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The quality management knowledge area consists of three processes, one in the planning process group (Plan Quality Management), one in the executing process group (Manage Quality), and one in the monitoring and controlling process group (Control Quality).   The difference between Manage Quality and Control Quality is that Manage Quality focuses on quality assurance, that is, making sure of the correctness of the processes done on the project, and Control Quality focuses on quality control, that is, making sure of the correctness of the results of those processes, i.e., the deliverables.    Specifically what do we mean by “correctness”?

In the language of project management, what constitutes correctness is the degree to which the project deliverables work the requirements specified by the stakeholders.

In this post, we will go over the inputs to this process.

8.3.1 Control Quality:  Inputsss

8.3.1.1 Project Management Plan

The component of the overall project management plan that is an input to this process is the quality management plan, the output of process 8.1 Plan Quality Management.   The specific elements of the quality management plan that may be used on this process include the following:

• The quality objectives of the project (these are what the deliverables will be compared to)
• The quality control management activities planned for the project (how will it be monitored, and how will it be controlled)
• The quality roles and responsibilities (who will conduct the quality control activities)
• Project deliverables subject to quality control
• Quality tools to be used on the project
• Procedures for dealing with non-conformance, such as defect repair and corrective actions.

8.3.1.2  Project Documents

• Lessons learned register–lessons learned during this quality control process early on in the project are put into the register so that they can be applied to later phases in the project to improve quality control
• Quality metrics–these are an output of process 8.1 Plan Quality Management.  This document tracks the attributes of a product and how the Control Quality process will verify compliance with those metrics.
• Test and evaluation documents–These documents that were created in the Manage Quality process will be used to evaluate achievement of the quality objectives during this process.

8.3.1.3 Approved Change Requests

Let’s say in the first round of this process, there are change requests that occur as an output of the process.   The change requests are evaluated in process 4.6 Perform Integrated Change Control (as are the change requests coming out of ALL of other knowledge areas as well).   They will be either approved or rejected.   If rejected, they are put into the change log together with the reasons why they were rejected.    However, if they are approved, they imply that modifications will be done on the project in the area of quality control (such as defect repairs).   The implementation of these approved changes needs to be verified.

8.3.1.4 Deliverables

Deliverables, which are the output of process 4.3 Direct and Manage Product Work, are inspected and compared to the acceptance criteria defined in the project scope statement and the quality management plan.    Scope deals with the completeness of the work; quality deals with the correctness of the work.

8.3.1.5 Work Performance Data

Data on the product status such as observations, quality metrics, and measurements for technical performance, are used in this process because these will be compared to the quality standards to see if the product conforms to those standards or not.

8.3.1.6 Enterprise Environmental Factors

• The Project Management Information System–the software used to manage the project, including aspects of quality management.   This is an EEF because the software is not something which is created by the organization itself, but a tool created by an external company used by the organization.   However, data regarding previous projects stored on that software would be considered  an organizational process asset (see paragraph 8.3.1.7 below)
• Rules, standards, and guidelines specific to the application area.

8.3.1.7 Organizational Process Assets

• Quality standards and policies (should be included in the Quality Management Plan)
• Quality templates, for example, check sheets, checklists, etc.
• Issue and defect reporting procedures and communication policies

The tools and techniques of this process will be the subject of the next post.

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