Quality Value

Project Management skills:

Being a project manager is a tough job. It’s not enough to

create project plans and delegate tasks. You also have to be a

leader, a people manager and a clear communicator.

With so many skills to learn, which ones should you focus on

developing first?

In this post, I’ll walk you through 8 vital but sometimes

overlooked project management skills. You’ll learn the

importance of these skills and get a brief lesson on how to

develop them further.

What the Project Management Institute Says

Project Management Institute or PMI is one of the biggest PM

organizations in the world. The Project Management

Professional (PMP) it offers is quickly becoming a requirement

for most PM positions.

To qualify as a PMP, you have to demonstrate a number of

skills and competencies across different domains. Regardless

of whether you want to get certified or not, a look at these skill

requirements is a good way to orient yourself in project

management.
The reason being: if PMI evaluates a skill in its certification

exams, you can assume that it’s important for managing a

project in real life.

Here are a few project management skills you should have as

part of the PMP exam curriculum:

Knowledge & Performance

Integration management

Scope management

Time management

Cost management

Quality management

Communication

Human resource management

Risk management

Stakeholder management

Personal

Besides the above knowledge areas, PMI also requires the

following personal skills and competencies for its qualified

professionals:

Achievement and action

Helping
Impact and influence

Managerial skills

Cognitive skills

Personal effectiveness

While not always necessary, the above list should tell you what

qualities you need to be an effective project manager.

In the next section, we’ll look at the exact skills project

managers need to have and how to learn them.

8 Essential Project Management Skills:

Regardless of your industry or specialization, there are a few

skills that will serve you well on every project.

Some of these are:

1. Leadership

Leadership is a complementary to management. While the

latter focuses on managing complexity, the former brings order

and vision to projects. Little wonder that project managers are

expected to have leadership talent alongside management

know-how.

There is a direct correlation between the complexity of a

project and the need for leadership. In fact, one influential

paper even argued that positive leadership contributed almost

76% to a project’s success.

When you break down the elements that make a project

successful, you’ll find that they’re all related to leadership in

some way. Communication, team building, strategizing - these

are all key PM skills that are also essential for leadership.

Be a better leader and you’ll undoubtedly be a better project

manager.

How to learn leadership

Leadership is a difficult skill to learn. You can’t really learn it

from a textbook; it has to be practiced.

Start by identifying the core areas that define good leadership.

As Benis and Thomson noted in 2002, leadership has four key

components:

The ability to adapt to changes.

The ability to motivate others.

The ability to communicate a vision

Integrity and authenticity

Strive to use these skills in your projects. Identify a few things

you can do in all four stages of the project that would

contribute positively towards leadership.

For instance, In the ‘initiate’ stage, you can focus on

motivating resources and establishing the vision. In the ‘close’

stage, you can reward and recognize positive contributions.

2. Communication

Communication lies at the very heart of project management.

Between outlining your vision, delegating authority and

collaborating with stakeholders, you’ll have your hands full

with emails, phone calls and Skype chats.

In an analysis of the most important project management

skills among practitioners, Prof. Eddie Fisher notes that:

“Good people project managers need to have good effective

communications skills with people at all levels of the

organisation. They need to understand cross cultural

behaviours better and need to accept people more for what

they are”

Effective communication is also at the root of good leadership

which, as we saw above, is also essential for project

management.

How to improve communication

In a 2010 paper presented at the Project Management

Institute, Rajkumar Sivasankari says that effective PM

communication has six aspects - 5Ws and 1H:

What to communicate

Why the message is necessary

Who to send the message to

Where to send the message

When to send the message

How to send the message

For any complex project, you should have a project

communication plan that defines each of the above for any

scenario. Say, if you have an emergency, you should know

exactly who to communicate with, what to communicate and

how to communicate it. You can even take advantage of this

project communication template from Workamajig to make

this easier.

3. Influencing Others

All project management is, at its core, people management.

And managing people essentially means managing their

emotions, building trust and persuading them to do their best.

In other words, project managers need to influence others

effectively.

As Prof. Eddie Fisher writes in the PM practitioner survey

mentioned above:
“Project managers need to be good natural influencers and

persuaders and people need to feel at ease in the presence of

the leader. Effective project managers need to...make the

team feel as one team and that they are working together on

the project”

In a project, you might use your ability to influence others in

several situations, such as:

Selling the benefits of a project to a stakeholder

Helping team members to unblock their values to improve

performance.

The more complex the project, the more you’ll need this

critical skill. As the stakes get higher, the amount of

resistance and objections increases as well. Wielding influence

effectively can mean the difference between a successful or a

stalled project.

How to learn this skill

Drawing from Dr. Robert Cialdini’s groundbreaking book,

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, your influence as a

project manager will spring from the following:

Authority, i.e. your position as the manager, your job title, your

proven expertise and your past performance record.

Social proof, i.e. your accomplishments, awards, past records

and what others think of you both within and outside the

team.

Commitment and Consistency, i.e. how detailed and

committed you and the team members are to the project.

Clear communication protocols help immensely here as they

establish a cadence of commitment.

Liking, i.e. how much people actually like you as a manager, a

person and a boss.

Reciprocity, i.e. how much you’ve done for your team

members (who are then more liable to repay the favor).

Hard influence - using your position or title to persuade others

- is effective but doesn’t lead to long-term team happiness.

You’re much better off using soft influence through social

proof, clear communication, good performance, reciprocity

and likability.

4. Conflict Management

Conflicts are inevitable in any project. You’ll have conflicts

between team members, between team members and

stakeholders, and even between yourself and your team.

The ability to manage and resolve conflicts is an understated

but critical skill for project managers.

Conflicts can arise due to a number of reasons, such as:

Clash of interests between stakeholders and team members,

or between team members.

Scope and schedule changes especially post-initiation phase.

Project management conflicts over how the PM

communicates, delegates and manages the project.

Vendor disputes that can hold back a project’s progress.

Given that managers spend roughly 15% of their time resolving

conflicts, conflict management is a skill that will hold you in

good stead as a project manager.

How to learn conflict management

Briefly, there are five approaches to resolving conflicts in a

project in order of effectiveness:

Confronting, where both parties confront their problems and

reach a resolution through direct communication. This is the

preferred way to resolve most problems

Compromising, where the parties reach a resolution through

‘give and take’.

Smoothing, where one party downplays its own problems to

ensure project completion. This isn’t always ideal since it

leaves one party dissatisfied with the resolution.

Forcing, where one party forces the other party to accept its

position. This usually leads to resentment.

Forcing, where one party forces the other party to accept its

position. This usually leads to resentment.

For a more general-purpose approach to conflict management,

read these two books:

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

by Kerry Patterson

Confronting Without Offending: Positive and Practical Steps to

Resolving Conflict by Deborah Smith Pegues

5. Task Management and Scheduling

Task management and project scheduling are the bread and

butter of any project manager’s work.

Project scheduling, as you might know, is the process of

breaking down a project into its constituent activities and

allocating resources for them. You have to factor in the

resources available to you and how to best utilize them.

Most projects start with a project schedule. This document

will be the bedrock of the project.

Task management is where you list and manage the tasks

involved in accomplishing project activities. For instance, if

you’re conducting surveys to gather user feedback, you might

have the following tasks associated with it:

Creating surveys

Sending surveys to users and collecting data

Analyzing survey data

Creating reports

You’ll need both project schedules and task management to

run the project smoothly.

How to learn them

The best way to learn project scheduling and task

management is to use a project management tool (like

Workamajig). These tools typically include templates to help

you create project schedules. You can then create tasks

associated with each project activity and track their progress

within the software.

Each activity in the schedule has a list of associated tasks in

a to-do list:

This can help even beginners create detailed project

schedules.

6. Risk Management
Any complex project is inherently risky. The risks can range

from the sudden departure of a key team member to a

delayed delivery from a vendor.

Foreseeing and planning for such risks is called risk

management.

As CIO notes:

“Risk management measures the uncertainty involved when

you 'roll the dice' during your project, and allows the project

manager to obtain a consensus on how to best handle risks

and unexpected events on the project”

Risk management makes you a better manager precisely

because it is such an overlooked skill. Since most risks aren’t

urgent, PMs often ignore or delay planning for them.

Consequently, when risks do arise, managers don’t have

failsafe systems to manage them.

This is why PMI calls risk management a “vital key to effective

project management”.

How to learn this skill

In a project management setting, risk management is focused

on identifying and creating solutions to potential risks.

This is a multi-step process:

Identifying risks through expert analysis or digging through

project reports to spot gaps and potential conflicts.

Categorizing risks as technical (related to technology or

quality), external (related to customers, vendors, etc.),

organizational (logistics, budget, etc.) and project

management related.

Analyzing risks based on their probability of occurrence and

impact. A high impact, high probability risk is a high priority.

Planning responses to each risk, moving from high priority to

low priority risks.

This PMI paper is a good place to learn about risk

management for project managers. For a deeper

understanding, consult PMI’s Practice Standard for Project

Risk Management. Practicing integrated project management

is another way of mitigating project risk.

7. Coaching Team Members

As the project manager, your job is to be the go-between the

stakeholders and the people working on the project. The more

complex the project, the more people you’ll have who don’t

quite know what the project demands.

Being able to coach these team members and get the best out
of them is a vital project management skill.

Coaching becomes even more important when you have

external resources working on the project (freelancers,

contractors, etc.). Since these people might not be familiar

with your requirements and processes, you’ll need to coach

them to get better results.

Generally speaking, the more inexperienced your team, the

more coaching they’ll need.

How to learn this skill

As Susanne Madsen writes:

“Coaching is a way of helping others to make progress and

overcome issues without directly telling them what to

do...coaches help people to find the answers for themselves,

by engaging in structured conversations and asking insightful

questions”

Coaching, thus, is a form of leadership and effective

communication.

To coach team members to do their best, you need to:

Communicate clearly with stakeholders to fully understand

their requirements.

Document all processes and requirements to help team

members (internal and external) get on board quickly.

Work with team members to help them understand their

weaknesses and strengths.

Influence team members to deliver their best results by

focusing on the project’s benefits, creating a positive work

environment and emphasizing the big picture.

Do this and you’ll be a better coach, leader and project

manager.

8. Cost Management

As a project manager, the budget is the canvas you work with.

What you can do (and can’t) will depend on the budget you

have access to.

Since budgets are usually fixed, managing costs becomes a

vital skill for project managers. While the quality of the final

work is important, what often matters more is whether you

were able to deliver the work within budget.

As the Project Management Journal notes:

“The cost management function maintains its important focus

at every stage throughout the life cycle of a project..the

management of cost is the most important as all project

aspects affect this function. What counts for the owner is the
“bottom line.”

