project management for development organizationspm4dev project quality management

7/21/2019 PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONSPM4DEV Project Quality Management

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Project Quality Management

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

A methodology to manage developmentprojects for international humanitarianassistance and relief organizations

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PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality management is the process for ensuring that all projectactivities necessary to design( plan and implement a project are

effective and efficient with respect to the purpose of the o)jective and

its performance.

Project ,uality management -QM is not a separate( independentprocess that occurs at the end of an activity to measure the level of

,uality of the output. /t is not purchasing the most e0pensive materialor services availa)le on the mar'et. Quality and grade are not the

same( grade are characteristics of a material or service such as

additional features. A product may )e of good ,uality -no defects and)e of low grade -few or no e0tra features.

Quality management is a continuous process that starts and ends with

the project. /t is more a)out preventing and avoiding than measuring

and fi0ing poor ,uality outputs. /t is part of every project managementprocesses from the moment the project initiates to the final steps in

the project closure phase.

QM focuses on improving sta'eholder1s satisfaction through continuous

and incremental improvements to processes( including removing

unnecessary activities2 it achieves that )y the continuous improvementof the ,uality of material and services provided to the )eneficiaries. /tis not a)out finding and fi0ing errors after the fact( ,uality

management is the continuous monitoring and application of ,uality

processes in all aspects of the project.

Definition of Qualit

Quality has )een defined as 3the totality of characteristics of an entity

that )ear on its a)ility to satisfy stated or implied needs.3

5he stated

and implied ,uality needs are the inputs used in defining projectre,uirements from the donor and the )eneficiaries. /t is also definedas the 67onformance to re,uirements or fitness for use8

"2 which

means that the product or services must meet the intended o)jectives

International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Quality Management and Quality Assurance (Geneva, Switzerland: ISO

ress, !""#)$"

9oseph M. Duran , Quality %ontrol &and'oo (!"!)





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of the project and have a value to the donor and )eneficiaries and that

the )eneficiaries can use the material or service as it was originallyintended. 5he central focus of ,uality management is meeting or

e0ceeding sta'eholder1s e0pectations and conforming to the project

design and specifications.

5he ultimate judge for ,uality is the )eneficiary( and represents howclose the project outputs and delivera)les come to meeting the

)eneficiaries1 re,uirements and e0pectations. :ow a )eneficiarydefines ,uality may )e completely su)jective( )ut there are many

ways to ma'e ,uality o)jective2 )y defining the individual

characteristics and determine one or more metrics that can )ecollected to mirror the characteristic. +or instance( one of the features

of a ,uality product may )e that it has a minimum amount of errors.5his characteristic can )e measured )y counting errors and defects

after the product is used.

Quality management is not an event * it is a process( a consistently

high ,uality product or service cannot )e produced )y a defectiveprocess. Quality management is a repetitive cycle of measuring

,uality( updating processes( measuring( updating processes until the

desired ,uality is achieved.

T!e Pu"#o$e of Mana%e&ent of Qualit

5he main principle of project ,uality management is to ensure the

project will meet or e0ceed sta'eholder1s needs and e0pectations. 5heproject team must develop a good relationship with 'ey sta'eholders(

specially the donor and the )eneficiaries of the project( to understandwhat ,uality means to them. %ne of the causes for poor project

evaluations is the project focuses only in meeting the written

re,uirements for the main outputs and ignores other sta'eholderneeds and e0pectations for the project.

Quality must )e viewed on an e,ual level with scope( schedule and

)udget. /f a project donor is not satisfied with the ,uality of how the

project is delivering the outcomes( the project team will need to ma'eadjustments to scope( schedule and )udget to satisfy the donor1s

needs and e0pectations. 5o deliver the project scope on time and on)udget is not enough( to achieve sta'eholder satisfaction the project

must develop a good wor'ing relationship with all sta'eholders andunderstand their stated or implied needs.





