Chapter 13
Managing Project Quality
In This Chapter
Understanding the importance of quality
Creating the Quality Management Strategy
Looking at quality at stage and team levels
Checking and controlling quality
Using the Quality Review technique
Managing projects is about delivering on time and within budget – that’s what you often hear. But that just isn’t true. Whatever’s the point of delivering a load of unusable garbage on time and within budget? Project management is about delivering on time, within budget . . . and to quality standards. Quality is a vital third dimension.
The PRINCE2 project management method is actually rather good at managing quality. Unfortunately, the chapter in the official manual is a bit obsessed with definitions and processes, so it doesn’t explain too well how quality works. See whether you think this chapter makes a better job of it.
Given the obvious importance of quality in projects, its frequent neglect is a bit strange. But the problem is that people always think they’ll get away with it. For this reason, quality is often the first casualty and an easy target if a project comes under pressure.
Given the strong focus in many organisations on only time and cost, you may need a bit of determination to push for good quality management. But in some projects quality is the most important element. In fact, even in projects where quality seems to have a low profile, it is often more important than you think. If a project delivers on time and to budget ...