This is why cost management is one of the ten key knowledge

areas in the PMBOK guide.

How to learn cost management

Effective cost management is rooted in practice, not theory.

The more projects you plan and deliver, the better your

estimates.

That said, there is a step-by-step approach to cost

management:

Resource planning to figure out the resources required to

deliver results using Work Breakdown Structures and past

records of successful projects.

Estimating costs using one of several different project

estimation techniques such as analogous, top-down, bottom-

up, parametric or three-point estimating.

Creating a budget based on the cost estimate and project

schedule. This will tell you what resources you require at what

time.

Cost control by keeping track of actual vs. expected spending,

usually with a project management tool, and taking steps to

reduce costs if things are going over budget.

Case studies are a great way to learn cost management.

Google “cost management case studies” and go through a

few results to see how managers plan and control costs in

actual projects across industries.

What is Kaizen?

Word “kaizen”, where “kai” = change “zen” = good, simply

means “change for better”. In English kaizen typically means

measures for implementing continuous improvement.

Kaizen is an approach to activity organization based on

common sense, self-discipline, order, and economy. Kaizen

method is a strong contributor and fundamental part of a lean

production process model in lean manufacturing.

It is applicable to lean software development as well as to

personal endeavors.

Kaizen refers to any activities that continually improve all

business functions or processes and involves every employee

from the CEO to the assembly line workers. Labeling industrial

or business improvement techniques with the word “kaizen” is

a common practice in Japan. It also applies to processes,

such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organizational

boundaries into the supply chain.

With Kaizen management practices, the main priority is given

to the manufacturing process, as the process of achieving

results is not less than the final result. The reason for this

focus is that imperfect processes could potentially not lead to

achieving the goal. A corresponding task of kaizen is to

become a part of the market by improving processes within

the organization instead of pushing products into the market.

One of the most important tasks in Kaizen involves improving

the quality of work in an organization by achieving TQC (total

quality control).

The kaizen method is now a base model for other quality

improvement methods including suggestion systems,

automation, small group activities, Kanban system, just-in-

time, zero defects, total productive maintenance, total quality

control, etc.

Kaizen History

The history of Kaizen begins after World War II when Toyota

first implemented quality circles in its production process.

American business and quality management teachers who

visited the country back then partly influenced such

implementation.
A quality circle is a group of workers performing the same or

similar work, who meet regularly to identify, analyze and solve

work-related problems. This revolutionary concept became

very popular in Japan in the 1950s. Now it continues to exist in

the form of Kaizen groups as well as similar worker

participation schemes. The term Kaizen actually became

famous around the world through the works of Masaaki Imai.

Masaaki Imai (born, 1930) is a Japanese organizational

theorist and management consultant. His work on quality

management, specifically on Kaizen is well-known. In 1985 he

founded the Kaizen Institute Consulting Group (KICG) to help

western companies introduce the concepts, systems, and

tools of Kaizen. At present time, the Kaizen Institute team has

applied the lean methodology and kaizen training courses to

virtually all business sectors throughout the globe.

Masaaki Imai published two fundamental books on business

process management. “Kaizen: Japanese spirit of

improvement” (1985), which helped popularize the Kaizen

concept in the West, and Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense,

Low-Cost Approach to Management (1997).

Kaizen Event
In modern usage, kaizen is designed to address a particular

issue over the course of a week, which is referred to as a

“kaizen blitz” or “kaizen event”. A kaizen event is a focused

development project that can accomplish breakthrough

improvements in a short amount of time, about 2-10 days in

scope. Kaizen events must have a clear, concise objective

along with immediately available resources and rapid results.

This ensures the results are significant, clear, and quick to

promote the generation of continued enthusiasm and

satisfaction.

10 Principles of Kaizen

The Kaizen method follows ten specific principles, which are

described below:

Improve everything continuously.

Abolish old, traditional concepts.

Accept no excuses and make things happen.

Say no to the status quo of implementing new methods and

assuming how they will work.

If something is wrong, correct it.

Empower everyone to take part in problem-solving.

Get information and opinions from multiple people.

Before making decisions, ask “why”-questions five times to

get to the root cause. (5 Why Method)

Be economical. Save money through small improvements to

spend the saved money on further improvements.

Remember that improvement has no limits. Never stop trying

to improve.

Kaizen method strives toward perfection by eliminating waste

(Muda) in the workplace (Gemba). The goal of kaizen is

production without wastes by improving standardized

activities and processes. Industrial engineer Taiichi Ohno, the

father of the Toyota Production System, noticed that there is

an 80% loss in every process and the value of the process is

less than 20%.

The Seven Wastes (Muda)

A portion of micro-processes functioning as part of the full

process (from start to finish) does not make any

transformation to the product that the consumer is willing to

pay for. After analyzing manufacturing processes, Taiichi Ohno

was able to identify which steps add value and which ones do

not. As a result, he developed a better way for organizations

to identify waste with his “Seven Wastes” model. These

wastes include:

Delay, waiting or time spent in a queue with no value being

added. A large part of an individual product’s life is spent

waiting to be worked on.

Producing more than you need. Overproduction usually hides

and/or generates all the others. It leads to excess inventory,

which then requires the expenditure of resources on storage

space and preservation. These activities do not benefit the

customer.

Over-processing or undertaking, non-value-added activity.

Over-processing occurs when more work is performed on a

piece than what is required by the customer.

Transportation. Each time you move a product, it stands the

risk of damage, loss, delay, etc. as well as to have a cost for

no added value.

Unnecessary movement or motion. The motion refers to the

damage that the production process inflicts on the entity that

creates the product. This may be either over time (wear and

tear for equipment and repetitive strain injuries for workers) or

during discrete events (accidents that damage equipment and/

or injure workers).
Inventory. Whether it is in the form of raw materials, work-in-

progress, or finished goods, represents a capital outlay that

has not yet produced an income, either by the producer or for

the consumer.

Production of Defects. Defects cause extra costs for

reworking the part and can sometimes result in doubling the

cost of one single product.

Gemba Kaizen

Genba (also romanized as Gemba) is a Japanese term that

means “the real place”.

In lean manufacturing, the idea of Gemba is that the problems

are visible and the best improvement ideas will come from

going to the Gemba (the factory floor in manufacturing). The

Gemba walk is an activity that takes lean management to the

front lines to look for waste and opportunities to practice

Gemba kaizen or practical shop-floor improvement.

The term Gemba, in international practice, became widely

known after publications about the Toyota quality

management system. In practice, if a problem occurs, the

engineers must go to the source to understand the full impact

of the problem, gathering data from all sources. Japanese

decision-making principle differs from a traditional American

management approach where you typically make decisions

remotely.

The golden rule of Gemba management, called the 5-Gemba

principles, is as follows:

When a difficulty (abnormality) arises, consider going to

Gemba first.

Check with gembutsu (machines, tools, rejects, and customer

complaints).

Take temporary countermeasures on the spot.

Find out the root cause. By repeating the question “why”

several times, you can find out the root cause of the problem.

Standardize for prevention of recurrence.

Quality Valu

Overview: What is 6S?

The concept of 6S was initially developed as 5S. There is

some debate as to the original developer, with some saying it

was Hiroyuki Hirano who took the known correlation of good

housekeeping with optimized production and developed a

structure and sequence. Others say it was Takashi Osada, and

some say it was Sakichi Toyoda and son Kiichiro as well as

Toyota engineer Taiichi Ohno who developed the Toyota

Production System and the 5S methodology.

In any case, it was developed in Japan. The original Japanese

terms for 5S are:

Seiri

Seiton

Seiso

Seiketsu

Shitsuke

These were subsequently translated into English with the

addition of Safety:

1. Sort

2. Set in Order (Straighten)

3. Shine

4. Standardize

5. Sustain

6. Safety

Here is a description of the terms:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: This is your go-to problem-

solving tool

DMAIC is the most critical part of understanding Lean Six

Sigma. People who know how to use DMAIC can remove

obstacles, take friction out of improvement, and create

positive change - in wharp speed. If you are looking to

increase quality, reduce defects, and control costs, then you

have to start with DMAIC.

Sort: The goal of Sort is to separate the necessary and

unnecessary items in the workplace. The items not currently

needed and not being used should be removed from the work

area. Some may be discarded totally or some put nearby for

easy retrieval, and some might be Red Tagged and put in a

disposition area for further evaluation.

Set in Order: Set in order means to arrange the items that are

needed in the area and identify them so that anyone can find

them or put them away. The key phrase is “a place for

everything and everything in its place.” Create borders or

boundaries to keep items from creeping out of place with tape

or painted lines. Create a home address for items so people

will know where they go, and you can tell if something is

missing at a glance. Labeling, signage, and item descriptions

are important.

Shine: Shine emphasizes the ongoing removal of dirt, grime,

and dust from the work area daily. This is an ongoing program

of keeping the work area swept and clean of debris. It is often

said that Cleaning is Inspection; Inspection is Detection;

Detection is Correction.

Standardize: Standardize means to develop and implement a

procedure for doing the 6S, particularly the first three; Sort, Set

in order and Shine.

Sustain: Sustain means developing a mindset whereby the 6S

program has a discipline that ensures its continued success

and is ingrained in everyday work life and procedures.

Safety: Safety was an additional “S” that was added to the

original 5S. In addition to focusing on safety in the workplace,

the 5S all have an impact on Safety. If the workplace is clean

and organized, it will be less likely for someone to get hurt or

something to get damaged.

3 benefits of 6S

It would seem intuitive that a clean and organized workplace

would be beneficial for any organization. Here are three

benefits that should encourage any organization to implement

a 6S program.

Safety improvements: An organized workplace and established

procedures will reduce accidents and damage.

Quality improvements: By having an organized workplace,

there will be fewer lost items, fewer damaged items, and less

of an opportunity for delays of customer deliveries.

Process improvements: If you are spending time looking for

something that is not in its place, you are wasting time. If

something is put in an inconvenient location or is difficult to

retrieve, that slows down the process. If you inadvertently

misplace something and have to go purchase another one,

only to find that you already have two that were hiding, you are

losing money.

Why is 6S important to understand?

It is important to not only understand what 6S is but also how

to put it into place in your organization.

Saves time

Having a disorganized workplace will cost you time, money,

employee satisfaction, and likely create customer

dissatisfaction. Implementing 6S is the easiest and most cost-

efficient way of overcoming these barriers.

Sets a foundation

6S is a foundation for continuous improvement. If you are

disorganized, you don’t really know what your baseline

condition is. Without that knowledge, it makes no sense to try

improving your processes. Why buy new clothes if you don’t

know what you already have because your closet is in

disarray? You may already have two shirts of the same color

and design.

