PRINCE2 7 Quality Management Approach
The PRINCE2 approach to quality has two parts: Quality Planning & Quality Control
Quality Planning
- Quality starts with identifying all the products of a project that the project wants to control. Remember that PRINCE2 is focused on the products from the start of the project
- The next step is to write a Product Description for each product, which includes Quality criteria, how the products will be assessed, Quality methods to be used to design, develop & accept the products, and the responsibilities of the people involved.
PRINCE2 7 Quality Control
Quality Control implements & tracks the Quality methods used during the project
This PRINCE2 Quality Management Technique is represented in the diagram below:
So just remember that the PRINCE2 approach to Quality is in two parts: Quality Planning and Quality Control
Some people think that Quality is just something that you check during the project, but this approach shows that Quality is planned from the beginning of the project.
Imagine a project that deals with building an apartment block. The customer is a mid-size property developer. You as the Project Manager would need to be in agreement with the people who represent the customer, the supplier and other stakeholders (e.g., architects) and have an idea of the quality of the finished apartment block, as well as how Quality will be controlled during the project.
Quality Planning
The purpose of Quality Planning is to:
- Agree on the overall Quality Expectations with the Project Board
- Document the Quality criteria (e.g., type of insulation, quality of material used in the building, and type of lighting fixtures)
- Document how the Quality Criteria will be checked (e.g., using independent building inspectors, etc).
- Note: The Project Board will judge the project’s product — which in this example is the apartment block – on satisfying all agreed criteria
Communicate these agreements with all stakeholders:
- Everyone in the project must have a common understanding of what the project will achieve and the products the project will produce
Establish how Quality can be controlled during the project:
- Set baselines and tolerances for each product (e.g. wall insulation should be grade 5 with +- 10% tolerance; kitchen fittings should last 18 years +- 5% tolerance, etc.)
As you can imagine, if these topics are not discussed up front, it can make for a very exciting project with everybody having their own idea on the finished product.
The following questions should be asked in Quality Planning (think about the apartment block project for each of these questions):
- What are the User’s Quality Expectations?
- What is the Acceptance Criteria that the Project Board will check at the end of the project to make sure the project has delivered the expected quality?
The first Quality Planning steps are:
- Gather the customers Quality Expectations: this is very general, high level
- Key Requirements for the main product (Project Product) to be produced
- Identify standards that must be meet and the Quality Management System to use
- Measurements than can be used assess quality (speed, size, noise, etc,,)
- E.g. Think of a Laptop PC description or web site
List the Acceptance Criteria: Adding the User’s Quality Expectations and Acceptance Criteria to the Project Product Description (this criterion is measurable and prioritized)
- Total building insulation must be grade 4 (Yes/No)
- Yearly maintenance per apartment must be under €1,200 (Yes/No)
Write the Project Product Description:
The following Quality-related data is also added to the Project Product Description:
- The Project level tolerances – tolerance for the main product: e.g., outside noise-level has to be lower than a certain value plus/minus x%
- Acceptance method: stating how Project Product will be accepted
And acceptance responsibilities – defining who will be responsible for accepting
Create the Quality Management Approach document
These documents define the agreed strategy for Quality in this project or, in other words, the rules of engagement for Quality during the project. More about this later.
Write Product Descriptions and include the Quality information such as;
- Quality criteria for each product & quality tolerances
- Quality method, (i.e., how to carry out quality checks after product is created)
- Quality responsibilities for creating, quality-checking, and approving the product
So this will be done for all the products that make up the main Project Product:
Doors, walls, windows and fixtures.
Product-Based Planning will provide a list of all products, and then you add the Quality information to each product description.
Last, set up the Quality Register.
At first, it will be empty. Just imagine an empty spreadsheet with the following columns: Product ID, Product Name, Producer, Approver, Target Review Date, Target Approve Date, etc.
The User’s Quality Expectations
It is normally not an easy task to extract the Quality Expectations of a product from a client and the answers you get can be very vague, but this must be done and must be done as early as possible in the project so they can be listed in detail in the Project Product Description.
Some companies may be in a rush to get the product out or they may have budgetary issues so they think they can save on Quality. I have even seen projects where there funds were scarce at the start of the project, but once the product is out and customers are having issues, then lots of funds are available to start fixing.
This approach is always a lot more expensive.
Let us look at some good questions to ask to get the customer focused on Quality:
- What % of features should work when product is launched, and what is the budget for critical issues, fixes, recalls etc.?
What will be the cost to the company if the product cannot be used as expected at the end of the project (e.g., fines, keeping old product in service, etc.)?
As you can imagine, this should help the customer to see the importance of Quality.
Some good questions to ask to uncover the Users Quality Expectations are:
- What are the key requirements for the Project Product (Project Product refers to the main product that will be produced)?
- What standards need to be applied to achieve the Quality requirements? (Note: For the building, there could be building code standards.)
- What are the measurements that can be used to assess whether the products meet the Quality requirements?
For example, with the apartment block a building surveyor can check the structure, and another specialist can be used to check heat-loss and insulation.
As you can expect, the higher Quality requirements will have an effect on the time and cost of the project. For example, the client may want a high-standard and low-energy apartment block. This will require triple-glazed windows, thicker insulation and all fittings with a guarantee of 20 years.
Important things to remember on User’s Quality Expectations:
- Acceptance criteria
- Project Product Description
- Quality Register
- Product Descriptions
- Quality Management Approach
- Quality responsibilities
- Quality requirements from User/Customer
- Project Response
- Quality information in Product Descriptions
- Quality Planning Based on PRINCE2 material.
They must be listed in detail and with tolerance levels.
They should be prioritized, starting with what the client finds most important.
It is good Project Management to review the customer’s Quality Expectations to make sure the project can meet them.
Prioritize technique: MoSCoW
It stands for 1) Must have, 2) Should have, 3) Could have, 4) Won’t have for now
You can also use: High, Medium, Low or Not Required but MoSCoW is better
Example of the Customer Quality Expectations for an apartment block project
Acceptance Criteria
The Acceptance Criteria is a prioritized list of attributes that the Project Product should have when complete. This is first agreed between the Customer and Supplier in the very first process, the Starting Up a Project process.
Think of a table in Excel or Word when you think about Acceptance Criteria
- Attribute to be accepted
- Prioritize status, such as “must have,” “should have” & so on
Accepted status: Yes / No
Once the Acceptance Criteria list is complete, it will become part of the Project Brief.
The Project Product Description is written around the same time as the Acceptance Criteria and both can be updated during the Initiating a Project process. This Acceptance Criteria will be baselined with the rest of the Project Initiation Documentation and can only be changed with approval from the Project Board.
Acceptance Criteria
As mentioned, the Acceptance Criteria should also be prioritized and the MoSCoW technique can be used to do this by separating requirements into 1) Must have, 2) Should have, 3) Could have & 4) Won’t have for now.
Towards the end of the project, the customer will check that all the Acceptance Criteria have been met before the project can be closed. It is therefore a good idea to have agreed in advance on the acceptance methods that will be used.
For example, with the Web Site project:
- A person from the marketing department can check the design & style & sign off
- Ease of use can be done by monitoring 10 actions for a user
- Security person will check both secure area and forget-password process
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