Nothing is more frustrating than delivering a project then the client rejects it and requests for a re-work. Now you have to spend more money and more time on the project instead of moving onto the next one.
To avoid such a scenario, implement quality assurance (QA) in project management. QA helps you create and execute processes that ensure teams produce quality deliverables.
In this article, we dive into the following:
What is quality assurance in project management
How do you ensure quality assurance in project management
The main quality assurance methods
What is Quality Assurance (QA)?
Quality assurance is the process or actions organizations take to make sure a project’s outcomes meet the agreed-upon requirements.
Project managers define these actions using a quality management plan.
Organizations often use quality assurance to track compliance and maintain consistent project outcomes over time. Should the quality standards be wanting, project managers can improve their processes for better results.
By maintaining quality in project management, teams can deliver outcomes without errors or defects. This can build customer satisfaction and confidence, leading to higher sales and better customer loyalty over time.
Further, quality assurance can help teams increase efficiency because they understand what they need to do to deliver quality project deliverables.
How Do You Ensure Quality Assurance in Project Management?
Achieving consistent project quality takes commitment and focus. It may be challenging, but it’s achievable. Here’s what you need to do to maintain consistent project quality from start to finish.
Define quality
Quality is ambiguous and may mean different things to different people. Before you start your project, define what quality means to you and the project. Then define the criteria you’ll use to measure quality. This will help teams understand what they’re working towards.
Establish a quality framework for the hiring process
When hiring team members, ensure quality in the hiring process so that you only bring on the best, most compatible talent.
If we take software testing as an example we can see that in the process of quality assurance systematic processes ensure that software products meet predefined standards and client requirements. To guarantee quality, the role of project managers employ a combination of manual and automated testing methods. For manual testing, you might need a talent to manually execute test cases and identify issues in the software’s functionality, whereas in automated testing the choice of the right automation tool is the key to successful product release. When choosing software test automation tools for your project it is important to identify your needs and find the tool that aligns with them. It’s evident that selecting skilled professionals is vital, but equally important is the strategic choice of tools and methods that will be utilized during the process of management.
Commit to quality
Teams follow their leaders. Commitment to quality has to start with you as the project manager. Own the quality assurance process and guide your team through it.
Stick to the requirements
Understand the project requirements and make sure they’re realistic and achievable. Clear, well-defined requirements will mean less re-work and schedule delays for you. Once you’ve defined the project requirements, stay within the scope. Adding features the customer did not request may lead to scope creep and increased cost. Sadly, if you have a limited budget, you may find yourself compromising on quality.
Control the quality
As you work on the project, perform regular quality control inspections to ensure that teams are working according to the quality standards you established at the beginning of the project. The earlier you can identify defects or quality issues, the more time and money you’ll save.
Use a project management tool
Organize and execute your quality assurance actions using a project management tool. A good tool lets you clearly understand what’s happening at all times, leaving you less vulnerable to QA issues.
The Main Quality Assurance Methods
Feeling confident that you can deliver high-quality projects? Now let’s look at the methods you can use to establish a quality assurance process for your organization. Whichever method you choose will depend on the type of project you’re running and your company’s requirements.
Statistical process control (SPC)
In statistical process control, project managers use statistical techniques such as data collection and analysis to develop quality standards.
When using this scientific approach, managers typically collect data to evaluate, monitor and control a process—such as a manufacturing line. Then they use this data to improve their operations and achieve the desired project outcomes. Decisions are based on facts and figures.
Project managers use charts to monitor ongoing progress and make continuous improvements as they go.
Statistical process control is often used for projects involving tech or chemical products such as consumables, cleaning supplies, or software.
Failure testing
Failure testing is a method used to test a product’s or program’s components to ensure they meet quality standards.
Organizations mainly use this method to test physical and virtual products. The technique helps managers assess whether a prototype or finished product is ready to market.
When testing physical products, teams evaluate whether the product will break down in various usability scenarios. An excellent example of product failure testing is crash testing a vehicle to see if the airbags work as they should.
For virtual products, teams evaluate how resistant a program is to several high-stress scenarios. An example of this would be testing cybersecurity in software.
Total quality management (TQM)
In the total quality management method, project managers use quantitative techniques to detect and eliminate errors and deliver quality outcomes. TQM focuses on making sure that everyone involved in the project is capable of meeting the set quality standards. This makes individual accountability paramount in this quality assurance method.
When using total quality management, your goal is to build a process that is consistent, predictable, and can be replicated in future projects.
How Can You Use Mission Control for Quality Assurance?
To deliver quality projects, you need to set requirements, define how to measure those requirements, monitor their progress, and report results. Project management tools like Mission Control can help you with this.
Our tool offers you improved visibility into what’s going on in the project through dashboards, charts, and detailed task views. With this visibility, you can monitor quality throughout a project’s lifecycle.
Monitor and schedule tasks related to quality assurance with our online Gantt charts. Your team can quickly see where they are, what they have to do, and where the project is going. Should QA issues emerge, teams can easily use their Gantt chart to pinpoint which tasks went wrong.
Once teams discover an issue, you can quickly implement a custom risk management plan into your existing project plans to de-escalate the issue.
Also, the ‘Issue’ Object within Mission Control enables you to track issues relating to your Projects sand is accessible from the ‘Progress Pad’ on the Mission Control Console.
Communication on the platform is a breeze thanks to our in-built communication app. Teams can communicate and share information quickly, no matter where they are.
To wrap it up, quality is crucial in any project to make sure you deliver a defect-free product that conforms to requirements.
To ensure quality, you need the right tools to monitor quality management. So go on, request a demo today, and start running quality projects!