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Project management consists of four main processes;

• Quality Definition

• Quality Assurance

• Quality 7ontrol

• Quality /mprovements

In#ut$ P"o'e$$ Out#ut$

• <&=

• =cope =tatement

• Policies

• Plan * Define the standards for Quality• Do > Assurance that ,uality is

followed

• 7hec' >Quality control• Adapt > Quality improvements

• Quality =tandards• Quality Plan

•

QUALITY DEFINITION

5he first step on the ,uality management is to define ,uality( theproject manager and the team must identify what ,uality standards

will )e used in the project( it will loo' at what the donor( )eneficiaries(the organization and other 'ey sta'eholders to come up with a good

definition of ,uality. /n some instances the organization or the area of specialization of the project -health( water or education may havesome standard definitions of ,uality that can )e used )y the project.

/dentifying ,uality standards is a 'ey component of ,uality definition

that will help identify the 'ey characteristics that will govern project

activities and ensure the )eneficiaries and donor will accept the projectoutcomes.

Quality management implies the a)ility to anticipate situations and

prepare actions that will help )ring the desired outcomes. 5he goal isthe prevention of defects through the creation of actions that will

ensure that the project team understands what is defined as ,uality.

Sou"'e$ of Qualit Definition

%ne source for definition of ,uality comes from the donor2 the project

must esta)lish conversations with the donor to )e familiar with and





come to a common understanding of what the donor defines as ,uality.5he donor may have certain standards of what is e0pected from the

project( and how the project delivers the e0pected )enefits to the)eneficiaries. 5his is in line with the project1s ultimate o)jective that

the project outcomes have the a)ility to satisfy the stated or implied

needs.

Another source for ,uality definition comes from the )eneficiaries2 theproject team must )e a)le to understand how the )eneficiaries define

,uality from their perspective( a perspective that is more focused onfitness for use( the project outcomes must )e relevant to the current

needs of the )eneficiaries and must result in improvements to their

lives. 5he team can create( as part of the )aseline data collection(,uestions that see' to understand how the )eneficiaries define the

project will meet their needs( and a ,uestion that also helps define

what project success loo's li'e from the perspective of a )eneficiary.

5he development organization may have its own ,uality standards thatcan reflect technical and managerial nature of the project. 5he

organization may re,uire from the project timely and accurate deliveryof project information needed for decision ma'ing( or compliance to

international or locally recognized ,uality standards that define specific

technical areas of the project( this is ,uite often in health( water andnutrition projects.

A worldwide recognized standard for project is the =phere =tandard

-www. s phereproject.org( used for emergency projects whose aim is toimprove the ,uality of assistance provided to people affected )ydisasters. 5his guideline defines the minimum standards for water(

sanitation( health( shelter( food security( nutrition( shelter andsettlement.

Qualit C!a"a'te"i$ti'$

All material or services have characteristics that facilitate the

identification of its ,uality. 5he characteristics are part of theconditions of how the material( e,uipment and services are a)le to

meet the re,uirements of the project and are fit for use )y the

)eneficiaries. Quality characteristics relate to the attri)utes( measuresand methods attached to that particular product or service.

http://www.sphereproject.org/






• Fun'tionalit is the degree( )y which e,uipment performs itsintended function( this is important especially for clinical e,uipment(

that the operation should )e )ehave as e0pected.

• Pe"fo"&an'e( its how well a product or service performs the

)eneficiaries intended use. A water system should )e designed to

support e0treme conditions and re,uire little maintenance to reducethe cost to the community and increase its sustaina)ility.

• Relia(ilit( it1s the a)ility of the service or product to perform asintended under normal conditions without unaccepta)le failures.

Material used for )lood testing should )e a)le to provide theinformation in a consistent and dependa)le manner that will help

identify critical diseases. 5he trust of the )eneficiaries depend on the

,uality of the tests

• Rele)an'e( it1s the characteristic of how a product or service meets

the actual needs of the )eneficiaries( it should )e pertinent(

applica)le( and appropriate to its intended use or application• Ti&eline$$( how the product or service is delivered in time to solve

the pro)lems when its needed and not after( this is a crucialcharacteristic for health and emergency relief wor'

• Suita(ilit( defines the fitness of its use( it appropriateness andcorrectness( the agriculture e,uipment must )e designed to operate

on the soul conditions the )eneficiaries will use it on.