Helps you steer clear of code violations

You may be in violation of OSHA or state and local health and

safety rules. You may incur serious and costly fines for

violation of national, state, or local ordinances. If you have

blocked fire exits because you have no place to put a pallet,

you may be fined for creating a fire hazard — or worse.

An industry example of 6S

A small manufacturer finally decided to implement a 6S

program after a number of negative occurrences. Customer

parts were misplaced, causing significant delivery delays.

Machines were broken down for months because of missing

parts. Employees suffered eye injuries because they weren’t

using eye protection when cutting steel parts.

Multiple items were purchased because they couldn’t find the

ones already on the shelves. Cash was tied up in inventory

without knowing what exactly they had and whether there

would be any future opportunity to use the material. Bins were

not labelled or mislabelled so time was wasted looking for

parts. There were trip hazards because of electrical wires on

the ground. Fork lifts were just parked anywhere at the end of

the day blocking access to materials and exit doors.

Quality Valu

Overview of Skills for Project Manager

The following article provides an outline for Skills for Project

Manager. The job title of a project manager comes with a lot

of responsibility, as the project manager is going to be held

responsible for the outcome of the project. If the project turns

out to be a success, he will reap the rewards, benefits, and

credit. But if the project turns out to be a failure, he will have

to face the consequences of his action; the entire discredit

will be given to him. He will face disgrace, his reputation

might get damaged, and in worst-case scenarios, the

company may no longer give him such responsibility. In this

topic, we are going to learn about Skills for Project Managers.

One needs to remember that project management is not a

straightforward task; it involves a lot of key steps such as

Planning: This involves the initial design of the project, time

frames for completion of various stages, and an overview of

the project

Coordination: Identifying the various resources that will be

required in this project and how to obtain them

Testing: This allows the Manager to test various components

and improve or remove them if needed. It also helps the

manager identify ways in which the efficiency of the project

can be improved.

Execution and implementation: After testing, the project is

taken to action, and work is done to complete it.

Closing the project: The manager has to make sure that the

project is completed within the specific time frame and within

the cost, the budget allocated to the project.

As we can see, there are several stages in the life cycle of a

project, and a successful project manager needs to be well

versed and have the essential skills needed to successfully

perform all of these roles. In today’s day and age, projects are

of large scale and involve numerous workers, each bringing

with them a specific set of skills needed for the job. Managing

workers and productively using them is one of the main

challenges of a project manager. In fact, the degree of

success of the project depends a great deal on the manager’s

ability to manage his workforce and team.

In today’s modern world, the Manager may need to manage

projects in different countries. This requires managers to be

well versed in global markets, have a good understanding of

technology as, without it, it would not be feasible to execute

such projects. Technology not only makes it easier to execute

projects but also help the organization save a lot of money,

increases efficiency, and reduces errors as most work is

automated and is programmed into the software.

Knowledge of different cultures is important as well as this will

help the Project Manager deal with any social-culture issues

that crop up while executing the project. The project manager

needs to train in soft skills so that they can maintain and

create strong relationships in their teams and overall in the

organization.
1. Leadership: A good leader leads by example; a project

manager needs to have strong leadership skills. The project

manager is not only responsible for completing the project but

also leading his team, who look up to him to solve issues that

they cannot. The project manager needs to motivate and

mediate his workforce as when required

2. Communication: The project manager needs to be able to

clearly communicate to his team what he expects out of them,

what are the project objectives and guidelines need to be

followed. Communication extends to all parties involved in the

project like suppliers, vendors, creditors, and customers

3. Scheduling: The project manager needs to make sure that

different stages of the project are completed on time. The

reason being this will directly impact the cost budget of the

project; exceeding a cost budget will not be accepted by

senior management of the organization. The project needs to

be broken into small goals and time frames need to be

attached to each goal, and goals need to be finished within

the time frame

4. Risk Management: Working on projects big or small involves

considerable risk. A successful project manager needs to be

aware of the issues and risks that could crop up and have

plans in place to tackle them. Risk measures should be in

place before the project takes off

5. Cost Management: This is of extreme importance; before

the project starts, a budget needs to be prepared, and it needs

to be realistic. The project manager needs to carefully spend

the funds and get the most out of it

6. Negotiating: At every stage of the project, the manager

needs to negotiate with multiple parties. He needs to be able

to arrive at decisions that are in the best interest of the project

and organization.

7. Critical thinking: A lot of issues will come during the life

cycle of the project that may not be covered in the risk

management and testing phase. This will require the manager

to think analytically and rely on his past experience and come

up with innovative solutions to solve such problems.

8. Task Management: A project is full of a number of tasks,

and the manager needs to carefully allocate them among his

team so that each member receives the task that he/she is

competent in. It is these small tasks that, when combined,

ultimately lead to the completion of the project

9. Quality Management: It is making sure that the activities

and tasks that are required to deliver a project or service are

up to the requirements and the final project is of good quality.

If not, then no amount of planning or having extraordinary

skills is of any value.

What is Process Mapping in

Lean Six Sigma?

→ Process Mapping is the graphical

representation of the process.

→ It is used to describe the flow of material or

information.

→ Sometimes it is also used as a Business

Process Mapping.

→ Process Mapping is a very famous

Management and Planning Tool that is mostly

used in the Lean Six Sigma Projects

→ It helps to understand the process and

process-related things like delay times, processing

time, lead time, takt time, cycle time, process

owner, the scope of the processes,

responsibilities, etc.

→ This method is also used for various

improvement projects like productivity

improvement, efficiency improvement, loss

reduction, quality improvement, etc

→ It helps us to gain a better understanding of the

process and train new members effectively and

efficiently.

→ The main components of process mapping are

input, output, and process steps.

→ Process_Mapping is used in almost all

business processes in the organization like

Production, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales,

Marketing, Quality, Maintenance, etc.

Types of Process Mapping

→ There are different types of process mapping

are explained below that are very widely used in

the Lean Six Sigma Projects .

→ Basically, process_mapping is all about

communicating your process to others.

→ The most common process map types are

mentioned below:

1. Activity Process_Map

2. Detailed Process_Map

3. High-Level Process_Map

4. Rendered Process_Map

5. Swimlane (or Cross-functional)

Process_Map

(1) Activity Process_Map:

→ The Activity Process_Map represents value-

added and non-value-added activities in a

process.

→ Also, we can understand this mapping as the

VA and NVA (Value added and Non-Value added

activities) Mapping of the process.

→ This is a very common mapping during the

Lean Manufacturing and Lean Management

project implementation in the organization.

(2) Detailed Process_Map

→ The Detailed Process_Map provides a much

more detailed look at each step in the process.

→ This method is very helpful for a detailed

understanding of any process and training others.

(3) High-Level Process_Map

→ The High-Level Process_Map is a

representation of a process involving interactions

between Supplier, Input, Process, Output, and

Customer.

→ This method is very commonly known as the

SIPOC Process_Mapping.

→ The SIPOC Process_Mapping is a very common

method for the Six Sigma Project.

→ Also, visit: The SIPOC Diagram

Process_Mapping Tool Explained with Example

and Case Study with Editable Excel and

PowerPoint Templates

(4) Rendered Process_Map

→ The Rendered Process Map represents current

state and/or future state processes to show areas

for improvement.

→ We can use this type of process map in Value

Stream Mapping during the improvement projects.

→ Also, visit: Value Stream Mapping

(Process_Mapping Tool) Explained with Example

and Case Study

(5) Swimlane (or Cross-functional)

Process_Map

→ The Swimlane Mapp separates out the sub-

process and responsibilities in the process.

→ We can easily understand this type as a simple

process flow chart with processes, sub-

processes, and responsibilities.

→ So the Process Flow Chart is a Swimlane or

Cross-Function type of Process Mapping.

5 GEN Methodology Explained

with Example

→ 5 GEN Methodology is a very famous Japanese

Method for problem-solving and various

improvements activities related to manufacturing

operations.

→ All five principles start with the word "GEN"

that's why it is known as the 5 GEN Methodology

or 5 GEN principles.
→ This method is used for problem_solving and

improvement projects.

→ This method provides an efficient and effective

solution.

The 5 GEN Principles

→ The 5G principles are mentioned below.

1. GEN_BA

2. GEN_BUTSU

3. GEN_JITSU

4. GEN_RI

5. GEN_SOKU

01. GEN-BA

→ GEN_BA means the "Actual Place".

→ Sometimes Genba is also used as Gemba -

both names are the same.

→ Gemba is a combination of two Japanese

words Gen and Ba.

→ In easy language, we can understand the

Gemba as the real place where the incident

happened.

→ In other words, we can say that the Gemba is

the place where we need to perform the

improvement projects or the problem to be solved

or some work to be done.

→ As per the Gemba concept, we need to visit

the actual place for problem_solving or perform

any improvement.

→ This is a very famous Japanese method that is

used in TPM Methodology and Toyota Production

System.

→ When we are facing any problem then we need

to go to the Gemba and observe the problem.

→ We can also proactively find out the different 7

Types of Abnormalities by visiting the Gemba and

it helps us to prevent failure.

02. GEN-BUTSU

→ The second “G” is known as Genbutsu.

→ GEN_butsu means the "Actual Thing".

→ Sometimes, Genbutsu is known as Genchi

Gembutsu which means “go & see”.

→ The actual thing might be a product, tool, or

process that we need to improve or analyze.

→ We can identify the correct root cause and

make the right decision after visiting and

understanding the actual thing at the actual place.

→ The team needs to observe the failed

equipment or parts at the Gemba for

problem_solving.

→ This helps in identifying the actual root cause

of the failure.

03. GEN-JITSU

→ GEN_jitsu means the "Actual Condition."

→ Genjitsu refers to the data and facts related to

the problem or incident that happened.

→ The actual condition is the most important

thing for further analysis of the problem.

→ We can compare the actual condition with the

ideal or standard condition for identifying what's

going wrong or right?

→ By this study, we can easily assess the real

causes of the problem and we can take further

actions on that.

→ In this step, the team needs to gather all the

data about the 4Ms that means data related to

man, machine, materials, and method for analysis.

→ It helps the team for identifying the actual root

cause behind the problem.

04. GEN-RI

→ The fourth “G” stands for Genri.

→ GEN_ri means "Principles" or "Theory."

→ We need to understand the principles or theory

of machines or any equipment before resolving

the abnormality or problem.

→ The principle of the machine helps the team

for identifying the cause of the problem.

→ With the help of the machine operating

principle, the team can assess the machine

running condition.

