Lecture Notes 4 Project s Quality MAN 316 Project

Lecture Notes 4 Project’s Quality MAN 316 Project Management

Definition v Project’s Quality is 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 user’s expectations or satisfies needs, requirements or specification. Ø Purpose: Meet business expectations, enable desired benefits to be achieved. v The Scope of a plan is the sum total of its products. Ø It is defined by the product breakdown structure for the plan and its associated Product Descriptions.

Why Project’s Quality is important? Case example The Millennium Dome ‘The Millennium dome project was one of the most controversial public works projects ever undertaken ‘. The national audit office report stated that the new Millennium experience Company experienced severe financial difficulties. the main cause of these difficulties was the failure to achieve the visitor numbers: other contributing factors included the quality of project delivery and the contents within the dome.

Why Project’s Quality is important? Case example Wembley Stadium ‘The company that built the new Wembley stadium, which opened after years of delays and almost tripling its cost, is suing the engineering consultants behind the project for £ 253 m, claiming that their services were unsatisfactory’. A preliminary search of legal cases indicated several instances of litigations because of ‘poor quality’ in projects. For example, in the recent Wembley stadium project, there were eight major litigations related to project quality and three of these litigations were related to the definitions of project quality. In the case between Multiplex Construction Ltd and Honeywell Control Ltd (both being the contractors of Wembley stadium) the dispute was to resolve the statement in the contract, ‘it will have extensive, high-quality corporate hospitality facilities and a state of the art communications system. ’

Why Project’s Quality is important? Case example West Coast Rail Upgrade The rail line between Glasgow and London was undergoing an £ 8. 6 bn upgrade from 2003. The modernization of the west Coast Main Line will deliver the following enhancements: • 125 mph (miles per hour) route capability for tilting trains delivering much faster journey times. • Capacity for significantly more long-distance passenger and freight trains than today. • Better and more resilient performance in travel time and safety measures. The national audit office said it might not be able to cope with current levels of growth beyond 2015. The auditors’ report on the west Coast Line warned that electronic signaling equipment might become obsolete significantly earlier than expected. The auditors were also concerned about the ineffective communications between key stakeholders (government, network rail, rail track and Virgin trains). To sustain train operations, the line’s operator, Virgin trains, was paid £ 590 m more in subsidy in the period 2002– 06 than envisaged in its franchise agreement, their report said. In January 2008, an over-run on work results in one of the worst delays yet. Network rail is fined £ 14 m.

Why Project’s Quality is important? Case example Heathrow Terminal 5 ‘Thousands of suitcases are being sent to Milan by British Airways to try to help clear a backlog of 19, 000 bags at Heathrow’s new terminal 5’. The conclusions of the house of Commons transport select Committee report (2008) highlighted that insufficient communication between the owner of the new terminal, BAA, and its operator, British Airways, was a major factor in the ensuing complications with the baggage system and security searches. As it will be discussed later, communication could be an essential component of people-related quality

Quality Management • Quality management is defined as coordinated activities to direct and control an organization with regard to quality. • A quality management system is a complete set of standards, procedures and responsibilities for a site or organization. These include: - Quality Planning - Quality Control (QC) - Quality Assurance (QA)

Quality planning Quality Planning Understanding the customer’s quality expectations Defining the project’s acceptance criteria Documenting the customer’s quality expectations and the project’s acceptance criteria in the Project Product Description Formulating a Quality Management Strategy Writing clear Product Descriptions containing Quality Criteria, Quality Tolerances, Quality Method and Responsibilities Setting up the Quality Register

The customer’s quality expectations 1 v The customer’s quality expectations are a statement about the quality expected from the project product. • Defined and agreed early in the Starting up a Project process. • Should be reviewed at the end of each management stage in case any external factors have affected. The customer’s quality expectations include: ü The key quality requirement for the project product ü Any standards and processes that will need to be applied to achieve the specified quality requirements, including the extent to which the customer's or supplier’s quality management system should be used. ü Any measurement that may be useful to assess whether the project product meets the quality requirements (f. e. , existing customer satisfaction measures)

The customer’s quality expectations 2 Examples of Quality Expectation v The quality expectation for a water pump in a remote village is that it is robust enough to “last a lifetime”

Acceptance Criteria 1 v A project’s acceptance criteria is a prioritized list of measurable definitions of the attributes required for a set of products to be acceptable to key stakeholders. • When the project can demonstrate that all the acceptance criteria have been met, the project’s obligations are fulfilled and it can be closed • Acceptance Criteria should be agreed between the customer and supplier during the Starting-Up a Project Process and documented as part of the Project Product Description • It is reviewed at the end of each management stage • It is useful to select proxy measures that will be accurate and reliable indicators of whether the benefits will be subsequently realized.

