Development Cooperation Handbook/Designing and Executing Projects/Project Execution and Control/Implement Quality Assurance and Quality Control

in Project Execution and control, quality control involves monitoring the project and its progress to determine if the quality assurance activities defined during Project Planning are being implemented and whether the results meet the quality standards defined during Project Initiation and Planning. The entire organization has responsibilities relating to quality, but the primary responsibility for ensuring that the project follows its defined quality procedures ultimately belongs to the Project Manager. The following figure highlights the potential results of executing a project with poor quality compared to a project executed with high quality:

Quality control should be performed throughout the course of the project. Some of the activities and processes that can be used to monitor the quality of deliverables, determine if project results comply with quality standards, and identify ways to improve unsatisfactory performance, are described below. The Project Manager and Project Sponsor should decide which are best to implement in their specific project environment.


 * Conduct Peer Reviews – the goal of a peer review is to identify and remove quality issues from a deliverable as early and as efficiently as possible. A peer review is a thorough review of a specific deliverable, conducted by members of the Project Team who are the day-to-day peers of the individuals who produced the work. The peer review process adds time to the overall Project Schedule, but in many project situations the benefits of conducting a review far outweigh the time considerations. The Project Manager must evaluate the needs of his/her project, determine and document which, if any, deliverables should follow this process, and build the required time and resources into the Project Schedule. Prior to conducting a peer review, a Project Team member should be identified as the facilitator or person responsible for keeping the review on track. The facilitator should distribute all relevant information pertaining to the deliverable to all participants in advance of the meeting to prepare them to participate effectively. During the meeting, the facilitator should record information including: Peer review date Names and roles of participants The name of the deliverable being reviewed Number of quality issues found Description of each quality issue found Actions to follow to correct the quality issues prior to presenting the deliverable to the approver Names of the individuals responsible for correcting the quality issues The date by which quality issues must be corrected This information should be distributed to the Project Manager, all meeting participants, and those individuals not involved in the meeting who will be responsible for correcting any problems discovered or for producing similar deliverables. The facilitator should also solicit input from the meeting participants to determine if another peer review is necessary. Once the quality issues have been corrected and the Project Manager is confident the deliverable meets expectations, it may be presented to the approver.
 * Use Quality Checklists – – both the Project Manager and Project Team members can create and make use of various checklists to be sure items are not overlooked while a product is being developed. Checklists may be simple hardcopy lists of “things to do,” or may be generated using more formal, electronic-based tools. In either case, a checklist should be comprehensive and detailed enough to ensure that the resulting product or deliverable has been built to the level required to meet quality standards.
 * Maintain and Analyze the Project Schedule – this activity should never be taken lightly, regardless of the size of the project. Updating the Project Schedule on a regular basis while keeping a close watch on the timeline and budget is the primary mechanism to measure quality of the schedule. If the project timeline or budget are not on track, the Project Manager can determine why and take immediate action to remedy the problem
 * Conduct Project Audits – the goal of a project audit is to ensure that the Quality Assurance activities defined in Project Planning are being implemented and to determine whether quality standards are being met. It is a process to note what is being done well, to identify real or potential issues, and to suggest ways for improvement. Audits should be performed on a regular basis, depending upon the size and length of the project. At a minimum, it is recommended that an audit be performed at the end of each phase, at least once during Project Execution and Control, and at the end of the project.