recovered.

Therefore, Dixon advises, use your contingency only when you really
have no choice and always monitor and control it carefully.

 Applying more resources. Increasing the resource allocation to an

activity is a common way of attempting to deal with a real or potential
slippage. Of course, this will normally increase costs, but this might be
better than incurring a financial penalty or loss of reputation. It might
also reduce profitability and put the project and even the company at
risk.

 Slipping the completion dates. Although this is a very undesirable

course of action, in some situations there mighty simply be no
alternative. If there is no alternative to slipping the completion date, do
it as soon as possible. Ensure that all stakeholders know of the
slippage and understand the reasons for it. You might even find that
given sufficient notice, other stakeholders can accommodate all or at
least some of the slippage.

 De-scoping. De-scoping means delivering less than was originally

intended. De-scoping is a common way of delivering at least part of the
project deliverables either time or in budget. However is should be
 used only as a last resort when none of the above approaches are
likely to work. De-scoping leads directly to a failure to meet at least
some of and should not be done without full consultation with, and
preferably the consent of the project sponsor and others who are likely
to be affected by the de-scoping of the project.

 Making sure it does not happen again. For the most part, the above
approaches involve taking action resolve an immediate issue or
problem. As with any problem there is value in attempting to identify
and deal with the route cause. This will help to prevent recurrences of
the problem within the project, which is important on long running
projects. A properly implemented solution to a route cause might also
prevent problems occurring on other projects.

4. Controlling Change. No matter how well the scope has been defined,
there is the strong possibility, particularly on large or long running projects,
that requirements will change during the course of a project. This was
pointed out during the lecture on Scope Management, as was the
importance of attempting to ensure that change is properly controlled.
Dixon suggests this operates at two levels i.e. fundamental changes to the
project itself and detailed changes to the project deliverables.

 Project Changes. These changes often require modifications to the

original Terms of Reference and perhaps the objectives of the project.
Requests for change should be subject to full Impact Analysis and
made with the consent of the project and other relevant managers and
stakeholders. It is important to remember, as both Dixon and Burke are
at pains to point out, that the further a project progresses, the more
expensive change become.

 Project deliverables. In addition to the final end product, there are a

number of other project deliverables e.g. specifications, designs,
reports, analyses, plan etc. These should be the subject of document
control procedures which should:

- Identify which documents are to be controlled.

- Specify the prime author of each document.
- Specify where the master copy is held.
- List the names of copy recipients.
- Detail procedures for raising changes.
- Detail procedures for reviewing changes.
- Specify version numbering conventions.
5. Completing the project. The value of conducting a post project review
was mentioned during the lecture covering The Planning and Control
Cycle. It is good practice to conduct such a review to measure the success
of the project; to determine the need for further work, to identity any
lessons learnt. This is an important though often neglected part of project
control. When one project is completed the pressure often builds up to
start on the next, time spent on reviewing the completed project being
seen as something of a luxury. Post project review can however provide
information which, in addition to ensuring that the project has indeed been
completed and closed to everyone’s satisfaction, can be used to refine and
develop the organisations approach to project management. This might
easily lead to future bids for projects being more successful, and to more
profitable projects.

11.7 PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT - INTRODUCTION.

In the lesson on the Planning and Control Cycle, the notion of the triple
constraint (time/cost/quality) was introduced. This suggested that the
overriding objective in any project is to complete all the work within the agreed
time, cost and quality constraints. The issues of time and cost have been
considered in some detail in previous lessons. Hence, in this section of the
lesson we will consider the concepts of quality in general and their
application in the management of projects in particular.

Beyond this, we will turn our attention to the risks which may affect project
success. There are risks associated with all projects and it is the job of the
project manager to identify, evaluate, prioritise and manage those risks to
help ensure project success.

11.8 YOUR AIMS.

On completion of this lesson you should be able to:

 Describe and apply different approaches to the definition of quality.

 Appreciate the need for the quality system to include both the quality of
management of the project and the quality of the project itself.
 Understand, describe and briefly contrast Quality Control, Quality
Assurance and Total Quality Management.
 Understand and describe a number of quality management concepts
including Cost of Quality, Quality Audit and Quality Circles.
 Understand and apply basic risk assessment and management
techniques.