05. GEN-SOKU

→ GEN_soku means "Fundamental Rules,

parameters, or Standards."

→ For daily operations, we need to train all

operators with the standard machine operating

parameters.
→ With the help of a standard parameter, the

operator maintains the machine in normal

condition.

→ Most of the common reasons for the

equipment failure is the deviation of the machine

parameters from the standards.

→ To eliminate machine breakdowns we need to

train people with various standards like SoPs,

OPLs, Work Instructions, Process Parameters

Standards, etc.

→ Also, we need to display all standard

documents near the machine so that they can be

easily accessed by an operator.

→ Also, we need to update all standards after

successfully problem_solving.

Benefits of 5GEN Principles:

→ Easily perform the Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

for any problem.

→ Identify and solve the abnormalities.

→ It helps for the Standardization of the

Operation across the Organization

→ It helps for the Problem Solving and various

improvement projects

→ 5 GEN principles improve the operator

knowledge and problem_solving skills

👉 Also Read:

1. Affinity Diagram

2. Interrelationship Diagram

3. Tree Diagram

4. Matrix Diagram

5. Matrix Data Analysis Diagram

6. Arrow Diagram

7. Critical Path Method with Example

8. New 7 QC Tools | Seven Management and

Planning Tools | PDF

Design Variation:

Design variation/error is a major factor for delay and cost overrun in a construction project.

It is vital to notice that accurate representation of the employer’s demand and therefore the
blueprint to achieving better technical input to project execution are typically sorted out base on
project designs and specifications.
A faulty design means insufficient or inaccurate project deliverables during the execution of the
project.

This will lead to the incorrect application of techniques in achieving successful results, such as
because the actual execution section of the project unfolds these design errors in the later stage,
attempts to correct it will cause a time delay and value cost overrun.

Secondly, all project costs, time, and quality estimation based upon these designs and changes in
the design in a later stage will eventually cause the cost and time variation orders.

Achieving accurate design entails properly documented communication with the design teams of
all stakeholders and integration of a design method that’s accurately planned, giving sufficient
time for modifications, corrections, extensive investigation, reviews, and final approvals.

Similarly, effective project planning, controlling, and monitoring should be established to

enhance project performance throughout the project life cycle.

#risk

#management

#dfmea

#quality

#rootcause

#QC
#QA

#project

#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

Effective usage of fishbone..

Example of missed deadline.

How to effectively use fishbone diagram for root cause analysis

Root cause analysis is a structured process which is useful in determining the underlying causes
behind the certain problem. In other words, we can say that root cause analysis is the process of
identifying underlying factors which can be termed as causes of an adverse event. These are
contributing factors or causes of a system which can help in determining the root causes and
develop actions to sustain corrections. A cause and effect diagram, also called fishbone diagram,
is part of root cause analysis. Fishbone diagram for root cause analysis is playing a significant
role in the process of solving a problem. Brainstorming helps in identifying the causes and store
ideas into useful categories when using the fishbone during a problem solving exercise.

Fishbone diagram for root cause analysis is a method of visual representation of causes and
effects of an issue. Brainstorming for possible causes of a problem while using a fishbone
diagram, is considered as one of the more structured approaches compared to other ways of
brainstorming available. Fishbone diagram is a simple and quick way of understanding the
causes in the pursuit of corrective actions. Fishbone diagram is one way of capturing different
ideas and stimulating the brainstorming of a team on root causes. Fishbone diagram through a
visual display of information help in determining the potential causes for a particular problem
and its effects. It is suitable for root analysis or brainstorming in group settings. Fishbone
diagram is also useful when quantitative data is available for the analysis. Fishbone diagram has
ancillary benefits, in root cause analysis it helps in finding a robust solution by providing an
opportunity for thorough exploration of the issue.

Fishbone diagram for root cause analysis

This article will help you take advantage of and use a fishbone diagram for root cause analysis
by providing some specific guidelines. The team which is using fishbone diagram in root cause
analysis is required to carry out some steps which are as follows:

Fishbone diagram – Step 1

Agree on a specific problem statement and write the problem as effect at the mouth of the fish.
Write the problem accurately and clearly. At the first stage, you are required to define the
problem as the solution.

Fishbone diagram – Step 2

Second steps deals with causes. Here at this point, you should have to agree on broad categories
of causes of the problem. Here the expression 5M1E or 6M’s is often used to describe the
categories. The 5M1E refer to the first letter of the categories Man, Machine, Method, Material,
Measurement and Environment.

Fishbone diagram – Step 3

At step 3, you are required to brainstorm all the possible causes of the problem by answering the
question why something happens? Write these causes under different predefined categories of
causes. Here you are required to create branches of causes like seen in the picture below.

Fishbone diagram – Step 4

At this stage again ask why something happens and create sub cause branches. At this stage, you
would be able to create the understanding of a deeper level cause. Understand different causes
and help organize them under related cause categories. By developing deep understanding of the
cause, you would be able to understand, identify and address root causes to prevent future
problems.

Fishbone diagram provides several benefits for process improvement. In root causes analysis
fishbone diagram is straightforward and easy. Fishbone diagram involves the whole team in
problem resolution and educates the whole team. Fishbone diagram organizes the discussion of
the group to stay focused on current issues. It promotes system thinking through visual linkages
and prioritizes further analysis and corrective actions.

#quality

#rootcause

#RCA

#QMS

#project

#projectmanagement

#value
#analysis

The Eisenhower Matrix: Prioritize Your Time on What Matters Most:

Being busy is not the same as being productive.

You could spend hours putting out fires and at the end of the day be no closer to reaching your
long-term goals.

This is a costly and emotionally draining way to spend your time.

The issue is poor prioritization. Humans prioritize time-sensitive tasks over any other task,
regardless of the long-term payoffs.

When you focus too much time on urgent tasks, you neglect the important ones on your to-do
list. It’s easy to get stuck in this reactionary cycle where you constantly put out fires, robbing
yourself of the opportunity to work toward your goals.

By distinguishing between urgent and important tasks, you can focus more time and energy on
the things that matter most.

The Eisenhower Matrix helps you make that distinction and improve your time management.

What is the Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple decision-making tool that helps you make the distinction
between tasks that are important, not important, urgent, and not urgent. It splits tasks into four
boxes that prioritize which tasks you should focus on first and which you should delegate or
delete.

Also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix, it was popularized by Stephen Covey in his best-
selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was named after Dwight D.
Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, known for his high output and organization.
President Eisenhower is said to have arranged his obligations so that only the important and
urgent matters came across his desk.

The Eisenhower Matrix uses this same principle to sort out the less urgent and important tasks on
your list, which you can then delegate or not do at all.

The Eisenhower Matrix can help if you:

Run around putting out fires all day, rather than focusing on tasks you want to complete

Are busy but feel like your work has little impact

Aren’t making progress on long-term goals

Suffer from procrastination

Struggle to say “no” when asked to do something

Have a hard time delegating tasks

The difference between urgent and important tasks

The core principle behind the Eisenhower Matrix is the distinction between important and urgent
tasks.

Urgent tasks are time-sensitive and demand your attention. They’re tasks you feel obligated to
address. Focusing on urgent tasks puts you in a reactive mindset, which can make you feel
defensive, rushed, and narrowly-focused.

Important tasks contribute to your long-term mission, values, and goals. They may not yield
immediate results (making them easy to neglect). Sometimes important tasks are also urgent —
but usually not. Focusing on important tasks puts you in a responsive mindset, which can make
you feel calm, rational, and open to new ideas.

Note: If you put off important tasks long enough, they can become urgent.

People tend to believe that all urgent tasks are also important — when frequently, they are not.
This misrepresentation may have to do with our preference for focusing on short-term problems
and solutions.

But happiness and fulfillment come when we focus on the long-term.

Get Started with Slab

The quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix is divided into four parts:

Quadrant 1: Important and urgent / Do

Quadrant 2: Important but not urgent / Schedule

Quadrant 3: Urgent but not important / Delegate

Quadrant 4: Not important, not urgent / Delete

1. Urgent and important tasks

Urgent and important tasks are crises with due dates — such as a critical bug fix for your SaaS
tool.

Do these tasks first. They require your immediate attention.

2. Not urgent but important tasks

Not urgent but important tasks help you achieve your goal — and don’t have a pressing deadline.

Schedule these tasks to do later.

Productive and successful people spend most of their time here — this quadrant yields the most
satisfaction. Covey called it the Quadrant of Quality.

Most people, however, don’t spend enough time here, because they don’t know what’s important
to them or because they’re fixated on the most pressing tasks at hand.
3. Urgent and not important tasks

Tasks that fall in this quadrant are nearly always interruptions from your preferred course. These
are tasks where you help others meet their goals.

Delegate these tasks to others.

Most people spend the majority of their time in this quadrant. They believe they’re working on
urgent tasks that are important to them when in reality, completing these tasks does nothing to
inch them closer to their long-term goals.

4. Not urgent and not important tasks

These tasks aren’t pressing, nor do they help you reach your long-term goals. They’re simply
distractions from what matters most.

Delete these tasks from your schedule.

Prioritizing your tasks

First, evaluate where on the matrix you spend your time. Track your time for one week. You can
use a dedicated task management tool or simply track your time in 30-minute increments in a
spreadsheet.

Track time spent as you start using the Eisenhower Matrix

After one week, organize your completed tasks into the appropriate quadrant using the following
questions as your criteria:

Was this urgent for me?

Was this important to me?

“Me” is the integral word here — you’re organizing these tasks based on your goals, not
someone else’s.

Now that your tasks are sorted, take note of the quadrant with the most tasks. If most of your
tasks live inside Quadrant 2, congratulations! You have a grasp over what matters most in your
life.

However, if you’re a mere mortal, here’s how you can rebalance your matrix.

#SWOT

#strength

#weakness

#opportunity

#threats

#project

#schedule
#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

What is FMEA?

FMEA stands for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis.

In the manufacturing industry, as the complexity of a product increases, so does the probability
of error as work transitions downstream from design to manufacturing to product and/or service.

FMEA is a proactive qualitative and systematic risk analysis that identifies and ranks all
potential problems (failure mode) and their repercussions (effects analysis) to ensure a reliable
and repeatable product and process.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is a living document that:

Records all potential product and process failures.

Minimizes risk of product and process failures through corrective action.

Documents results and insights for current and future product and process success.

FMEA is part of the five Core Tools for effective quality management with APQP, PPAP, MSA,
and SPC being the other core tools.

