What to do

How to do it

1

Perform quality control and quality assurance activities as defined in the Quality Management Plan

Make sure quality control and quality assurance activities are included in the project schedule per the frequency/intervals specified in the Quality Management Plan.

2

Document quality problems or symptoms

Communicate in clear terms that everyone can understand. Explain the impact of the quality problem.

Examples of quality control (product)  problems:

• Reports and on-line displays do not tie out and balance
• Standard template was not used for the project charter

Examples of quality assurance (process) problems:

• Issue resolution was not completed within 5 business day target
• Peer reviews of deliverables did not discover significant problems

3

Identify root causes of problems, not symptoms

Do a root cause analysis by asking a series of “why” questions:

• Ask “why” a problem exists.
• Come up with one or more causes and, for each cause, ask “why” again. If the question can be answered again, then the first answer is probably a symptom brought on by the more fundamental cause.
• Continue to ask “why” for each answer until you can no longer generate a reason.
• The lowest level is likely to be a root cause and is what generated the observed symptoms.
• More than one root cause may be discovered through this analysis.

4

Identify alternative solutions to problems and impacts of each solution to the project

Focus on any impacts related to the project schedule or project budget.

5

Select the best alternative

Work with the appropriate people based on the nature of the problem – the project sponsor, customer, project team – to select the best alternative.

6

Create and implement an action plan

Create an action plan to address the quality problem and implement the solution.

7

Validate that quality has improved as expected

If quality improves as expected, continue to monitor. If not, then take further corrective action. 

8

Log, track, and monitor problems to bring them to resolution

Use the project’s Quality Assurance and Quality Control Problem Tracking process.

9

Report quality problems in project status report

Determine if the identified problems have a major impact on the project deliverables, budget or timeline and include these problems in the project status report.

10

Update the Quality Management Plan

Make regular adjustments to the Quality Management Plan so it remains current and effective.