Organizations Through the Eyes of a Project Manager

1. Organizations Through the Eyes of a Project Manager Chapter 9. Quality Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

2. Introduction • Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort. • John RuskinEnglish critic, essayist, & reformer (1819 - 1900) Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

3. Introduction • Quality • Ensures that a product meets certain specifications • Involves uniformity and repeatability • Results in customer satisfaction • A process that • Retains existing customers • Wins back lost customers • Creates new customers Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

4. Quality “Gurus” • Shewhart and Juran Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

5. Quality “Gurus” • 1920, Western Electric • Shewhart pioneered statistical controls to minimize defects • Deming based much of his work on Shewhart • Deming-Shewhart cycle • Plan – Do – Check - Act Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

6. Quality “Gurus” Plan Do Movement towards continuous quality improvement Check Act Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

7. Normal variation: requires fundamental change to system Special cause: find and eliminate Special cause as a pattern Copyright 2004 N.B. Long http://www.maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumFrancisGerwels89.htm

8. Copyright 2004 N.B. Long http://www.maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumFrancisGerwels89.htm

9. Quality “Gurus” • Final inspection is too costly and too late • Plan-Do-Check-Act shifts focus • Don’t detect defects in finished products • Instead, examine the process continuously, looking for ways to prevent problems Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

10. Quality “Gurus” • Juran • Followed Deming to Japan in 1954 • Statistics-based quality • Developed “Quality Trilogy: • Quality Planning • Quality Improvement • Quality Control Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

11. Quality “Gurus” • Planning • Identify the customers • Determine their needs • Develop a product that fulfills those needs • Optimize the product • Meets customer’s needs and the organization’s needs Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

12. Quality “Gurus” • Improvement • Develop a process to produce the product • Optimize it • Control • Prove that the process can produce the product under operating conditions with minimal inspection • Transfer the process to Operations • Optimize it Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

13. Quality “Gurus” • Juran: • Quality requires • Planning • Teamwork • Problem solving • Corporations must integrate quality into the overall corporate plan • Quality means “fitness for a purpose” Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

14. Quality “Gurus” • Feigenbaum • Total Quality Control • Everyone was responsible for quality • Quality meant “best for the customer’s use and selling price” Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

15. Quality “Gurus” • Crosby • Four absolutes: • Conformance to requirements • Prevention is the system by which quality is achieved • The standard is zero defects • The measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance (i.e., poor quality costs money) Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

16. Quality “Gurus” • Ishikawa • Inadequate quality has four main causes • Materials • Processes • Equipment • Measurement • Cause-and-effect or “fishbone” diagram Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

17. Quality “Gurus” Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

18. Quality and the PM • Payoff for continuous quality improvement? • Higher productivity • Lower costs • Higher quality • Employees at all levels must be involved • Perfection not necessary – only continual movement towards the ideal Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

19. Quality Policy • Quest for quality begins with a policy • Sets forth principles of operational practice • Organization’s processes and procedures should be uniform and consistent with each other • Management commitment is crucial • Workers are good at detecting BS • Sacrificing quality to achieve a sales goal or a bonus tells how management really feels – workers will follow that lead Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

20. Quality Policy • Customers may review quality policy before ordering • An established policy may be a key factor in a decision to buy • No policy may indicate a poor attitude towards quality • What is a customer to think? • What would you think? • Reality must match intention • Otherwise … Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

21. Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

22. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Motivation may be internal • The costs of poor quality are too high • Or external • Customers may demand a quality standard like ISO 9000 • Regardless, documented quality is essential • What elements of an organization need quality management? Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

23. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Examples of quality topics for IT • Policies for use of computers • Networking • Internet access • Security (firewalls, viruses, etc.) • Access to e-mail • Data backup • Business records and storage • Program maintenance and upgrade Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

24. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Quality management processes • Planning • What standards will be put in place • Assurance • Determines how implementation will be accomplished • Control • Monitoring activity that measures and evaluates data Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

25. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Planning • Identify quality standards relevant to the project • External • Derived from • Professional • International • Local, state, federal • CUSTOMER • Internal • Departmental or organizational methodology Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

26. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Examples of internal standards (IT) • Educational criteria required for a job • Checklists for design review of software development • Software installation procedures • Use of development tools • Testing methodology • Documentation • User interface Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

27. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Quality plans clarify expectations • Stakeholders can refer to a known quantity • Employees understand what is expected of them at each stage of a project • Everyone understands design requirements • Like a freeze at some point • Or the procedures to effect a change Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

28. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Quality and changes • Changes happen but must be controlled • Only for good reason(s) • Approval cycle required • Supporting documentation must be supplied • Why? Change may affect multiple departments • They must be informed • Have a chance to comment • Formal process needed to control this Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

29. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Quality and documentation • Organization should have a plan for managing documentation • Requirements • Drawings • Manuals • Test plans • Plan establishes paper trail • Everyone knows where to find & how to use documentation • Historical record Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

30. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • Help for establishing quality plans • IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers • SEI – Software Engineering Institute • ESI – European Software Institute • ISO – International Standards Organization • Others • Malcolm Baldrige Award • Six Sigma Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

31. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • IEEE Software Quality Plans • Set of software life-cycle standards • Describes • How management will conduct, track, and report on a project • How technical staff will perform work • Can use the ones that fit your project Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

32. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • IEEE Software Quality Plans (cont.) • SQAP – Software Quality Assurance Plan • Contract between project team and QA department • Identifies specific tasks QA will perform to support the project • Review plans • Identify standards, practices, and conventions • Describe the configuration management activities (maintains documents under change control) • Audits Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

33. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • IEEE Software Quality Plans (cont.) • SRS – Software Requirements Specification • Formalizes customer requirements as systematic and comprehensive • That is, it defines the system to meet the customer’s goals • Gives the customer something tangible to formally approve • Ensures developers have correctly interpreted the customer’s needs Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

34. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • IEEE Software Quality Plans (cont.) • SDD – Software Design Specification • Describes internal design features of each system component • Provides naming and coding standards • Describes interdependencies • Describes interfaces • System • User • Basis for coding and testing Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

35. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • IEEE Software Quality Plans (cont.) • SVVP – Software Verification and Validation Plan • Verification • Process of • Reviewing • Inspecting • Testing • To ensure compliance with specification • Validation • Ensures compliance with user requirements Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

36. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • SEI (Software Engineering Institute) • History • 1970’s & 80’s project chronically behind, over budget & did not meet user needs • Average: year late & 100% over budget! • One 4-year project took 7 years and nothing was ever delivered on time • DOD-funded • Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh • Capability Maturity Model® Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

37. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • SEI (cont.) • CMM assists managers in judging the maturity of an organization’s software development processes • Accomplished by categorizing the organization’s processes • Places organization’s processes in 1 of 5 “maturity levels” Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

38. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • SEI (cont.) • 1 – Initial • Ad hoc, chaotic processes • Little is defined • Success depends on individuals and heroic efforts • 2 – Repeatable • Basic PM processes in place • Tracks cost, schedule, and functionality • Can repeat earlier successes if new project is similar Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

39. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • SEI (cont.) • 3 – Defined • Process is documented, standardized, and integrated into the organization • All projects use the approved process for developing and maintaining software • 4 – Managed • Detailed measures of software process and product quality are collected • Processes are quantitatively understood and controlled Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

40. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • SEI (cont.) • 5 – Optimizing • Processes are continually improved • Quantitative feedback • Innovative ideas and technologies are tested and used • With CMM, managers can predict software development times, control costs, and deliver products of superior quality Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

41. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • SEI (cont.) • CMM • Describes processes in terms of key practices • Practices describe the infrastructure and activities that contribute the most • Promotes evolution not revolution • Employees must be trained in CMM Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

42. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • SEI (cont.) • Most small organizations were at level 1 • Poor technical/managerial plans or schedules • Unwilling/unable to manage budget • Requirements are poorly defined (fuzzy) • www.sei.cmu.edu Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

43. Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

44. Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

45. Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

46. Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

47. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • ISO (International Standards Org.) • Worldwide federation (140 countries) • “…promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services… • Direct outgrowth of Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Feigenbaum Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

48. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • ISO (cont.) • Organization must employ processes that describe and control every element of product life cycle • Employees must be familiar with quality processes • Every organizations says it practices quality • How does one prove that it does? Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

49. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • ISO (cont.) • Certification achieved by external audit • Major questions are • Are quality processes and standards in place? • Does the organization practice what it preaches or not? • Many processes are unique to a specific organization so process standardization is not the issue Copyright 2004 N.B. Long

50. Quality Planning, Assurance, Control • ISO (cont.) • Many different ISO standards • Old 9000 series • Deals with managing quality in organizations • 9001: Business processes range from design and development to production, installation, and service • 9002: Production, installation, and service only • All require extensive employee training Copyright 2004 N.B. Long