Here is the FMEA 7-Step Process:

System Analysis

Step 1: Planning & Preparation

Step 2: Structure Analysis

Step 3: Function Analysis

Failure Analysis and Risk Mitigation

Step 4: Failure Analysis

Step 5: Risk Analysis

Step 6: Optimization

Risk Communication
Step 7: Result Documentation

#risk

#management

#dfmea

#quality

#rootcause

#QC

#QA

#project

#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

Definition of quality?

‘When I think of quality, an old quote that we used to use as kind of our slogan comes to mind:
“Quality is consistent performance to clients’ expectations. To me, repeatability is quality.”
How do you define quality?

“Even though quality cannot be defined, you know what it is.”

~Pirsig (Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)

PEST Analysis: involves the analysis of four external factors that may impact your business:
Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It should not be confused with a SWOT Analysis,
that concerns itself with factors at a more micro level, whereas the PEST process considers the
macro environment.

POLITICAL FACTORS

These PEST Analysis political factors could be things such as: local or national elections and the
issues on which politicians propose to implement policies such as legal constraints,
environmental regulations, business and personal taxation, product labeling and customer
protection. Where your business may operate overseas, consider the international environment.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

The long list of factors may include: consumer confidence, economic stability of change,
exchange rates, interest rates, inflation, investment levels, consumer confidence and disposable
income, credit, tax rates national and local, globalization of tariffs. Some may seem remote
factors to include in your PEST Analysis and sometimes you can conclude that for specific
reasons related to your business, they will not affect you. I started my main business in 1982 at
the lowest ebb of the British economy since the war, but our small scale and highly specialized
offering was not directly impacted.
SOCIAL FACTORS

Such PEST Analysis social factor issues might concern: demographic trends, unemployment
levels or trends, consumer behavior in the light of the other three areas of change, social habits or
prejudices and changing laws that reflect them, changing cultural norms. There is public data to
draw upon, but your own observation is important here, particularly in your sector of activity.
Your own changes in attitude and behavior over the last few years may be good indicators, too.

TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS

Technological factors that could be influential include: the immediacy and spread of online
retailing, IT in energy and the impact of things like net metering, distributed generation and
clean power, web platforms that enable micro-business to thrive in fields traditionally only open
to large operators, nanotech and wearable computing. You will know about tech changes in your
own sphere of operations.

COMPLEXITY OF PEST ANALYSIS RIGHT FOR YOU

Big companies that have significant research resources will turn PEST Analysis into a
considerable task, using big data, artificial intelligence and the like. BUT they are just like you,
even with all that budget. Nowadays you can tap into big data via the web, for even a tiny
budget. And another BUT is that both the big corporates and the startup minnows have to
interpret all that data. This is where often the entrepreneur is fleeter of foot than the strategy
wonks in multinationals. Start with data and rely on your gut instinct.

There are other variants of PEST Analysis. One that’s a bit more complex is STEEPLE Analysis:
Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical factors. The
inclusion of ethical factors will be particularly important for purpose-driven new ventures. In any
event, there is always a risk of you getting analysis paralysis to avoid decision making, but
ignoring the outside world could also be a grave mistake in your business planning process.

Remember that whatever way you analyze external factors that may impact your startup, each
one can be subjected to SWOT or SOAR Analysis to determine its significance in your particular
case. You can also use Force Field Analysis on top of your factors to get at how you can
minimize the impact of negative factors and enhance the positive ones. Critical Success Factors
can also guide your choice of the external (and internal) issues that you should consider as you
think about strategy.

Credits: Venturefounders

#SWOT

#strength

#weakness

#opportunity

#threats

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality
#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

What are the eight dimensions of quality?

A quality product is a product that meets the expectations of the customers. The eight dimensions
of quality help producers to meet these expectations. It is a strategic management tool that can be
used as a framework to analyse characteristics of quality. The eight dimensions are performance,
features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality.

1. Performance

Performance has to do with the expected operating characteristics of a product or service. Does a
service or product do what it’s supposed to do? The primary operating characteristics involve
measurable elements, which makes it easier to objectively measure the performance.

Some of the performance requirements are related to subjective preferences, but when they are
the preference of almost every consumer they become as powerful as an objective requirement.

2. Features
What the dimension ‘performance’ doesn’t focus on are the features, the characteristics that
decide how appealing a product or service is to the consumer. Such features are the extras of a
product or service and complement its basic functioning. This means that the ones designing a
product or service should be familiar with the end-users and should be updated on developments
in consumer preferences. Often it’s difficult to see a clear line between primary performance
attributes and additional features.

An example of features in service is offering free drinks on a plane. An example of features in

products is adding a drink cooler in the car.

3. Reliability

Reliability is usually closely related to performance. The focus of the dimension reliability is
more on how long a product will perform consistently according to the specifications of that
product. This is important to customers who need the product to work without any errors and
contributes to a brand or company’s image.

The dimension reliability shows the probability of the product having signs of error within a
specific time of period. For measuring reliability you should measure the time to the first failure,
how much time there is between failures, and the failure rate per a specific time of period.

These measures are usually applied to products that are expected to last for a longer time and not
so much for products that are meant to be used directly and for a shorter time period. Usually
when the costs for maintenance or downtime increase, reliability as a dimension of quality
becomes more important to consumers.
For example, for parents with children who depend on a car, the reliability of the car becomes an
important element. Also for most farmers, reliability is a key attribute. This group of consumers
is sensitive to downtime, especially during the shorter harvest seasons. For a farmer, reliable
equipment can be crucial in preventing spoiled crops. Also, the reliability of computers is key for
many consumers.

4. Conformance

This dimension is closely related to the dimensions performance and features. The dimension of
conformance is about to what extent the product or service conforms to the specifications. Does
it function and have all the features as specified? Every product and service has some sort of
specifications that comes with it.

For example, the materials used or the dimensions of a product can be specified and set as a
target specification for the product. Something that can also be defined in the specification is the
tolerance, which states how much a product is allowed to deviate from the target. Problematic
with this approach is that it makes it easier for producers to focus less on if the specifications
have been met as long as they’ve met the tolerance limits.

When it comes to service businesses, conformance is measured by focussing on the accuracy, the
number of processing errors, unexpected delays and other common mistakes.

5. Durability
Out of the eight dimensions of quality, the dimension durability is about how long a product will
last or perform and under what conditions it will perform. Estimating the length of a product’s
life becomes complicated when it’s possible to repair the product.

For such products, the durability will be counted until it is no longer economically beneficial to
use it. This is when the repairs and the costs of repairing increase. Customers then must weigh
the costs for future repairs against the costs of investing in a new one together with its operating
expenses. In other cases, durability is measured by the amount someone can use a product before
it stops working and repair is impossible.

This, for example, is the case when a light bulb burns up and must be replaced by a new one. In
this case, repairing it is impossible.

6. Serviceability

Serviceability is one of the eight dimensions of quality that reflects on if the product is relatively
easy to maintain and repair. This becomes important for consumers who are more focused on the
total cost of ownership as criteria for selecting a product. Serviceability reflects on how easy it is
for the consumer to obtain repair service, how responsive the service personnel is, and how
reliable the service is. It also focuses on the speed with which a product can be repaired and also
the competence and behaviour of the personnel.

Customer’s concerns are mainly about the product getting defects, but also how long it takes for
the product to be repaired. It is not only important if a product can be fixed, but also how
satisfied the customer is about the company’s complaint handling procedures.
This can affect how the customer evaluates the service quality and eventually the company’s
reputation. Each company has a different way of dealing with complaint handling and not every
company attaches the same level of importance to serviceability.

For example, there are companies that do their best to resolve the complaints they receive, while
others don’t offer any service when it comes to complaints. An example of improving a
company’s serviceability is by installing a cost-free phone number to reach the helplines.

7. Aesthetics

The aesthetics dimension is all about the way a product looks and contributes to the company’s
identity or a brand. Aesthetics is not only about how a product looks but also about how it feels,
tastes, smells or sounds.

This is clearly determined by individual preference and personal judgement, however, there is a
way to measure this dimension. There are some clear patterns found in the way consumers rank
products based on personal taste. Still, the aesthetics of a product is not as universal as the
dimension ‘performance’.

Not all people prefer the same taste or smell, which makes it impossible to please every single
customer. For this reason, companies end up searching for a niche.

8. Perceived Quality
The perception of something is not always reality. Meaning that a product or service can have
high scores on each of the seven dimensions of quality, but still receive a bad rating from
customers as a result of negative perceptions from customers or the public.

Customers sometimes lack information about a service or product and for comparing brands will
rely on indirect reviews. This is usually the case when it comes to a product’s durability because
in most cases it can’t be observed directly.

Also, reputation plays a significant role when it comes to perceived quality. It’s easier for a
customer to trust the quality of a company’s new product when the established products received
positive reviews.

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu
#jazotech

#valuedin

SMART Goals:

George T. Doran developed the SMART goal planning acronym in 1981 to make goal setting
more practical. It helps organizations set their goals and objectives in a more practical way. The
SMART method readies individuals and teams for increased productivity. They can focus their
efforts, clarify their ideas, use their time and resources wisely, and increase their chances of
achieving more. The SMART goals acronym stands for:

S-pecific M-easurable A-chievable R-elevant T-ime bound

SMART Objectives

Once a project goal is set, setting objectives is the next step to advancing with a clear
understanding of how to reach the desired outcome. The difference of objectives from goals is
that objectives are precise actions or measurable steps that companies and teams can take to
move closer to their goals.

Specific:

Specific answers the question, ‚what needs to be done?’ and ‚how do we know it is done?’ It
should also describe the end result of the specific work. By specific, the project manager formats
the objective statement in the way that everyone who reads it interprets it the same way. It helps
to use the 5W method, namely:

What do I want to accomplish?

Who is involved in this?

Which resources are involved?

Where is it located?

Why is it important?

Measurable:

Measurable answers the question, how do I know it meets expectations?’ It also answers ‚how
much’ or ‚how many’ the stakeholders expect to achieve. When checking for this, quantifiable
terms like costs, deadlines, frequency, quality, and quantity are helpful. Additionally, groups
should make sure that they can measure objectives against any specific standard. There are two
types of measurements: quantity measurement and frequency measurement. Quantity
measurements would be percentages, while frequency measurements can be daily, weekly, or bi-
weekly, among others. The issue with measurable objectives is that they are difficult to
formulate. As a result, stakeholders trade objectives that add more value to the business for those
that are measurable.

Achievable:
Achievable answers the question ‚can I achieve it?’ or ‚is this goal achievable by this person?’ or
‚am I equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet the expectation?’ Furthermore,
teams and companies should take note of the constraints that can hinder them from achieving
their goals. An objective shouldn’t be too high to be stressful for anyone to even try to achieve it.
It shouldn’t be too simple or low that it wouldn’t push a team or individual to realize their
potential. It should be ideal but within reach to ensure that it is possible without causing undue
stress.

