Important Terms and Definitions - Monitoring & Controlling Quality and Risk

As usual, let us wrap up the series on Monitoring & Controlling project quality and risk by covering the important terms we learnt as part of these chapters.

• Cause and effect diagram - A diagram used to explore all the potential causes (inputs) that result in a single effect (output), such as a problem or a defect.
• Control chart - A chart or diagram used to monitor whether the variance of a specified variable is within the acceptable limits dictated by quality control.
• Defect - An imperfection or deficiency that keeps a component from meeting its requirements or specifications. A defect is caused by an error (problem) and can be repaired by fixing the error.
• Flowchart - A diagram that depicts inputs, actions, and outputs of one or more processes in a system.
• Histogram - A bar chart that shows a distribution of variables.
• Inspection - A technique to examine whether an activity, component, product, service, or result conforms to specific requirements.
• Monitor and control risks - To track identified risks, identify new risks, monitor residual risks, implement risk response plans, and evaluate risk management processes.
• Pareto diagram - A diagram used to rank the importance of each error (problem) based on the frequency of its occurrence over time in the form of defects.
• Performance report - A document or a presentation that presents the project progress in terms of some parameters, such as earned value management parameters, based on the analysis of performance information/data.
• Quality control - Monitoring results of executing quality-related activities and recommending necessary changes and actions to conform with the quality plans.
• Risk trigger - An alert that indicates a risk event has occurred or is about to occur.
• Run chart - A chart that shows the history and pattern of variations.
• Scatter diagram - A diagram used to show the pattern of the relationship between two variables — an independent variable and another variable that depends on the independent variable.
• Statistical sampling - Randomly selecting a part of the population for study.
• Workaround - A response to a negative risk that has occurred. A workaround is based on a quick solution and is not planned in advance of the risk occurrence event.

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Summary - Monitoring & Controlling Quality and Risk

We have successfully reached the end of the series of chapters on Monitoring & Controlling Quality and risk. Let us summarize what we learnt in the preceding chapters.

• You need to monitor and control your project throughout its lifecycle, which includes monitoring and controlling quality, risks, and performance communication, the three interrelated processes.
• Quality is controlled by using the Perform Quality Control process, a process of monitoring and recording the results from the execution of projects, including the quality activities.
• The goal is to evaluate quality performance and recommend necessary changes.
• To ensure quality, you must control risks as well.
• Risks are monitored and controlled by using the Monitor and Control Risks process, which uses the risk register and performance reports as major input items.
• The performance reports are prepared by using the Report Performance process, which uses work performance information and work performance measurements as input.
• The goal here is to prepare and distribute the performance reports to the right stakeholders at the right time by using the right methods and formats.

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Chapter 77: Introduction to Monitoring and Controlling Quality and Risk

At any given point in time, the project is in a certain state called the project status, and the difference between two states in time is called the project progress. Your success as a project manager is directly proportional to successfully communicating the project performance, including the project status and progress, to the right stakeholders at the right time by using the right methods. It is not a matter of chance that the two words communication and performance are used in the same sentence; they are intimately connected and highly correlated concepts in project management.

Communicating performance to the right stakeholders at the right time by using the right methods is called performance reporting, or reporting in short. Effective reporting is the oxygen for a project. Among many other benefits, reporting helps control project risks.

Quality is an integrated part of any project. Therefore, monitoring and controlling project work includes controlling quality. If you do not monitor and control risks, the quality will be affected. You monitor the risks by looking out for risk triggers (alerts that tell you a risk has occurred or is about to occur) for the already identified risks and by identifying new risks as the project progresses. You control risks by executing the risk response plan and taking corrective and preventive actions.

So, the key things we will learn in this section are:

“How do you monitor & control performance communication, quality & risk?”

Let us go in search of the answer now.

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