• Co&#letene$$( the ,uality that the service is complete and includesall the entire scope of services. 5raining sessions should )e complete

and include all the material needed to )uild a desired s'ill or'nowledge

• Con$i$ten'( services are delivered in the same way for every)eneficiary. 7linical tests need to )e done using the same procedurefor every patient.

Quality characteristics are not limited to the material( e,uipment or

service delivered to the )eneficiaries( )ut also applies to the material(e,uipment and services the project staff uses to deliver the project

outputs. 5hese include the vehicles( computers( various e,uipment

and tools and consulting services the project purchases and uses tocarry out its activities.

Quality characteristics must )e included in all material( e,uipment and

services the project will purchase( the procurement officers must have

a complete description of what is re,uired )y the project( otherwise aprocurement office may purchase the goods or services )ased on her

or his information of the product.



*!at +ent +"on% * A project re,uested the purchase of ### tents for acommunity displaced )y floods( the purchase re,uest had no specifications for its

intended use -suita)ility( and resistance -performance. 5he procurement officeronly 'new that the tents were needed as soon as possi)le- timeliness( so he

purchased( )ased on his 'nowledge of what a tent loo's li'e( ### camping tents(

they were delivered to the refugee camps on the re,uested timeframe( and theproject manager was happy. &ut the ne0t day all families that received the tentswere complaining that they were not good for the cold nights and too small to

accommodate their e0tended families. 5he project purchased the tents under )udgetand within the specified timeframe )ut the )eneficiaries rejected them )ecause they

did not meet their needs -,uality

Qualit #lan

Part of defining ,uality involves developing a ,uality plan and a ,ualitychec'list that will )e used during the project implementation phase.

5his chec' list will ensure the project team and other actors aredelivering the project outputs according to the ,uality re,uirements.

%nce the project has defined the ,uality standards and ,uality

characteristics( it will create a project ,uality plan that descri)es allthe ,uality definitions and standards relevant to the project( it will

highlight the standards that must )e followed to comply to regulatoryre,uirements setup )y the donor( the organization and e0ternal

agencies such a the local government and professional organizations

-health( nutrition( etc

5he ,uality plan also descri)es the conditions that the services andmaterials must posses in order to satisfy the needs and e0pectations

of the project sta'eholders( it descri)es the situations or conditions

that ma'e an output fall )elow ,uality standards( this information is

used to gain a common understanding among the project team to helpthem identify what is a)ove and what is )elow a ,uality standard.

5he ,uality plan also includes the procedure to ensure that the ,ualitystandards are )eing followed )y all project staff. 5he plan also includes

the steps re,uired to monitor and control ,uality and the approval

process to ma'e changes to the ,uality standards and the ,uality plan.



QUALITY ASSURANCE

Assurance is the activity of providing evidence to create confidenceamong all sta'eholders that the ,uality*related activities are )eingperformed effectively2 and that all planned actions are )eing done to

provide ade,uate confidence that a product or service will satisfy thestated re,uirements for ,uality.

Quality Assurance is a process to provide confirmation )ased onevidence to ensure to the donor( )eneficiaries( organization

management and other sta'eholders that product meet needs(e0pectations( and other re,uirements. /t assures the e0istence and

effectiveness of process and procedures tools( and safeguards are inplace to ma'e sure that the e0pected levels of ,uality will )e reached

to produce ,uality outputs.

Quality assurance occurs during the implementation phase of the

project and includes the evaluation of the overall performance of theproject on a regular )asis to provide confidence that the project will

satisfy the ,uality standards defined )y the project.

%ne of the purposes of ,uality management is to find errors and

defects as early in the project as possi)le. 5herefore( a good ,uality

management process will end up ta'ing more effort hours and cost up*front. 5he goal is to reduce the chances that products or services will

)e of poor ,uality after the project has )een completed.

Quality assurance is done not only to the products and servicesdelivered )y the project )ut also to the process and procedures used

to manage the project( that includes the way the project uses the

tools( techni,ues and methodologies to manage scope( schedule()udget and ,uality. Quality assurance also includes the project meets

any legal or regulatory standards.