Relevant:

Relevant answers the question ‘do the goals align with the business strategies?’ They have to be
relevant and tie up to the company’s mission and vision. This is best achieved by employees
consulting with their managers on how they can formulate relevant objectives. In order for a
company to succeed, its employees should also aim for goals that are in line with the
organization’s goals. Otherwise, organizations and employees will not harmoniously journey
towards development. Organization leaders sometimes interpret R in SMART as Realistic,
Reasonable, Resonant, or Results-based. While the exact definition of R is not critical, it should
be meaningful and not redundant to the other acronyms. For example, Achievable and Realistic
are somewhat close in meaning, so Realistic does not particularly add significantly to the
method. However, Relevant adds the criteria that objectives should align with strategic direction.
Goals can be attainable and realistic but do not necessarily move the company in the desired
direction.

Time-bound:

Time-bound answers the question ‘when will it be done?’ Objectives have to have a deadline.
Life moves fast and if people don’t have a timeline to follow, tomorrow may be too late. Nobody
likes deadlines, but they are important. Without setting a timeline, people will keep
procrastinating and achieve nothing. In some instances, tasks have a fixed end-point or a
milestone. Other times, a task’s end signifies the start of another.

#goals

#objective

#quality

#project

#projectmanagement

#smart

#Specific

#measurable

#achievement

#relevant

#time

Verification and Validation:

The two V’s of model quality control: Validation and verification

In the world of market access, a large amount of resources go into engineering all-singing, all-
dancing global models with a clean look and friendly user interface while simultaneously
providing value to local affiliates. Although this feat is certainly an accomplishment, it is
important to remember the importance of model quality control (QC). This activity is a core
component of model development and reduces the risk of errors that can lead to biased results. In
the case of global model development, a serious error can affect patient access across many local
markets.

Taking the approach used in software development, QC can be divided into validation and
verification. Validation evaluates whether the model meets the requirements of decision makers.
For example, validation asks if the model includes the right patient population and subgroups, if
the relevant comparators included, and if the model’s structure (e.g. Markov) is appropriate.
Verification, on the other hand, focuses on whether the model is working as it should and is free
from errors. In this case, a modeler might test that the results show zero costs if all unit costs are
set to zero, or all navigation buttons take the user to the correct sheet.

Quantify has an in-house QC process, combining aspects of validation and verification in three
levels: basic, extended, and full quality control. These represent increasing levels of reliability,
and clients can select the desired level based on the needs of any given project.

The QC process is vital to both manufacturers and assessors, and the task should not fall by the
wayside.

Short summary:

Quality control is an essential part of model development. This exercise is often divided into
model validation and verification, both of which indirectly promote patient access and give
assurance to health technology assessors. Quantify has an in-house quality control process that
helps to ensure the reliability of economic models.
Validation and verification may be referred to using other terminology, such as internal and
external validity.

#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

What are quality gates?

Quality gates are predefined milestones where a project is audited to see if it meets the necessary
criteria to move into the next phase. Quality gates — which are also called “QGs” — are an
important component of formal project management procedures used by larger organizations.

The purpose of quality gates is to ensure every project follows a set of defined rules and best
practices to avert common project risks and increase the odds of success. To be more blunt: With
the help of quality gates, organizations can ensure that their project managers are doing their
homework and not skipping any critical steps.

In their practical implementation, quality gates are organized as meetings that are scheduled at
the end of every project phase. This is what it typically looks like:

Project phases with quality gates in between

Quality gates are scheduled at the end of each project phase

A LITTLE ANALOGY

As you know, I like to explain PM concepts with analogies. So here is one for you: Imagine
you’re going on a diving trip in the blue waters of Tahiti. The diving instructor is checking every
candidate for his equipment: Got a mask on? Checked. Fins on? Checked. Air source working?
Checked. No diver is allowed to pass into the water without having undergone this safety check.
That’s how quality gates work.

Pre-diving safety check as an analogy for a quality gate

QUALITY GATES CAN SAVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

While you rarely see QG-based processes in smaller organizations, large companies use them
extensively to manage their project portfolio. Think of companies like Microsoft or General
Electric, who spend billions of dollars on projects. If — through better quality management —
they are able to increase the success rate of their projects by even 3%, it will save them millions
every year.

But hey, what’s the actual process for quality gates?

No quality gate without a checklist

Quality gates rely on checklists that project managers have to go through at different stages in
the project lifecycle. These checklists include a number of questions addressing various aspects
of the project, including scope, budget, stakeholders, risks and compliance.

A good example is our project kickoff checklist, which guides you through all the steps you have
to take care of when launching a new project. This checklist would have to be completed for the
first quality gate, which comes at the end of the project planning phase.

What happens at a quality gate?

Ahead of a quality gate meeting, the project manager will go through the relevant QG checklist
and answer each question truthfully, taking into consideration the current project status. He will
also share the completed checklist with the relevant decision-makers (or gatekeepers) to give
them enough time to review the information before the actual quality gate meeting.

During the quality gate meeting, the attendees will go through the checklist and discuss the most
critical checklist items. The project manager will give context and answer any questions that
come up. Do we have a signature from the customer? Yes we have. How are you going to
involve our remote team in Vietnam? We have a weekly call. That sort of questions.

The discussion mainly revolves around the points that have not been completed — checklist
items that were answered “No” or “in progress”. Maybe a project role hasn’t been filled yet or
the budget hasn’t been signed off by the client yet.

Depending on the topic and the gravity of the issue, the QG team — usually comprised of
management from the project sponsor (what is a project sponsor) and key stakeholders — will
call for a different action. If the unfilled project role doesn’t have any work for now that’s not a
problem and the project can continue. If however the project budget is still under discussion,
that’s a clear showstopper and the project should be put on halt until costs are approved.

Credits: Tactical project manager.

#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS
#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

The Relationship Between Processes, Procedures and Work Instructions

When a company documents its QMS, it is an effective practice to clearly and concisely identify
their processes, procedures and work instructions in order to explain and control how it meets the
requirements of ISO 9001:2015. This begins with a basic understanding of the hierarchy of these
terms and how to efficiently categorize the workings of a management system within them.
Simply put:

A process states what needs to be done and why.

A procedure states how the process needs to be done.

A work instruction explains how to carry out the procedure.

Consider a process as a high level, strategic method of control, in effect a summary of objectives,
specifications, and broad resources needed. The procedure adds more specifics such as
responsibilities, specific tools, methods, and measurement. And a work instruction is a step-by-
step guideline to implement the process and procedure, often segmented in some way to focus
those who are doing the actual work.

iso 9001 requirements to process, procedures and work instructions

To control the outcome of a quality management system, more increasingly detailed action levels
are often created in the form of processes, procedures and work instructions. These are typically
to help satisfy a requirement by the quality management standard such as ISO 9001-2015.

The ISO 9001 Process, Procedure and Work Instruction Hierarchy

Some basic guidelines for remembering the differences between these terms when documenting
your quality management system:

Begin with the ISO 9001 processes you are required to document. The number of processes will
typically determine the number of procedures. While the situation dictates the exact number of
procedures needed to adequately control the desired outcome, it is a good organizational practice
to not create more procedures than requirements.

In most cases, you will create an ISO 9001 procedure for every process. Many companies write
too many procedures when, in fact, they should be documenting these directives as more specific
work instructions.

When appropriate, create detailed ISO 9001 work instructions for each task that is needed to
support each of your procedures. (A good rule of thumb is: if the procedure does not give enough
guidance for someone to complete the task, create a work instruction)
Process

A process is any activity or set of activities that use resources to transform inputs into outputs.
The ISO 9001 standard is based on a process approach. (Establishing effective and efficient
processes that are consistently followed and improved upon is the basis for most management
standards.)

Processes must have defined (and hopefully measurable) objective(s), input(s), output(s),
activities, and resources. These key elements should be present when defining a process:

Inputs/Resources:

Specified requirements (needs), for example:

What information do you need to start work?

Where does that information come from?

Activities:

Interrelated or interacting activities that use resources needed to achieve a specific output

All of the operations, activities, and sub-processes carried out to produce the desired result, for
example:

What are the basic jobs carried out in your department?

Can you explain to me your operations here?

Outputs:

Satisfying requirements (results), for example:

Who receives the result of your work?

How do you know if you’ve done your job correctly? (met objectives)

iso 9001 turtle diagram

One way to visualize a process is as a trans-formative “machine” into which both requirements
and resources are fed. The work is done and then received as a satisfactory result. The
effectiveness of the process is measured in its ability to achieve the desired results. The
efficiency of the process is measured in the ratio of results achieved to the resources used.

The ISO 9001 2015 standard suggests that many types of processes may be necessary to satisfy
its requirements including:

Operations management processes

Resource management processes

Planning processes

Documentation processes (such as those used for direct production or service provision)

One of the main intents (and results) of employing well-constructed processes is to unify the
working of the organization across vertical functions (also called “silos”). These may not always
have the end goal of customer satisfaction as an internal priority. By exposing and documenting
specific end-to-end process interaction, a higher order result can be achieved by proper
management techniques (i.e. training, measurement, incentives/rewards, etc.)

Procedure
A procedure is a uniform method that outlines how to perform a process, such as how you
control your suppliers. It typically contains elements such as:

Why the procedure is required?

What needs to be accomplished and how it will be executed?

Who performs what action?

Where the inputs come from and where the outputs go?

Any locational requirements (i.e. where an activity is performed)

The criteria (requirements) they must meet

Tools, information or other resources required

Terminology, definitions, explanations, etc.

While requirements and supporting processes are often cited in the ISO 9001:2015 standard, the
mandate for creating specific procedures has been removed and replaced with the term
“Documented information” (Learn more about Section 7.5: Documented Information). However,
that does not lessen the need for, or effectiveness of, formally specifying procedures. Procedures
are used when there is a definite operation that should be followed on a consistent basis. (There
may be times when a procedure is not necessary. For example, if it doesn’t matter how new
employees are recruited, just that there is a means for doing so, then a process could be written
for that without a procedure.)

A procedure offers a general description of how a company meets a process requirement but
doesn’t include the company-specific details for execution. These specific directives an
employee needs to carry out company tasks are work instructions (see below).
Work Instruction

A work instruction describes how to perform a task within a process, which is a more detailed
portion of the procedure such as “Completing a PO” or “Ordering supplies.” The reasons for
work instructions are both organizational and explanatory:

There are times more detail is needed than that which is described in the procedures. Many
organizations include work instructions to detail specific tasks referenced in a procedure, aid in
training and to reduce mistakes since the step-by-step instructions needed for accomplishing
something may be missing from more generally drafted procedures.