11.9 STUDY ADVICE.

Project Quality Management is considered in the module text. Project Risk

Management is also considered. You should read these as directed, and in
conjunction with the supplementary material in the lesson plan. As you work
through the reading, take particular care to identify, review and reflect on the
issues.

11.10 PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT.

Burke makes brief reference to the PMBOK definition of Project Quality

Management which, as you will recall from the Project Management
Introductory Lecture, is as follows:

“A subset of project management that includes the

processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy
the needs for which it was undertaken [by addressing] both
the management of the project and the product of the
project.

The APM BOK describes it as:

“covering quality planning, quality control and quality

assurance.”

In essence, Project Quality Management consists of:

 Quality planning - identifying which quality

standards are relevant to the project and
determining how to satisfy them.
 Quality assurance - evaluating overall project
performance on a regular basis to provide
confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant
quality standards.
 Quality control - monitoring specific project results to
determine if they comply with relevant quality
standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes
of unsatisfactory performance.

Note also the definitions given by Burke. Burke attempts to locate project
quality management within an organisation’s overall quality system and
makes the important point (as does PMBOK) that project quality management
must address both the management of the project and the product of the
project.

PMBOK asserts project quality management includes, “all activities of the

overall management function that determine the quality policy, objectives, and
responsibilities and implements them by means such as quality planning,
quality assurance, quality control, and quality improvement, within the quality
system”.

The following table (Table 11.1), derived from PMBOK, summarises activities
within quality planning, assurance and control.
Quality Planning Quality Assurance Quality Control

Inputs Inputs Inputs

1. Quality policy. 1. Quality management 1. Work results.

2. Scope statement. plan. 2. Quality management
3. Product description. 2. Results of quality plan.
4. Standards and control 3. Operational
regulations. measurements. definitions.
5. Other process 3. Operational 4. Checklists.
outputs. definitions.

Tools and Techniques Tools and Techniques Tools and Techniques

1. Benefit/cost analysis. 1. Quality planning 1. Inspection.

2. Benchmarking. tools and 2. Control charts.
3. Flow-charting. techniques. 3. Pareto diagrams.
4. Design of 2. Quality audits. 4. Statistical sampling.
experiments. 5. Flow-charting.
5. Cost of Quality 6. Trend analysis.

Outputs Outputs Outputs

1. Quality management 1. Quality 1. Quality

plan. improvement. improvement.
2. Operational 2. Acceptance
definitions. decisions.
3. Checklists. 3. Rework.
4. Inputs to other 4. Completed
processes. checklists.
5. Process
adjustments.

Table 11.1: The Nature of Project Quality Management

11.11 THE NATURE OF QUALITY.

The word “quality” means different things to different people but there are
generally agreed ideas about what quality means in a project management
context. However, before considering quality in such a context, let us
consider some of the general approaches to quality which exist both within
and outside of the project management field.

The following list summaries some of these:

 1. The Product-Based Approach; which views quality as synonymous
with innate excellence. Quality is seen as achieving or reaching for the
highest standard possible e.g. a Rolex watch or a Rolls-Royce car are
perceived as quality products.
2. The Transcendent-Based Approach; which identifies specific
features or attributes that can be measured to indicate high quality e.g.
leather seats in a car would be considered higher quality than cloth or
vinyl. This approach provides objective measures of quality.
3. The User-Based Approach: in which the user determines the quality
of the goods. This is often referred to as fitness for purpose. It implies
learning how the user plans to use the product and making it so as to
conform to specification and do what the customer wants it to. The
user-based approach equates customer satisfaction with quality.
4. The Manufacturing-Based Approach: that is often referred to as
“conformance to requirements”. Engineers specify the product
characteristics, and the more closely manufacturing can conform to
those characteristics, the better the quality of the product. This
definition has the advantage of providing objectively measurable quality
standards and of reducing the costs of quality. However its
disadvantage is its lack of concern for the customer’s preferences. Its
implicit assumption is that customer satisfaction is directly related to
the precision of meeting target specification of a product or service.
5. The Value-Based Approach; which introduces the element of price.
Quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price and the
control of variability at an acceptable cost. In this definition one
attribute of value is quality. The purchase decision involves trading off
the quality against the price.

Of these, perhaps the closest approach to the project management concept of

quality is the user-based approach, though the manufacturing-based
approach (conformance to specification) is also relevant. In practice, most
companies adopt a mix of the approaches and reconcile them, as does Burke,
by defining quality as “conforming to clients’ requirements”.