Qualit Au,it$

Quality audits are structured reviews of the ,uality management

activities that help identify lessons learned that can improve theperformance on current or future project activities. Audits are

performed )y project staff or consultants with e0pertise in specific



areas. 5he purpose of ,uality audit is to review how the project isusing its internal processes to produce the products and services it will

deliver to the )eneficiaries. /ts goal is to find ways to improve thetools( techni,ues and processes that create the products and services.

/f pro)lems are detected during the ,uality audits( corrective actionwill )e necessary to the tools( processes and procedures used to

ensure ,uality is reesta)lished. Part of the audit may include a review

of the project staff understanding of the ,uality parameters or metrics(

and s'ills e0pertise and 'nowledge of the people in charge of producing or delivering the products or services.

/f corrective actions are needed( these must )e approved through the

change control processes.

T!e PDCA C'le

5he most popular tool used to determine ,uality assurance is the

=hewhart 7ycle. 5his cycle for ,uality assurance consists of four steps;

Plan( Do( 7hec'( and Act. 5hese steps are commonly a))reviated asPD7A.

5he four ,uality assurance steps within the PD7A model stand for;

• Plan; sta)lish o)jectives and processes re,uired to deliver thedesired results.

• Do; /mplement the process developed.

• 7hec'; Monitor and evaluate the implemented process )ytesting the results against the predetermined o)jectives

• Act; Apply actions necessary for improvement if the resultsre,uire changes.

5he PD7A is an effective method for monitoring ,uality assurance)ecause it analyzes e0isting conditions and methods used to provide

the product or service to )eneficiaries. 5he goal is to ensure thate0cellence is inherent in every component of the process. Quality

assurance also helps determine whether the steps used to provide the

product or service is appropriate for the time and conditions. /naddition( if the PD7A cycle is repeated throughout the lifetime of the

project helping improve internal efficiency.

5he PD7A cycle is shown )elow as a never*ending cycle of

improvement2 this cycle is sometimes referred to as the



=hewart?Deming@

cycle since it originated with =hewart and wassu)se,uently applied to management practices )y Deming.

lan *o

Act %+ec(

+igure 0 5he =hewart?Deming 7ycle

Quality assurance demands a degree of detail in order to )e fullyimplemented at every step. Planning( for e0ample( could include

investigation into the ,uality of the raw materials used inmanufacturing( the actual assem)ly( or the inspection processes used.

5he 7hec'ing step could include )eneficiary feed)ac' or surveys to

determine if )eneficiary needs are )eing met or e0ceeded and whythey are or are not. Acting could mean a total revision in the delivery

process in order to correct a technical flaw. 5he goal to e0ceedsta'eholder e0pectations in a measura)le and accounta)le process is

provided )y ,uality assurance.

A$$u"an'e )$- Cont"ol

Quality assurance is often confused with ,uality control2 ,uality control

is done at the end of a process or activity to verify that ,ualitystandards have )een met. Quality control )y itself does not provide

,uality( although it may identify pro)lems and suggest ways to

improving it. /n contrast( ,uality assurance is a systematic approach too)taining ,uality standards.

Quality assurance is something that must )e planned for from theearliest stages of a project( with appropriate measures ta'en at every

stage. nfortunately far too many development projects areimplemented with no ,uality assurance plan( and these projects often

fail to meet ,uality e0pectations of the donor and )eneficiaries. 5o

@<alter =hewhart 3=tatistical Method +rom the !iewpoint of Quality 7ontrol3( B@B



avoid pro)lem the project must )e a)le to demonstrate the consistentcompliance with the ,uality re,uirements for the project.

QUALITY CONTROL

Quality control is the use of techni,ues and activities that compareactual ,uality performance with goals and define appropriate action in

response to a shortfall. /t is the process that monitors specific project

results to determine if they comply with relevant standards andidentifies different approaches to eliminate the causes for the

unsatisfactory performance.

5he goal of ,uality control is to improve ,uality and involves

monitoring the project outputs to determine if they meet the ,ualitystandards or definitions )ased on the project sta'eholder1s

e0pectations. Quality control also includes how the project performs inits efforts to manage scope( )udget and schedule

• A''e#tan'e2 5he )eneficiaries( the donor or other 'ey projectsta'eholders accept or reject the product or service delivered.