However, this functional division between procedure and work instruction can be a good
organizational tool – if there is an advantage to dividing up procedure(s) into many “sub-
procedures” that are related, but cover different aspects.

A work instruction will often repeat many of the elements of a procedure to help describe where
it fits into the process such as:

Purpose

Definitions

Responsibility

Requirements

Tools and information

But at its core, a work instruction contains the step-by-step detail that is not advantageous to put
into a procedure because it requires such a limited scope.
#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Process, Activities and Tasks:

From the perspective of a business manager, a task, an activity and a process mean specific
things, but in every day discussion, they often get mixed up.
When asked what they do at work on a daily basis, the majority of people would be able to
describe, fairly easy & pretty accurately, what they do and how they do it.

If you ask them what their tasks or activities are, however, it’s very likely that the answer you’ll
get will overlap or that the person you’re asking wouldn’t be able to distinguish between a “task”
and an “activity”.

For most people, in conversation and in the back of their mind, the distinction isn’t very relevant,
but when the time comes to break down a company’s operations, to really be able to
communicate the details and talk about how to improve efficiency, solve issues, or even do
something as straight forward as train a new employee, these terms become valuable tools.

Definitions:

Processes

Processes are easy to understand as a concept, they are simply the entire set of things a company
does to deliver actionable items.

“Invoicing a client” would be a simple example of a process. For the sake of simplicity, most
organizations would call it “the invoicing process” and as you can probably guess, it involves all
the activities from getting the client’s info, to writing up the invoice with all the details of their
order, making sure the client gets it, and collecting the payment.

Activities
Activities, on the other hand, can be hard to pin down. For the purposes of Business Process
Improvement, it’s best to think of them as the set of tasks that lead to a milestone in a process.

Following our invoicing example, writing up the actual invoice once we have the details would
be a single “activity”, collecting the client’s info would be another, while sending the invoice out
would be yet another activity.

Simply put, activities are, well just meaningful things we do.

Tasks:

Tasks, we can assume from what has been said so far, are the lowest level of detail. A good way
of understanding the concept is to try to think of step-by-step instructions you’d give someone if
you wanted them to complete an activity.

Typically tasks make the most sense in context and often make little sense if taken out of context
entirely.

From our invoicing example, we said that collecting the client’s info is an activity that is part of
the invoicing process, but from the task perspective, it will involve steps: ask the client for their
info, enter it into the system, submit it to the client database.
It can be easy to confuse tasks and activities. Continuing with the example, an employee might
ask why it matters to think of details such as “entering the client’s info into the system” after you
ask them for it. That’s a very good question and for someone who deals with clients, is probably
too simple a step to matter, but from the Business Process Improvement perspective, there are
many implications.

Case study: Detail-oriented thinking for cost savings:

This section is about to get very detailed, so if you just want the core of the info, feel free to skip
right down to the next section.

Lets assume for the sake of example that a chain of pizza restaurants, PizzaCo, has a dozen
locations and offers pizza delivery all over the city.

Each of PizzaCo’s locations have two people taking orders for delivery earning 15$/hour.

If it takes an employee on average 2 minutes to take down the client’s address and info and
validate it, most managers would be tempted to think it’s just a normal task, part of the
employee’s activities, hardly worth worrying about.

However at scale, the implications are quite significant.

Imagine a single PizzaCo location handles a dozen calls per hour, of which 2 minutes are spent
getting the client’s info.
That means that each location spends 24 minutes per hour on this task, which realistically costs
them 6$ per hour on average. Assuming that this volume of calls comes in for 8 hours out of the
day, the unimpressive 6$ per hour comes up to a slightly more noticeable 240$ per week.

It’s likely that only the most meticulous and detail oriented store managers would dig into this
level of detail for such a small amount.

The regional manager, however, would probably do well to know that number. From the regional
manager’s perspective, that cost of 240$ per week can be multiplied by the number of weeks in a
year and the number of locations they manage, which in reality would add up to a staggering
149,760$ per year spent asking clients for their address.

A sharp regional manger might pitch the idea to set up a software system that grabs the phone
number calling in to place an order and checks whether or not the address is already on file —
that way the price tag of 149,760$ per year can be cut significantly.

In an example like ours, seeing a cost savings and efficiency gain of 50% or more is common.

Most organizations have many similar situations: a simple task (such as taking down client info),
part of normal, every day activity (such as taking orders), seems like too small a part of the
process (such as selling pizzas) to have a meaningful impact but is in fact costing a considerable
amount of money because of inefficiencies so natural that few would think to get rid of them.

credits: theiio
#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Leadership challenges of Project Manager.

Understanding the Role of Project Manager:

If you want to understand the role of a project manager, have a look around and search heroes.
Because they are undoubtedly the heroes of today’s institutions. Eventually, about any initiative
in an organization occurs in the form of a project. From new product improvements to the
application of new software systems, they manage people and budget.

Furthermore, project managers are individuals who do presentations and bring information on a
paper of these initiatives. Also, the role of a project manager is the most challenging leadership
position in any institution.

If anyone is interested in becoming a leader, being a part of a project and taking on the role of
management can be a good way to express yourself and pursue your goals.

Leadership Challenges and the Role of Project Manager

There are some of the main leadership tasks of project managers that are not the same as other
managers and executives. Here are some leadership challenges of project managers to provide
you a better understanding.

Being Aware of Uniqueness

Projects are unique and temporary in nature. They are all for creating and completing a new.
Each phase of a new product is exclusive and requires different initiatives. For example, a new
software application is a one-time only and strategic initiative this year than the past. While
project managers learn from the past, they are leading and guiding new and uniqueness.

Creating a Team in a Chaotic Workplace Environment

Project team members often come from different functional areas and they are part of a group to
concentrate on a new initiative. Evaluating and negotiating resources with managers is a
challenging leadership issue for the project manager to aggregate the team and put into practice.
Unlike other positions, the project manager role involves creating and managing a team in a
chaotic environment.

Managing Complex Stakeholder Requirements

Project success is usually identifying and managing the requirements of all parts of a project;
quality, timing, budgets, and resources. A stakeholder is an individual or a group of people, and
managing their expectations, requires supervising, leadership, negotiation, diplomacy, and
communication.

Project Manager Role Involves Assisting the Team in All Phases

Teams face several issues in the life cycle of a project, from forming to storming and then
norming to performing. If you’ve been a part of a hurriedly assembled team, you can particularly
face the storming phase. Project managers are effectively team leaders, who guide members,
define roles, understand work, and then navigate key factors of discussion and decision points.

Planning the Resources

If you have been to the circus before, you may have seen the spinner who endeavors to start and
keep as many plates spinning on sticks as much as possible. Most project managers sometimes
feel like this circus performer and aim to gain the right resources at the right time and place.
Creativity, negotiation, and diplomacy are key features of a powerful project leader.

Creating a Proper Environment

Team members are the individuals who do their best work in a proper environment where they
are trusted. Therefore, project managers should be aware of how to build trust in the workplace
environment. Tight schedules and never-ending requests often create conflicts within the project
team. The project manager plays a key role in creating a healthy workplace environment where
issues are resolved respectfully and effectively so that the team members can keep on with the
work and ensure their creativity best in the process.

Managing the Funds

Within leadership comes financial duties, and the project manager is responsible for not only the
quality and time but also the cost. Obviously, cost management is one of the most important
duties for any project management professional.

Ensuring Quality and Delivery

Finally, the team is offering something new and unique to a customer or customers. The project
manager is responsible for providing the accuracy and quality of the products — on time and
budget.
#quality

#project

#projectmanagement

#Management

#manager

#pm

#leadership

#team

#planning

#qualityvalu

#value

#goals

#jazotech

#valuedin

Advantages of Project Planning:

We all know that problems occur from poor planning, but what benefits can we expect from
good planning?

• Increases the organization’s ability to adopt future eventualities

• Helps crystallize objectives

• Ensures a relatedness among decision

• Helps the company remain more competitive in its industry

• Reduces unnecessary pressures of immediacy

• Reduces mistakes and oversights

• Ensures a more productive use of resources

• Makes control easier

• Increases effectiveness of a manager

• Improves focus and flexibility.

• Improves action orientation.

• Improves coordination.

• Improves time management.

• Improves control.

• Knowing what to expect reduces stress

• Allows you to have the required materials

• Provides a sense of accomplishment & well-being

• Leaders receive accurate and complete information, and do a better job as a result.

• Helps the organization progress in a manner considered most suitable

• Employees know what is expected.

• Employees stay within the time limits.

• Managers give enthusiasm and confidence to other leaders

LIMITATIONS OF PLANNING

• Effectiveness depends upon correctness of assumptions

• Planning is expensive

• Planning delays actions

• Encourages a false sense of security

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart
#PMO

5 Why Analysis:

Unpredicted problems may occur in any team or process. However, problems are just symptoms
of deeper issues. Fixing a problem quickly may be a convenient solution, however, it doesn’t
protect your work process from recurring mistakes. This is why your team needs to focus on
finding the root cause and tackle it properly.

The 5 Whys technique is one of the most effective tools for root cause analysis in the Lean
management arsenal. Every team faces roadblocks in its daily work. However, using the 5 Whys
will help you find the root cause of any problem and protect the process from recurring mistakes
and failures.

Origin of 5 Whys

The 5 Whys method is part of the Toyota Production System. Developed by Sakichi Toyoda, a
Japanese inventor and industrialist, the technique became an integral part of the Lean
philosophy.

“The basis of Toyota’s scientific approach is to ask why five times whenever we find a problem
… By repeating why five times, the nature of the problem as well as its solution becomes clear.“
Taiichi Ohno

One of the key factors for successful implementation of the technique is to make an informed
decision. This means that the decision-making process should be based on an insightful
understanding of what is actually happening on the work floor.
In other words, the root cause analysis process should include people with practical experience.
Logically, they can give you the most valuable information regarding any problem that appears
in their area of expertise.

5 Whys Analysis in Action

When applying the 5 Whys technique, you want to get to the problem's essence and then fix it.
Actually, the 5 Whys may show you that the source of the problem is quite unexpected.

Often, issues that are considered a technical problem actually turn out to be human and process
problems.

This is why finding and eliminating the root cause is crucial if you want to avoid iteration of
failures.

How to Get Started with 5 Whys:

The 5 Whys technique may help you achieve continuous improvement at any level of your
organization. Here are some basics steps you need to follow.

Form a team:
Try to assemble a team of people from different departments. Each representative has to be
familiar with the process that is going to be investigated.

