Standards, Regulations, and Project Quality Planning

Rules are everywhere. People are bombarded by rules in the form of standards and regulations. Do you know the difference between the two?

Quality planning requires you to be familiar with the standards and regulations that affect your project. For many projects, these are well known and your planning will reflect them. The difference between standards and regulations is explained below.

• Standards. Although standards are approved by a recognized body, compliance with them is not mandatory. They are documents of rules, guidelines, or characteristics for projects, and will shape a project's product.
• Regulations. These documents outline the products, processes, or service characteristics of a project. Compliance to regulations is mandatory.

Standards and regulations are inputs to quality planning that can have a great effect on projects. As a project manager or member of a project team, you need to be certain your quality system is "up to code."

As with most things in life, rules are not always clear cut. There's a definite "gray area" between standards and regulations. A standard will sometimes begin as a guideline and then become a regulation. This happens when a standard becomes well-known and is widely used.

Another example of the "gray area" between standards and regulations is when each one is authorized at different levels. For example, the government requires pilots to have a national-level license for flying. At a company level, however, a pilot may be required to have a national-level pilot's license, 1,000 hours of flying time, 600 hours multi-engine flight experience, and 150 hours of night flying time.

Standards can help companies meet their quality goals. The International Organization for Standardization is an establishment that helps companies accomplish this with the ISO 9000 series. Companies that use the ISO 9000 standards follow documented procedures for the work they perform. It does not guarantee organizations will always produce good products. Instead, the ISO 9000 standards act as a tool for helping organizations meet quality goals and confirm they have a set of quality standards in place.

In summary, standards and regulations are important inputs to quality planning. Following them helps ensure that a project product is of good quality and meets stakeholder requirements.

Project Product Descriptions and Scope Statements

The product description document, which is an important input to project quality planning, does just what you would expect—it describes the product. Specifically, it describes the product characteristics a project will create. It contains technical information as well as other issues that affect quality planning.

At the beginning of a project, the product description document will be vague. However, as the project evolves and the product characteristics become more complicated, more details will be added to the product description. Some points to keep in mind about the product description documents are listed below.

• When a supplier does work under contract for a client, the initial product description is provided by the client.
• The product description needs enough detail to support project planning in later stages.
• The product description should state the relationship between the product or service and the business need, opportunity, or problem that initiated the project.

Throughout the project, the product description document will be modified to add the details that were unknown when the project first began. This process assists with the development of the quality outputs.

Parts of the product description may be included in the scope statement, which is another important input to quality planning. Scope statements include information on project deliverables and objectives. Specifically, a scope statement is a description of what the stakeholders want. Details about the scope statement are provided below.

• The scope statement is a written source for making decisions later on in the project.
• The scope statement confirms that the stakeholders all have the same expectations of the project.
• The scope statement is a written source for making decisions later on in the project.
• The scope statement confirms that the stakeholders all have the same expectations of the project.

Just like the product description, the scope statement may need to be revised as the project changes. A scope statement should refer to, or include a description of, the project justification, project product, project deliverables, and project objectives. These four elements of the scope statement are described below.

• Project justification. The project justification can be taken directly from the product description document. It states the business need that initiated the project.
• Project product. This is the actual product description. This portion of the scope statement can be taken from the product description document.
• Project deliverables. The project is considered complete when all the products that make up the project are delivered. If you discover that something has been excluded, you should immediately add it to the scope statement.
• Project objectives. These are the criteria that mark the success of a project. Project objectives detail costs, schedules, and quality measures.

A clear product description and scope statement confirm that everyone involved in a project has the same expectations. You have to know what your customers really want. Your project's success depends on it.

Developing a Project Quality Policy

A quality policy, which is an important input to project quality planning, is a collection of documents that are usually created by quality experts and supported by top management. These documents state the overall quality intentions and direction of an organization.

Not all projects require new quality policies. If a quality policy already exists, it can be adopted for a new project. If a quality policy does not exist or if the project is a joint venture, the management team will be required to develop a new quality policy for the project.

A quality policy must indicate the level of quality the organization considers acceptable and must be applied at all levels of a project. Communicating this information is a vital step for quality planning. Project management teams need to distribute quality policy information in a timely manner to everyone involved with the project. As a project manager, you can communicate quality policies in the following ways.

• Use written communication, in the form of formal reports, informal memos, and conversations, to send out clear and complete information to those working on the project and to outside parties.
• You can share information with your team members using information retrieval systems such as manual filing systems, project management software, and electronic text databases.
• You can forward information electronically using fax, electronic mail, voice mail, video conferencing, and a company intranet or the Internet.

Quality policies state a company's quality goals. These policies help a company create a sound reputation for good quality. Key goals should include continuous improvement of the product or service, customer satisfaction, and effective delivery of the service. In addition, quality policies should:

• promote consistency throughout the project
• include quality objectives
• describe how organizations view quality
• detail guidelines for all important quality matters
• state principles of what will take place during the project, rather than how it will take place
• state requirements for updating the policy
• be understood, implemented, and maintained at all levels of an organization.

Quality objectives are important elements of a quality policy. Some typical quality objectives are:

• clearly defined statement of customer needs
• specific statements about deadlines
• commitment to avoid harmful effects on the environment and society
• reviews to identify opportunities for quality improvements
• commitment to quality throughout the organization.

Quality policies are essential inputs to quality planning. Top-level managers implement quality policies throughout the duration of projects. It can be challenging for managers to stay focused on quality and avoid getting sidetracked by other matters. Ultimately, the best way for a project manager to show support for quality is to "walk the walk."