Certification Summary

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What good is a project deliverable if it doesn't work, is unacceptable, or faulty? Project quality management ensures that the deliverables project teams create meet the expectations of the stakeholders. For your PMP examination, quality means delivering the project at the exact level of the design specifications and the project scope. No more, no less.

Quality and grade are two different things. Grade is the ranking assigned to different components that have the same functional purpose. For example, sheet metal may come in different grades based on what it is needed for. Another example is the grade of paper based on its thickness, ability to retain ink, and so on. Low quality is always a problem; low grade may not be.

Quality planning happens before project work begins-but also as work is completed. Quality planning can confirm the preexistence of quality-or the need for quality improvements. Quality is planned into a project, not inspected in. However, quality control uses inspections to prove the existence of quality within a project deliverable.

The cost of quality is concerned with the monies invested in the project to ascertain the expected level of quality. Examples of this cost include training, safety measures, and quality management activities. The cost of nonconformance centers on the monies lost by not completing the project work correctly the first time. In addition this fee includes the loss of sales, loss of customers, and downtime within the project.

Optimal quality is reached when the cost of the improvements equals the incremental costs to achieve quality. Marginal analysis is the study of when optimal quality is reached. The PMP candidate should know what marginal analysis is-and why management is concerned with it. Ideally, the cost of quality earns is earned back because the deliverables of the project are better and more profitable than if the quality of deliverables was lacking.

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Inside the Exam

Quality, in project management, has many different meanings. For the PMP exam, you should know four key facts:

  • Customer satisfaction is the conformance of the requirements and fitness for use.

  • Quality is distinct from grade.

  • Quality is the project team doing what was promised at the start of the project.

  • Quality is concerned with prevention over inspection.

Don't get flustered over the difference between QC and QA. QC focuses on monitoring specific results of project work. QA focuses on monitoring overall performance. If it helps for the exam, think of QC being project-wide, and QA being organization-wide. Another aspect of QC is that the project team must be empowered to stop project work if quality is outside of the control limits set by the quality management plan.

The quality management plan spans all areas of project quality-not just the product the project is creating. The experience of the project as led by the project manager should be of quality as well. The relation between the project deliverables and the project management quality is directly related.

Another area of quality is scheduling. A project manager must examine resources, how they are allocated, and pay attention to cost of quality for the assigned resources. One scheduling technique, just-in-time (JIT) scheduling demands higher quality. JIT does not order inventory, such as supplies and materials, until they are needed. This improves cash flow and reduces the cost of inventory not in use. However, a lack of quality in the project may cause defects. Because of the defects, the material in use is wasted and downtime occurs. Downtime occurs because there are no additional materials on hand and the project is waiting for new materials to arrive.

Finally, spend some time learning the values for the four sigmas in Table 8-2. You'll need them.

Value

Percent Correct

+/- 1 sigma

68.26 percent

+/- 2 sigma

95.46 percent

+/- 3 sigma

99.73 percent

+/- 6 sigma

99.99 percent

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PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide
PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide, Third Edition (Certification Press)
ISBN: 0071626735
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 209

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