Acceptance occurs after the )eneficiaries or donor has had a change

to evaluate the product or service

• Re+o".2 is the action ta'en to )ring the rejected product or serviceinto compliance with the re,uirements( ,uality specifications or

sta'eholder e0pectations. Cewor' is e0pensive that is why theproject must ma'e every effort to do a good jo) in ,uality planning

and ,uality assurance to avoid the need for rewor'. Cewor' and allthe costs associated with it may not refunda)le )y the donor and theorganization may end up covering those costs.

•

A,/u$t&ent$0 correct or ta'e the necessary steps to prevent further,uality pro)lems or defects )ased on ,uality control measurements.

Adjustments are identified to the processes that produce the outputsand the decisions that were ta'en that lead to the defects and

errors. 7hanges are ta'en to the 7hange 7ontrol processes of theproject



Qualit Cont"ol Tool$

5here are a couple of good tools that can )e used to control ,uality ona project( these are cause and effect diagrams( Pareto charts and

control charts;

• Cau$e an, Effe't Dia%"a&( also 'nown as fish)one diagrams or

/shi'awa diagrams -named after aoru /shi'awa( a 9apanese ,ualitycontrol statistician( who developed the concept in the BE#s( and is

considered one of the seven )asic tools of ,uality management /t isnamed fish)one diagram )ecause of their fish*li'e appearance( it is

an analysis tool that provides a systematic way of loo'ing at effects

and the causes that create or contri)ute to those effects. 5he/shi'awa Diagram is employed )y a pro)lem*solving team as a tool

for assem)ling all inputs -as to what are the causes of the pro)lem

theyFre addressing systematically and graphically( with the inputsusually coming from a )rainstorming session. /t ena)les the team to

focus on why the pro)lem occurs( and not on the history orsymptoms of the pro)lem( or other topics that digress from the

intent of the session. /t also displays a real*time Fsnap*shotF of thecollective inputs of the team as it is updated. 5he possi)le causes are

presented at various levels of detail in connected )ranches( with the

level of detail increasing as the )ranch goes outward( i.e.( an outer)ranch is a cause of the inner )ranch it is attached to. 5hus( the

outermost )ranches usually indicate the root causes of the pro)lem.

Cause A Cause B Cause C

%ause A,! %ause -,!%ause %,!

%ause A,.

%ause *,.

%ause *,!

%ause -,.

%ause /,.

%ause /,!

%ause %,.

%ause 0,.

%ause 0,!

Major Defect

Quality error

Cause D Cause E Cause F

+igure 0( +ish)one diagram

• Pa"eto C!a"t$2 )ased on Pareto1s rule( which states that $# percent

of the pro)lems are often due to "# percent of the causes. 5heassumption is that most of the results in any situation are

determined )y a small num)er of causes and helps identify the vitalfew contri)utors that account for most ,uality pro)lems. 5he chart is

a form of histogram that orders the data )y fre,uency of occurrence2

it shows how many defects were generated )y a type of category of



F r e q u e

n c y

n o

s i g n a t u r e

n o

a d d r e s s

c a n t r e a d

n o t a

' e n e f i c i a r y

o t + e r

P e r c e n t a g e

o f e r r o r s

identified cause. +or e0ample to determine the errors in thecollection of )eneficiary data the project team identified five causes

and for each cause the fre,uency they contained errors( the data isplotted as shown in the chart )elow( the )ars represent each

category and the line the cumulative percentage of the errors( the

chart allows to identify that $#G of the errors could )e reduced just)y improving the collection of data in two categories instead of

focusing efforts to correct all categories.

