Assessment 5: project quality management

Develop a quality management plan for a given scenario or a real-world project of your choice, using the PMBOK Guide and your choice of word-processing applications.

Introduction

This portfolio work project, a project quality evaluation, is based on your selected business or IT project. You may base your assessment on Cosmo, Inc., a developer and distributor of wearable technology or use a project of your choice.

Project quality management is defined as “the processes of incorporating the organization’s quality policy regarding planning, managing, and controlling project and product quality requirements in order to meeting stakeholders’ objectives” (Project Management Institute, 2017, p. 271).

The term quality can assume different meanings, depending on the circumstances in which it is applied. For example, as a customer, your quality requirements may be different from that of the product or service provider. When the customer and the supplier do not share the same definition of quality, they may disagree on the desired outcome of a project, which could potentially result in miscommunication between the two parties. To minimize disagreements, it is important to evaluate the organization’s quality policies and procedures, as well as ensure that a continuous improvement philosophy is incorporated into the overall project quality management processes.

Many quality approaches have stood the test of time! Approaches to quality management include but are not limited to:

• Deming’s 14 points to management.
• Juran’s 10 steps to quality improvement.
• Crosby’s 14 steps to quality management.

In this unit, you will evaluate various approaches and apply those principles to your selected project.

Reference

Project Management Institute. Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) — Sixth Edition and Agile Practice Guide. Newtown Square. PA. 2017.

Scenario

For this assessment, choose either Option A or Option B. You do not need to do both. Faculty will grade both options using the same scoring guide.

• Option A: Based on the analysis completed by a task force at Cosmo, Inc., the marketing department must develop, implement, and test a new marketing campaign focused on maintaining current customer levels and increasing their customer base through the utilization of new technology. Refer to the Cosmo, Inc. Case Study [DOC] document for more information.
• Option B: You may choose a business of your own. It must include (but is not limited to) the following criteria:
  • Clear business objective and a specific completion outcome.
  • Project team with at least three members in addition to yourself. Each member must have defined roles and responsibilities
  • Completion window of 180 days.
  • Cost estimates that serve as the basis for a budget used as part of the plan development process.

Your Role

For both Options A and B, you are the project manager.

Requirements

Microsoft Project is the recommended software tool for this course due to its wide industry acceptance and its use in many project management professional roles. If you have not already done so, follow the instructions provided through the links below to download and install software or register for an account, as required.

1. If you have a Capella MS Imagine account, go to Step 2. Otherwise, see the instructions for registering an account at MS Imagine – Registration.
2. Log into the Capella Microsoft Imagine WebStore.
3. Identify the version of MS Project that is compatible with your operating system.
4. Download and install.

If you encounter any difficulties in the download and installation process, post a detailed question in the Ask Your Faculty Discussion in the menu dropdown when you click the image of your faculty. They should be able to help you or point you in the right direction for the answers you need.

Using Project in this course helps prepare you for future professional PM roles and responsibilities. Please use Project for tasks the software supports. If you have access to other tools such as Microsoft Visio, PowerPoint, and Word, or other project management software you believe may still meet the requirements of this course, please discuss your selected alternative with faculty.

Deliverable

Using the PMBOK® Guide, create a quality management evaluation for your project, which should contain the following components (at minimum):

• Description of the organization’s quality policies:
  • Identify the quality objectives.
  • Determine the level of quality acceptable to the stakeholders.
  • Determine project manager’s roles and responsibilities for executing the policy and ensuring quality.
  • Develop an acceptance statement for project champions and stakeholders.
  • Description of the quality control procedures:
    • Identify the activities and techniques that ensure quality objectives are being met.
    • Determine the processes and procedures that ensure quality output throughout the project life cycle.
    • Elements of a quality control system should:
      • Specify what to control.
      • Adhere to quality standards that result in the most effective correction action taken.
      • Establish a measurement methodology.
      • Include project quality documentation.
• Description of the quality assurance procedures:
  • Ensure that project product, results, or processes meet the required quality levels.
  • Ensure integration of project scope, time, and cost processes.
  • Project manager is responsible for establishing any administrative processes and procedures ensure conformance to requirements of stakeholders.
  • Identify regulatory or legal impacts or requirements.
• Description of the continuous process improvement procedures:
  • Determine application and integration of CI tools and techniques including, but not limited to:
    • Process mapping.
    • Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle.
    • Root cause analysis.
    • DMAIC.
    • Agile project management.
    • Quality circles for project management.
  • Establish a problem identification and solving process using tools and techniques.
  • Establish a culture for continuous improvement (CI):
    • Adaptability and action-oriented leadership styles are inherent in CI cultures.
  • Develop an innovative and engaged environment for all project team members.
• Description of the quality assurance audit processes:
  • An independent evaluation of the project to ensure conformance to the project quality requirements, standards and polices.
  • Develop a quality assurance audit plan to:
    • Adhere to planned quality requirements.
    • Adhere of all safety requirements.
    • Adhere to all regulations and legal requirements.
    • Adhere to accurate data collections methods.
    • Adhere to proper corrective action methods.

Preparation

Use the software of your choice to develop the deliverables for this assessment.

This assessment has one deliverable:

• Deliverable 1: Complete the Project Quality Management Evaluation using the components listed for this deliverable.

Deliverable Format

• References: There is no set number of references required for this assessment. Use scholarly or academic sources where applicable.
• Format:
  • Use your choice of Microsoft Word, Visio, or PowerPoint.
  • All assessments are professional documents and should therefore follow the corresponding Academic and Professional Document Guidelines, including single-spaced paragraphs.
  • Use APA style and format for references and in-text citations.

Evaluation

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Create a project plan, including subsidiary plans, to deliver project outcomes that meet stakeholder expectations.
  • Describe the organization’s quality policy.
  • Analyze project quality procedures.
• Competency 3: Communicate formally and informally with project stakeholders and sponsors.
  • Explain quality assurance procedures.
  • Describe continuous process improvement procedures.
• Competency 4: Establish change-control processes, and use the tools and techniques to assure approvals.
  • Plan quality-assurance audit activities.