Quality

• Introduction
  • Purpose
  • Quality defined
• The PRINCE2 approach
• Quality planning
  • Overview
  • The customers quality expectations
  • Acceptance criteria
  • The Project Product Description
  • The Quality Management Strategy
  • Product Descriptions
  • The Quality Register
• Quality control
  • Overview
  • Quality methods
  • Quality records
  • Approval records
  • Acceptance records
• Responsibilities

Key sections

• Introduction
• Business case
• Organization
• Quality
• Plans
• Risk
• Change
• Progress
• Introduction to processes
• Starting up a projectDirecting a project
• Initiating a project
• Controlling a stage
• Managing Product Delivery
• Managing a Stage Boundary
• Closing a Project
• Tailoring PRINCE2 to the project environment
• Directing Projects with PRINCE2

Quality defined

Terms used in a quality context are sometimes interpreted differently or interchangeably by various people.
This can lead to misunderstandings.
For the purposes of PRINCE2®, the terminology used is derived from the ISO 9000 standards but is aimed specifically at project work.

Quality

Quality is generally defined as the totality of features and inherent or assigned characteristics of a product, person, process, service and/or system that bear on its ability to show that it meets expectations or satisfies stated needs, requirements or specification.

In PRINCE2, a product can also be a person, process, service and/or system, so the focus of quality is on a product’s ability to meet its requirements.

Scope

The scope of a plan is the sum total of its products.
It is defined by the product breakdown structure for the plan and its associated Product Descriptions.

Quality management and quality management systems

Quality management is defined as the coordinated activities to direct and control an organization with regard to quality.
A quality management system is the complete set of quality standards, procedures and responsibilities for a site or organization.

In the project context, ‘sites’ and ‘organizations’ should be interpreted as the permanent or semi-permanent organization(s) sponsoring the project work, i.e. they are ‘external’ to the project’s temporary organization.
A programme, for instance, can be regarded as a semi-permanent organization that sponsors the project, and may have a documented quality management system.
It is frequently the case that more than one permanent organization will be involved in a project - for example, separate customer and supplier businesses - and it follows that each may have its own quality management system.
Alternatively, if the project has a single key sponsoring organization, or is part of a programme, a single established quality management system is more likely to apply.
These various circumstances must be addressed when determining the project’s approach to quality.

Quality planning

To control anything, including quality, there must be a plan.
Quality planning is about defining the products required of the project, with their respective quality criteria, quality methods (including effort required for quality control and product acceptance) and the quality responsibilities of those involved.

Quality control

Quality control focuses on the operational techniques and activities used by those involved in the project to:

• Fulfil the requirements for quality (for example, by quality inspections or testing)
• Identify ways of eliminating causes of unsatisfactory performance (for example, by introducing process improvements as a result of lessons learned).

Quality assurance

It is good practice to arrange for quality assurance independent of the project management team.
Quality assurance provides a check that the project's direction and management are adequate for the nature of the project and that it complies with relevant corporate or programme management standards and policies.
Quality assurance activities are outside the scope of PRINCE2 as it is the responsibility of the corporate or programme organization.

Quality assurance is about independently checking that the organization and processes are in place for quality planning and control (i.e. not actually performing the quality planning or control, which will be undertaken by the project management team).
It provides the project’s stakeholders with confidence that the quality requirements can be fulfilled.

The term ‘quality assurance’ is used in two senses:

• As the function within an organization (or site or programme) that establishes and maintains the quality management system
• As the activity of reviewing a project’s organization, processes and/or products to assess independently whether quality requirements will be met.

Note that, in both senses of the term, quality assurance involves contributions that are independent of the project management team, whereas quality planning and quality control are undertaken by the project.
Nevertheless, it is a project management responsibility to ensure that adequate quality assurance is arranged.

Quality assurance should not be confused with Project Assurance.
Project Assurance refers specifically to the Project Board’s accountability for assuring that the project is conducted properly in all respects.
This is, therefore, a responsibility within the project management team.
Although Project Assurance is independent of the Project Manager, unlike quality assurance it is not independent of the project. However, Project Assurance and quality assurance do overlap, as illustrated below:

What they do

Provide assurance to the project’s stakeholders that the project is being conducted appropriately and properly.

Provide assurance to the wider corporate or programme organization that the project is being conducted appropriately, properly and complies with relevant corporate or programme management standards and policies.

How they differ

Must be independent of the Project Manager, Project Support, Team Managers and project teams.
Responsibility of the Project Board, therefore undertaken from within the project.

Performed by personnel who are independent of the project (i.e. not a member of the project management team).
Responsibility of the corporate or programme management organization, therefore external to the project.

How they relate

Quality assurance as a corporate or programme management function could be used by the Project Board as part of its Project Assurance regime (for example, having quality assurance perform a peer review).

Quality assurance would look for (or require) effective Project Assurance as one of the indicators that the project is being conducted properly.

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