Pareto Chart

1 !.12

#)

#1 !112

3412

31

. 512

.1

! #12

!1.12

)

1 12

baseline data errors

+igure 0( Pareto 7hart

• Cont"ol C!a"t$2 is a graphical display of data that illustrates theresults of a process over time( the purpose of a control chart is to

prevent defects( rather than detect them or reject them( the chartallows the determine whether a process is in control or out of control

over specified length of time. 7ontrol charts are often used to

monitor the production of large ,uantities of products( )ut can also)e used to monitor the volume and fre,uency of errors in

documents( cost an schedule variances and other items related toproject ,uality management. 5he figure )elow illustrates an e0ample

of a control chart for the process of controlling the weight of

products manufactured )y the )eneficiaries for sale in internationalmar'ets. 5he customer has a limit tolerance for defects2 these are

the upper and lower control limits in the chart. Candom e0aminationof the products reveals data that once charted on the graph identifies

the times when the production process created items that were



Upper liit

!o"er liit

# e i g h t

outside the control limits( this helps the project determine actions tohelp the )eneficiaries improve the ,uality of their wor'.

ean

$ % & ' ( ) * + , $-

.ie/cale

+igure 0( control charts

7ontrol charts can also )e used to the project management areas(

such as schedule and )udget control( to determine whether the costsvariances or schedule variances are outside the accepta)le limits set

)y the donor.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

/t is the systematic approach to the processes of wor' that loo's to

remove waste( loss( rewor'( frustration( etc. in order to ma'e theprocesses of wor' more effective( efficient( and appropriate.

Quality improvement refers to the application of methods and tools toclose the gap )etween current and e0pected levels of ,uality )y

understanding and addressing system deficiencies and strengths to

improve( or in some cases( re*design project processes.

A variety of ,uality improvement approaches e0ists( ranging from

individual performance improvement to redesign of entire project

processes. 5hese approaches differ in terms of time( resources( andcomple0ity( )ut share the same four steps in ,uality improvement;



• I,entif what you want to improve2 the project using the datafound in the ,uality control process identifies the areas that need

improvement.

• Anal1e the pro)lem or system( the team then investigates the

causes for the pro)lem and its implications to the project( the causes

may )e internal or e0ternal to the project.• De)elo# potential solutions or changes that appear li'ely to improve

the pro)lem or system( the team )rainstorms ideas and potentialsolutions to the pro)lem( ta'ing in consideration its impact to the

project schedule and )udget. After careful considerations the teamdecides and chooses the )est alternative.

• Te$t and implement the solutions. 5he team may decide to test the

solution on a small scale to verify that it is capa)le of fi0ing thepro)lem( it testes for the initial assumptions made a)out the

pro)lem and once it confirms that the solution is a via)le alternative(

it then proceeds to implement in a full scale the solution.

Co$t of Qualit

5he cost of ,uality is the sum of costs a project will spend to preventpoor ,uality and any other costs incurred as a result of outputs of poor

,uality. Poor ,uality is the waste( errors( or failure to meet sta'eholderneeds and project re,uirements. 5he costs of poor ,uality can )e

)ro'en down into the three categories of prevention( appraisal( and

failure costs;

• P"e)ention 'o$t$; 5hese are planned costs an organization incursto ensure that errors are not made at any stage during the delivery

process of that product or service to a )eneficiary. 0amples of

prevention costs include ,uality planning costs( education andtraining costs( ,uality administration staff costs( process control

costs( mar'et research costs( field testing costs( and preventivemaintenance costs. 5he cost of preventing mista'es are always much

less than the costs of inspection and correction.

• A##"ai$al 'o$t$2 5hese include the costs of verifying( chec'ing( or

evaluating a product or service during the delivery process.0amples of appraisal costs include receiving or incoming inspectioncosts( internal production audit costs( test and inspection costs(

instrument maintenance costs( process measurement and controlcosts( supplier evaluation costs( and audit report costs.

• Failu"e 'o$t$; A project incurs these costs )ecause the product or

service did not meet the re,uirements and had to )e fi0ed orreplaced( or the service had to )e repeated.



Lea,e"$!i#

9oseph M. 9uran( one of the leading e0perts in Quality management

said that 6it is most important that management )e ,uality*minded. /n

the a)sence of sincere manifestation of interest at the top( little willhappen )elow8

4<hat this means is the main cause of ,uality

pro)lems is a lac' of leadership. /n order to esta)lish and implementeffective ,uality projects( senior management must lead the way. A

large percentage of ,uality pro)lems are associated with management(not technical issues( it is the responsi)ility of the development

organizations senior management to ta'e responsi)ility for creating(

supporting( and promoting ,uality programs.