A quality project is therefore one which has been completed to agreed

specification and, as such, conforms to the client’s requirements.

It is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that client needs and
expectations are determined and satisfied. The following is a practical six-step
guide to conforming to quality requirements in general.

1. Define quality characteristics.

2. Decide how to measure each of the quality characteristics.
3. Set quality standards for each characteristic.
4. Control quality against these standards.
5. Find and correct the causes of poor quality.
6. Continue to make improvement.
These steps are relevant in project management and have clear links with the
control concepts which were introduced and considered in earlier
lessons/sections.

11.12 APPROACHES TO MANAGING QUALITY.

SAQ 1 Included in the other definitions provided in Section 1 are Quality

Assurance and Quality Control. In the space below briefly distinguish
between Quality Assurance and Quality Control.

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A quality assurance “umbrella” diagram is depicted by Burke showing how an

integration of a quality management system into company operation may help
prevent quality problems. This is also shown in the accompanying PowerPoint
presentation.

In his brief note on the Project Quality Plan, Burke suggests that the 20 sub-
headings from the ISO quality management system can be used to structure
the document. A full description of the ISO document is beyond the scope of
this lesson. However a brief introduction and overview is useful and will
familiarise you with the sub-headings to which Burke refers.

ISO is written in the form of twenty specific requirements, each contained in a

separate clause. The twenty clauses are as follows.

1. Management responsibility
2. Quality system
3. Contract review
4. Design control
5. Document and data control
6. Purchasing
7. Control of customer-supplied product
8. Product identification and traceability
9. Process control
10. Inspection and testing
 11. Control of inspection, measuring and test equipment
12. Inspection and test status
13. Control of nonconforming product
14. Corrective and preventative action
15. Handling, storage, packaging, preservation and delivery
16. Control of quality records
17. Internal quality audits
18. Training
19. Servicing
20. Statistical techniques

ISO of course provides detailed information about the requirements in the

above clauses. Meeting those requirements is likely to be a basis for a sound
quality system. However, it is for each organisation to decide on the methods
that will be used to meet the requirements.

If the quality system meets the requirements of ISO it can be certified as such
by an independent third party. Third party accreditation has a number of
advantages. It reduces the requirement for assessment by individual
customers and the need for customers to define their own quality system
requirements. It may also mean that a company can address new markets
and thus increase sales.

Finally, Burke refers to Total Quality Management (TQM). This is a very

large topic which can only be introduced here. The desired outcome of a TQM
approach is to be more competitive by (i) being more productive than the
competition and (ii) supplying goods and/or services that are attractive to the
customer. Effective TQM requires the understanding and participation of all
members within the organisation. A more detailed consideration of TQM is
given in the module text and will be discussed later in these notes.

We will now consider the various aspects of quality.

11.13 QUALITY COSTS.

SAQ 2 In the space below list the Quality Cost headings identified by
Burke.

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The model presented states that these quality costs may be regarded as sub-
categories derived from two broad categories - namely conformance costs
and non-conformance costs, as shown in Table 11. 2 below:

Category Sub-category
Conformance Costs: those costs Prevention Costs: those costs
incurred to ensure that the associated with all activities designed
manufactured products or delivered to prevent defects in products or
services conform to specifications. services.

Appraisal Costs: the costs

associated with measuring and
evaluating the product or service
quality to ensure conformance.
Non-Conformance Costs: those Internal Failure Costs: costs
costs associated with products or incurred prior to the shipment of the
services that do not conform to the product or the delivery of the service.
customer’s requirement. They are These costs are associated with
often referred to as failure costs. defects that are found prior to
customer delivery.

External Failure costs: the costs of

discovered defects occurring after
product shipment or service delivery.

Table 11.2 Subdivisions of Quality Cost Categories.

Burke further subdivides the 4 quality cost sub-categories (prevention,

appraisal, internal failure, external failure) into numerous possible contributing
integral processes. Make sure you can cite, and are aware of the nature of,
examples from each category.

Finally, Burke presents a Quality Management Cost diagram. The main

purpose of this diagram, as presented, is to show how increased prevention
costs can lead to a decrease in overall quality costs - also see the
accompanying PowerPoint presentation. Essentially, the message from this
diagram is that “prevention is better than cure”.

