I am a student at Drexel University attending Goodwin College of Professional Studies. I am in the process of studying to receive my Masters Degree in Project Management. My former background is in Accounting, this became a dead end for me so I decided to go back to school and complete my Masters in Project Management, which is a career change for me. I love the field of Project Management and how it helps you to redefine how you look at life. Everything doesn't just happen, there is a process involved.
If you have not had time in the field and been exposed to what is really taking place, you need many mentors. Project Management is not a fly by night event. I am in need of help from the Project Management Community.
I am presently taking E-Tools for Project Management and Project Quality Management. I need to connect with seasoned PM's in the field to mentor me so that I will have more than just book knowledge. The help of the community would be greatly appreciated in addressing the following questions that I must ask of Project Managers already in motion.
What tools are in use to assist with quality management?
Who is responsible for quality management and what is the value of quality/Lean Six Sigma to the project and the organization?
How do you use quality management (tools, tactics, strategies, etc.) to identify and solve project problems?
What are the top three most important aspects of quality management/Lean Six Sigma when it comes to good project management?
Explain the difference between quality control and quality assurance. In doing so, use "real" examples from project work in terms of people (roles, responsibilities), tools, templates, and deliverables, and explain the difference relative to the stages/phases of project management.
Thanks
Paulette
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Taralyn Frasqueri-MolinaSenior Project Manager| Independent ContractorPasadena, Ca, United States
Hi Paulette. Congrats on pursuing your masters! Good luck with that!
I'll throw in my $0.02 on this.
First a bit of background:
The projects I manage are not manufacturing projects. We're not making a bunch of parts or producing large products. The projects I manage are closer to construction projects but without all the permit approvals. Spaces are built for a specific reason. For my group that reason involves some sort of technology (i.e Video conference, 3D, A/V etc.). The budget for these projects range from $35,000 to $300,000.
Our quality management process then is very Zen in it's simplicity. Make sure the deliverables conform to the requirements put forth by the stakeholders. The entails creating an extremely thorough scope statement up front, with the flexibility to change if necessary as the project life cycle moves on, but all this "pre-work" is what enables our quality management process to run as simply as it does.
Now your questions:
Q. What tools are in use to assist with quality management?
A. For the quality management process I follow, I use MS Excel to keep track of deliverables, their requirements, when each deliverable was completed, and if the deliverables were approved by the project sponsor and key stakeholders.
Q. Who is responsible for quality management?
A. In my organization, the project manager is responsible for quality management.
Q. What is the value of quality/Lean Six Sigma to the project and the organization?
A. I believe the value of achieving quality standards is not having to do a lot of rework. When what the stakeholders ask for is what you deliver, you won't have to do the work again. I don't use Lean Six Sigma, so I cannot comment on this.
Q. How do you use quality management (tools, tactics, strategies, etc.) to identify and solve project problems?
A. Quality management will help me spot problems in the scope. If my team is having a hard time delivering something to spec, having a hard time making their deliverable conform to its requirements, then I'll go back to the scope to see if the issue stems from there. Sometimes, our scope statement may not be clear enough for team members understand what is to be delivered. Having a quality management process in place will help uncover those kinds of ambiguities. Quality management is about being specific and clear not about being vague.
Q. What are the top three most important aspects of quality management/Lean Six Sigma when it comes to good project management?
A. Communicating with stakeholders, clarifying what will be delivered and how in the scope statement, making sure the team knows their deliverables and the requirements.
Q. Explain the difference between quality control and quality assurance. In doing so, use "real" examples from project work in terms of people (roles, responsibilities), tools, templates, and deliverables, and explain the difference relative to the stages/phases of project management.
A. Quality Assurance covers making sure your overall quality management processes are in check. Quality Control covers using techniques (statistical sampling etc.) to test if deliverables meet requirements. Off the top of my head, I can't think why Quality Assurance would be different from phase to phase. However, I could see how Quality Control might be different as the team is producing very different things from phase to phase. Saving Changes...
Josh NankivelEngineering Project Manager| AppleSioux Falls, Sd, United States
Paulette, I have created a community for new and aspiring project managers along with my course content which focuses on tutorials and "real-world" project management. It is at http://learn.pmStudent.com if you or anyone else is interested in checking it out. Cheers!
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