Acceptance Criteria 2 Example of acceptance criteria q Customer's expectation for a water pump is that it “lasts a lifetime” q The Acceptance Criteria • Should provide sufficient indication of confidence that the pump is capable of lasting a lifetime (defined as a specific number of years – 20 -30 years). • This may include complying with certain engineering standards relating to product durability.

The Project Product Description v The Project Product Description defines what the customer is expecting the project to deliver and the project approach defines the solution or method used by the supplier to create the project product. The Project Product Description includes: • The overall purpose of the product • Its composition • The customer’s quality expectations • Acceptance Criteria, Method and responsibilities • Project-level quality tolerances

Product description • Describe the detailed nature, purpose, function and appearance • Interfaces to other products are explicit so that when they are bought together they ‘fit’ • Define who will use it • Identify sources of information or supply • Identify required quality • Define resources or skills required to produce, review and approve the product 15

Cup of tea product description • Title and unique identifier. • cup of tea product description example • Purpose. • Provide a refreshing, flavoursome, tea beverage • Interfaces • Cup must fit with standard human mouth • Composition. • Freshly brewed tea with milk prepared by pouring boiling water over cured leaves of the assam tea plant. Served in white tea cup with saucer and silver tea spoon. • Derivation. • British Tea Council ‘How to make perfect cup of tea report’ • Development skills required. • Certified Member of British Tea Appreciation Society • Quality responsibilities. • Andy Coaton Quality criteria Tolerances Method Skills required Flavour Assam only. Fresh and fragrant Tasting 5 years experienced tea drinker Quantities 200+/-10% ml water 10+/-10% ml milk Standard measuring jug Certified kitchen technician Temperature 55 -65 Deg. C Kitchen thermometer Certified kitchen technician 16

Quality Responsibilities To avoid doubt, the quality responsibilities for a product should be specified. The responsibilities will fall into one of three categories: • Producer – a person or group responsible for developing a product • Reviewer – A person or group independent of the producer who assesses whether a product meets its requirements as defined in its Product Description • Approver – A person or group, for example a Project Board, who is identified as qualified and authorized to approve a product as being complete and fit for purpose.

The Quality Register is effectively a diary of the quality events planned and undertaken (for workshops, reviews, inspections, testing, pilots, acceptance and audits). • As the project progresses and records of the quality activities, the Quality Register is updated to reflect the actual results from the quality activities • The Quality Register provides key audit and assurance information, relating what was planned and agreed (in the Quality Management Strategy and Product Descriptions) to the quality activities actually performed.

Example of a Quality Register

Quality Control v Quality Control focuses on the operational techniques and activities used by those involved in the project to: • Fulfill the requirement 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 Control is achieved by implementing, monitoring and recording the quality methods and responsibilities defined in the Quality Management Strategy and Product Descriptions (and subsequently agreed to in Work Packages) Quality control comprises: • Carrying out the quality methods • Maintaining quality and approval records • Gaining acceptance

Quality Methods v “In Process” methods • A method by which quality can be “built into” the products as they are being developed. • Involves use of specialist methods such as piloting exercises, software tools, surveys and consultations and workshops v Appraisal methods • The method by which the finished products are assessed for completeness and fit for purpose. • 2 types of appraisal methods: testing and quality inspection Ø testing - if the quality criteria are truly objective and quantifiable Ø quality inspection - if some selective judgment is required

Quality Records and Approval Records v Quality Records provides evidences gathered to demonstrate that the planned quality activities have been carried out. It includes: • A test plan • Details of any “defect” statistics • Actions required to correct errors and omissions of the products inspected • Quality-related reports (F. i. , audit) § During the project and at project closure, the quality records provide a valuable source of information for analysis at post-project evaluation and used as a source for lessons learned and process improvements. v Approval records are the records that the project manager has approved. Approval Records could be: • A note in the minutes of a meeting, an email or certificate

Acceptance Records • Acceptance Records are ultimate approval of the project’s product • During the Closing a Project, all forms of approval must obtained and records kept for audit and/or contractual purposes. • Acceptance may be qualified and documented • “concessions” can be granted. Ø F. i. , if there are faults in the solution or some criteria have not been fully achieved. • Where concessions have been granted by the Project Board, it may be necessary to recommend follow-on actions for later improvements or remedies for the products concerned.

Quality Assurance v 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. v Quality Assurance is about independently checking that the organization and processes are in place for quality planning and control

Raushan Aman Raushan. aman@sdu. edu. kz Project’s Quality MAN 316 Project Management 26