11.14 QUALITY PLANNING.

PMBOK defines Quality Planning as, “...identifying which quality standards

are relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them”.

This is an excellent pragmatic definition of quality planning. Quality standards

cover a multitude of products and procedures and dictate (for instance) the
materials and/or processes which must be employed in manufacturing a
product together with subsequent performance standards. Quality standards
may be external and internationally-recognised (e.g. BS or ISO) or they may
be internal to a given organisation. The important thing is that the appropriate
agreed quality standards must be identified and understood. The challenge is
then to determine how they should be satisfied. This broad definition covers
the planning of both of these necessary aspects (i.e. identification and
compliance).

Burke suggests that it may be necessary to tailor a company's quality

management system to meet the needs of the client and the product. This, he
says, is achieved through the project quality plan.

In summary, the company quality plan must therefore identify and detail all of
the quality standards relevant to the project or product to be delivered. It
should also specify the means of delivery and assuring compliance. Finally it
should be clearly communicated to all employees/customers/stakeholders.

These concepts are clearly consistent with the TQM framework outlined
earlier.

11.15 QUALITY CONTROL

In a project context, PMBOK defines quality control as, “… monitoring specific

project results to determine if they comply with relevant quality standards and
identify ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory results.” The relevance of
this definition to the discussion below should become clear with further
consideration.

Quality Control involves the processes, procedures and methods by which a

product (or project) achieves the desired quality. In this context, quality may
be assumed to mean “in accordance with agreed specifications as defined by
a contract. Quality control may therefore involve testing, evaluation or some
quantitative method of measuring relevant quality variables against agreed
standards. As well as the product being tested to assure conformity, so the
test method itself may well be subject to externally agreed standards (see
also 13.8 above). For example, if a steel component is being produced to
meet certain mechanical property requirements (e.g. tensile strength,
hardness etc), then the method by which these properties are measured may
well have to conform to external standards (e.g. BS, EN, ISO, ASTM, DIN
standards etc). Furthermore, testing equipment needs to be calibrated and
certificated to traceable standards (e.g. to UKAS in the UK). Beyond this,
statistical techniques may be employed to ensure critical properties don’t
deviate too far in terms of average or range. Such feedback information
allows for timely diagnosis and intervention to correct matters. Note that the
critical measures/specifications and the respective test methods ought to be
agreed in advance and stated in the quality plan.

Burke gives a list of quality testing activities relevant to a variety of products

and processes.

11.16 QUALITY CONTROL PLAN

The Project Quality Control Plan (QCP) is an important document. It details
the agreed project outputs, together with how they will be achieved,
monitored, controlled and documented.

Burke gives an example of how this might relate to the building of a

warehouse. He emphasises how the QCP links in to production (building
methods), activity (Build) sequence and inspection timetable/routines. Study
this section thoroughly until you have a clear appreciation of the integration of
the QCP with other relevant project variables and then answer the following
SAQ.

SAQ 3 What is the relevance of the “hold points” listed in the warehouse
building QCP (In the relevant table in Burke)?

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11.17 QUALITY CIRCLES.

Quality Circles (sometimes called Kaizen Teams) are means of generating

and implementing employee ideas. Such problem identification and solving
can be used in a wide variety of settings, including project management.
Essentially, it involves team formation (typically between 3 to 12 employees in
size). Teams often involve people with a similar function (e.g. on a production
line), led by a supervisor or nominated team leader. The aim is for them to
identify, analyse and hopefully solve work-related problems.

The problems addressed by Quality Circles are often related to quality but not
exclusively so. Quality improvements however make for happier customers
and promote repeat business. Further, reduced levels of defects and scrap
are directly translatable into higher productivity and profits - profits that spell
increased job security.

Quality Circles select and work on issues that are often treated as mini
projects. The problem solving approach is systematic and uses established
problem solving tools. The typical process followed by Quality Circles can be
shown as follows (Figure 11.3).
 Problem
Identification

Problem Analysis

Problem
Selection

Recommendation
to Management

Figure 11.3 Quality Circle Problem Solving Approach.

Quality Circles are directed at improvement and are therefore consistent with
the TQM approach. They can be used in a number of ways in project
management. They can for example be used at the planning stage to help in
determining the best way to approach certain activities. They also have a
clear application in project control in addressing problems as they arise.