Quality pro)lems should )e ta'en as an opportunity for improvement2

pro)lems can help identify more fundamental or systemic root causesand help develop ways to improve the process. nfortunately projects

do not have a culture that promotes the identification of pro)lems forthe fear that ma'ing improvements is an admission that the current

way of doing things is flawed or that those responsi)le are poorperformers. /mproved performance cannot occur unless the project

team feels comforta)le that they can spea' truthfully and are

confident that their suggestions will )e ta'en seriously.

Matu"it Mo,el$

Another approach to improve ,uality is the use of maturity models(which are framewor's for helping organizations and projects improve

their processes. 5he model includes a method for assessing theprojects maturity levels as a first step to determine the improvements

needed to increase the capacity of the project to deliver the projectoutputs as promised.

5he use of the word 3maturity3 implies that capa)ilities must )e grownover time in order to produce repeata)le success in project

management. 5he Candom :ouse 7ollege Dictionary defines3maturity3 as full development or perfected condition. 3Maturity3 also

indicates understanding or visi)ility into why success occurs and ways

to correct or prevent common pro)lems. 3Model3 implies change( aprogression( or steps in a process.

4American =ociety for Quality -A=Q www. as ,c.org?a)out? h istory?jura n .h tml

http://www.asqc.org/about/history/juran.html





Project management maturity is the progressive development of anorganizations project management approach( methodology( strategy(

and decision*ma'ing process. 5he appropriate level of maturity canvary for each organization )ased on specific goals( strategies( resource

capa)ilities( scope( and needs.

5he proper level of maturity to which an organization should strive isdetermined during a detailed assessment conducted )y a professional

project management consulting team. 5he organization has achievedfull project management maturity when it has met the re,uirements

and standards for project management effectiveness and it is capa)leof demonstrating improvements such as on*time project delivery( cost

reductions( organizational efficiency( and ,uality outcomes.

A project ,uality maturity usually consists of five levels;

•

Le)el 3- /nformal level( there is no defined processes for ,ualitypractices or standards. 5he organization may )e in the initial stages

of considering how projects should define ,uality( )ut most effortsare informal and had*oc.

• Le)el 4- Defined level( the organization has defines some )asic,uality standards and project ,uality policies that are )eing adopted.

&ut not all projects are using it in a consistent manner.

• Le)el 5- Cepeata)le level( the ,uality process is well documentedand is an organizational standard. All projects are using it and

producing consistent and repeata)le results.

• Le)el 6- 7ontrolled level( all projects ire re,uired to use ,uality

planning standard processes. 5he organization has a unit or rolesthat coordinate ,uality standards and assurance and ,uality auditsare done on a regular )asis.

• Le)el 7- %ptimized level( the ,uality process includes guidelines forfeeding improvements )ac' into the process. Metrics are used as 'ey

criteria for ,uality decisions and ,uality results are predicta)le.

5he model helps an organization identify were they stand and were

they should strive to reach( it is a simple way to determine the level of maturity re,uired for a project or organization( some organizations

may )e comforta)le with achieving a level @ while others may )eencouraged to reach a level 4 due to the need to comply with legal or

regulatory standards.



Continuou$ I&#"o)e&ent

Quality is not something that is done at the end of a phase or at the

end of the project( is a continuous process to ensure ,uality is

performed in all aspects of the project. 5he goal is to continuouslyimprove )ased on the lessons learned and new insights provided )y

the project. 5o )e effective it should happen during all activities of theproject.

7ontinuous improvement( in regard to project ,uality always focuses

on improving sta'eholder satisfaction through continuous and

incremental improvements to processes( including the removal of anyunnecessary activities. &y applying a process that continuously

improves every element of the project can achieve )etter results than

trying to wait until the end of a phase or a mid term evaluation to startma'ing adjustments and improvements to the wor'. /t re,uires little

effort and )y doing small incremental improvements the project canreach significant levels of ,uality.

5o implement continuous improvements( it necessary to have a culture

of reflection that allows the project team to learn from mista'es and

apply the lesson on the ne0t phase or cycle and not spend time andeffort trying to put )lame( otherwise( the team will fear reporting any

pro)lems with ,uality and it will )e too late to do anything once thedonor or the )eneficiaries find out.




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