SAQ 4 What are the objectives of Quality Circles as listed by Burke

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11.18 TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

TQM is a quality management system under which all individual quality

management components are integrated. The system is the focus rather than
the individual components. Burke quotes a justification for this approach by
pointing out that (typically) 85% of all problems arise from the system itself
rather than the people, materials or machines from within individual
components of the system.

Within the TQM context/framework, the practices employed to achieve the

necessary goals are quoted variously as including:

 Customer Focus: The concept of a “customer” is slightly different here - it

has been extended. Normally, the (external) customer is the one paying
for goods and services supplied. Within a TQM context, everyone in the
organisation is a stakeholder or customer of a process and in order to
achieve quality for the external customer it is necessary to achieve quality
for all the internal customers. The customer can also be the next person in
the chain of operations that eventually culminates in the external
customer. This leads to:
 Total Participation: In traditional organisations, the worker is generally
told what to do and how satisfactory performance will be measured. Total
participation implies that the person closest to the task is most qualified to
suggest improved ways of doing the job. So, part of a workers
responsibility is to suggest ways to make improvements aimed at
enhancing productivity and value to the internal and external customers.
 Continual Improvement: This involves the notion that the performance
standard to achieve is “perfection”. This theme also assumes the
existence of a methodology to make incremental improvements and
breakthroughs. Once the improvements have been devised, they are
made part of the daily work process and a mechanism for monitoring is
provided to stabilize improvement.
 Wide range of applicability: This argues that these concepts can be
applied at several levels - across both organisations and processes. They
can be applied to individuals, small organisations, or large organisations;
any type of organisation - e.g. manufacturing, banks, hospitals, education,
or government.

SAQ 5 Towards the end of the section on TQM, Burke lists concepts
underpinning TQM. What are these?

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11.19 QUALITY AUDIT

SAQ 6 What is the ISO 8402 definition of quality audit?

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Burke notes that audits are not limited to finance matters. Any aspect of a
company or project may be audited. ISO suggests that audits are normally
designed for one or more of the following purposes:

 to determine the conformity or nonconformity of the quality system

elements with specified requirements:
 to determine the effectiveness of the implemented quality system in
meeting specified quality objectives:
 to provide the auditee with an opportunity to improve the quality
system:
 to meet regulatory requirements:
 to permit the listing of the audited organization's quality system in a
register.

Audits are generally initiated for one or more of the following reasons:

 to initially evaluate a supplier where there is a desire to establish a

contractual relationship;
 to verify that an organisation's own quality system continues to meet
specified requirements and is being implemented;
 within the framework of a contractual relationship, to verify that the
supplier's quality system continues to meet specified requirements and
is being implemented:
 to evaluate an organizations own quality system against a quality
system standard.

Quality audits are carried out by staff not having direct responsibility in the
areas being audited but, preferably, working in cooperation with the relevant
personnel.
Burke’s advice is that in conducting an audit the following steps should be
used as a framework.

1. The auditors organise a pre-audit meeting.

2. The pre-audit meeting discusses the scope of the audit - what, when, who,
how and where.
3. The audit is carried out by a series of questionnaires, interviews and
inspections.
4. The audit data is analysed.
5. An audit closeout meeting is held where the audit findings are announced
and discussed.
6. Corrective actions are carried out and re-audited.

SAQ 7 What are the main benefits and problems associated with audits?

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Burke also points out that the audit of a project management system can be
conducted at two levels, i.e.:

 Audit the project management system against best practices (body of

knowledge) to ensure the management function will be able to achieve
the project's objectives;
 Audit the implemented project management system against the
declared system.

Finally he reminds us that quality audits are not about punishing people who
fail, but rather that they should be about helping people achieve the required
condition and helping them to do their job better!
11.20 LESSON SUMMARY.

In this lesson we have considered both project control and quality

management.

We have considered a number of concepts and issues in quality management

in general and to project management in particular. We have considered
different approaches to the use of the term quality itself. We have reviewed
different approaches to quality management including Quality Control, Quality
Assurance and Total Quality Management. The need to consider the quality of
the management of the project as well as the product of the project has been
emphasised. The roles and procedures of Quality Audit, Quality Costing and
Quality Circles have been briefly reviewed.