By forming a cross-functional team, you are going to receive unique points of view.

This will help you collect enough information to make an informed decision. Be aware that this
is not an individual task, and it needs to be executed by the team.

Define the problem:

Discuss the problem with the team and make a clear problem statement. It will help you define
the scope of the issue you are going to investigate.

This is important because investigating a wide scope problem may be a time-consuming exercise
with blurred boundaries. Try to be as focused as possible to find an effective solution in the end.

Ask Why:

Empower one person to facilitate the whole process. This team leader will ask the questions and
try to keep the team focused. The answers should be based on facts and real data, rather than on
emotional opinions.
The facilitator should ask “Why” as many times as needed until the team can identify the root
cause of the initial problem.

Advice 1. Don’t ask too many Whys. If you keep going, you may end up receiving tons of
unreasonable suggestions and complaints, which is not the purpose. Focus on finding the root
cause.

Advice 2. Sometimes there could be more than one root cause. In these cases, the 5 Whys
analysis will look more like a matrix with different branches. This may even help you detect and
eliminate organizational issues that have permanent negative effects on the overall performance.

Take Action

After the team detects the root cause(s), it is time to take corrective actions. All members should
be involved in a discussion to find and apply the best solution that will protect your process from
recurring problems.

When the decision is made, one of the team members should be responsible for applying the
right actions and observing the whole process.

After a certain period of time, the team needs to meet again and check if their actions actually
had a positive impact. If not, the process should be repeated.

In the end, the case should be documented and sent across the organization. Sharing this
information will give an insightful overview of different kinds of problems a team may face and
how those problems can be eliminated.
#quality

#rootcause

#5why

#fishbone

#QC

#QA

#project

#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

What is a turtle diagram?.

“Turtle Diagram” is a great tool for visualizing process characteristics. Processes are made up of
inputs, outputs, criteria, etc, and a Turtle Diagram visualizes a process to assist in their effective
execution and improvement. The diagram looks like the body of a turtle, with components as
body, legs, head, and tail.

Benefits of Using Turtle Diagrams

Turtle Diagrams allow you to look at the entire process, as well as the communication and
mapping of interrelated processes with relevant functions and levels within the organization.
Turtle Diagrams can help both management and the workforce better understand the process.
The diagram helps layout the framework in an easy to follow fashion, and can identify gaps in
the organization’s structure.

Where do you use a Turtle Diagram?

They can be used for any process, anywhere in the ISO 9001 does not require a turtle diagram,
but the turtle diagram can help you understand your processes as well as define the criteria for
measuring process effectiveness. There are several clauses within the ISO 9001 requirements
that may benefit from using a turtle diagram.

So how do you use a Turtle Diagram?

Using a turtle diagram is simple. The Turtle Diagram is made up of 6 areas, all surrounding the
process, which is considered the turtle body. The 6 areas are: inputs, materials & equipment
(what), support processes, procedures & methods (how), outputs, competence skills & training
(whom), and finally performance indicators (results).

Process:
The center of the diagram is titled “process”. This box address the value adding step, and any
sequence that fall within the scope of the process. A process may involve many employees and
multiple departments within your organization.

Inputs:

This category should define the details of the actual process including: documents, materials,
information, requirements, etc.

Outputs:

Should include details of the process such as products, documents, etc.

Support processes, Procedures & Methods: Support material includes, procedures, instructions,
specific methods, etc.

Whom:

This section is dedicated to finding all the employees whose roles within the organization have
the responsibility to value adding steps within the process.

What:
This section is dedicated to finding the resources needed to perform the process

How:

This section is dedicated to identifying any specific documents within the management system
that tell the people responsible for completing the value added steps how to successfully
complete them within the organization’s best practice.

Results:

This section looks at the measures the organization has at its disposal to monitor how well the
procurement process is performing. If the measures align to the organization’s plan, policies
goals and objectives, the the measures should be able to tell management if the procurement
process is fulfilling or needs to be adjusted or improved.

Credits: the9000store

#turtle

#quality

#process

#procedure

#QMS

#policy
#project

#managers

#engineering

#Define

#ISO

#ISO9001

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

Quality Management System Documentation:

A Quality Management System (QMS) is a formalized system documenting processes,

procedures, and responsibilities for ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality products and
services to the consumer.

A QMS provides a framework for employees to plan their work, monitor progress, identify
problems, and take corrective action. It helps organizations improve performance and reduce
costs through better planning, improved communication, increased efficiency, and reduced risk.

The QMS should be designed in such a way as to provide the necessary information to manage
the business.
An effective QMS will help you:

• Identify areas where improvement is needed

• Reduce product defects

• Improve customer satisfaction

• Increase productivity

• Manage quality risks

• Control costs

• Ensure compliance with regulations

• Communicate effectively with customers and suppliers

• Make informed decisions

• Meet regulatory requirements

Elements of a Quality Management System

The purpose of this document is to describe the components of an effective QMS that will allow
you to meet your objectives. Typical elements of QMS include Quality Policy, Quality Manual,
Procedures, Work Instructions and Records.

1. Quality Policy

Quality Policy is a document developed by management to express the organization's overall

direction. It provides a framework for quality objectives and includes a commitment to meet
applicable requirements as well as to improve continually.

It states what the company stands for and should be aligned with the organization's mission and
vision statement or value proposition.

2. Quality Manual

Your quality manual defines the overview of procedures by which your organization will
operate. This includes all aspects of the quality management system. The levels of details and the
manual's format will depend on the type of organization.

3. Procedures

They outline specific activities that must be performed at each step along the production process.
A procedure describes the sequence of operations required to produce a product. Procedures aim
to deliver efficient, high-quality outputs and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
4. Work Instructions

Work Instructions are written documents that contain step-by-step descriptions of how to
perform a task. They are sometimes referred to as "how-to" instructions. These instructions
should be used in conjunction with other tools such as manuals, procedures, and records.

5. Records

Records serve as documentation of activity and are essential for recording and reporting on the
status of various activities. Examples of records could include purchase orders, invoices,
inspection reports, test results, and defect data.

Conclusion

Ideally, QMS is not just a set of policies and procedures but also a culture and attitude towards
quality. It is more than just a collection of documents; it has to be implemented throughout the
organization to get the best benefit out of it.

Credits: Qualitygurus

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001
#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

What is a Gantt chart:

A Gantt chart is a project management tool that helps in planning, scheduling and monitoring a
project. Using a Gantt chart can improve your planning and scheduling, remote work
collaboration, resource allocation and task delegation.

A Gantt chart represents all information visually through a horizontal bar graph. Project
managers and team members can view the task schedules, dependencies and progress by just
glancing at the chart. Planning for all tasks in advance and making them visible in one place
empowers teams to deliver on time.

A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart used to display the start date and duration of each task that
makes up a project. It is one of the most popular project management tools, allowing project
managers to view the progress of a project at a glance.

Although the Gantt chart is named after Henry Gantt, an American engineer and project
management consultant, he was not the first one to devise it. It was devised first by Karol
Adamiecki, a Polish engineer, in the 1890s. He created it for his steelworks unit but Henry Gantt
customized it for his clients. Today, Gantt charts are used most popularly for project scheduling
and control.

Gantt Chart Example:

The tasks in a project are represented on the Y axis of the Gantt Chart, with its duration on the X
axis. Each task is represented by a bar. The length of the bar represents its duration. If you see
two bars overlapping on the X axis, know that they occur simultaneously.

As you can see in this example, a Gantt chart enables project managers to have a quick view of
project information like:

1. List of tasks that comprise a project

2. Start and end dates for each task

3. Dependencies between tasks

4. Scheduling

5. Progress of each task

6. Task owners

A Gantt chart proves useful in keeping a project on track, especially when you have multiple
dependencies and many tasks happen simultaneously.
Credits: Forbes

#quality

#ganttchart

#chart

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO
#product

#manager

#lifecycle

Business Process Framework:

The Business Process Framework is an operating model framework for telecom service providers
in the telecommunications industry. The model describes the required business processes of
service providers, and defines key elements and how they should interact.

The Business Process Framework (eTOM) is a standard maintained by the TM Forum, an

association for service providers and their suppliers in the telecommunications and entertainment
industries.

The development of the business process standardization for telecom service providers started
with the founding of the TM Forum in 1988. The initial goal was to facilitate the creation of
'interoperable network management products'. The first approved standard was the 'OSI/NM
Forum Protocol Specification,' an extension of OSI protocols developed since the late 1970s.

The direct development towards the Business Process Framework (eTOM), as Brenner (2007)
explained, was "the Telecom Operation Map (TOM) was first published in 2001. The goal of
TOM was the creation of an industry-owned framework of business processes, including the
definition of a common enterprise-independent terminology for service management. It was also
supposed to serve as a basis for discussing the scope of information management necessary for
the execution of the processes. The result of this latter effort has meanwhile spawned its own
TMF document family, the Shared Information and Data Model (SID).
The Telecom Operation Map (TOM) was extended in 2001 to eTOM, an acronym for Enhanced
Telecom Operations Map. The process model eTOm was renamed "Enhanced Telecom
Operations Map (eTOM)," and in 2013 to "Business Process Framework (eTOM)."

There have been many versions of eTOM. Version 14 was published in May 2014. It also has
been developed into a component of NGOSS, which has been renamed Frameworx.

Business Process Framework (eTOM) processes fall into three major process areas,[3] as shown
in the diagram:

1. Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP),

2. Operations and

3. Enterprise Management

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira
#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO

#product

#manager

#lifecycle

Product Management’s Role at Every Phase of the Product Lifecycle:

Every product has a lifecycle that consists of various phases. And the demands placed upon a
product manager often vary depending on the lifecycle stage their product is in. The product
manager role requires the use of different mental muscles and skills for driving it to the next step
in its lifecycle while being simultaneously led by the product strategy.

Identifying, acknowledging, and understanding which phase a product is in is just as critical as

knowing what each stage requires. This post will define each phase—Introduction, Growth,
Maturity, and Decline—and highlight what product managers should be focused on during each
period.

Product Lifecycle Phase #1: Introduction

All products start somewhere, whether they’re spinoffs, or brand extensions of a popular
offering, or something completely new from an unknown startup. Regardless of its origin story, a
new product faces a particular set of challenges, some of which require the attention of its
product manager.

What should product managers of newly-introduced products focus on?

When a new product is also novel (meaning it’s the first in its category), the main challenge is
generating demand. People aren’t used to buying this product so the focus is on creating
awareness and communicating its benefits so people want to actually buy it. This is also a critical
juncture in confirming product-market fit; while market research and early trials may have
corroborated your hypotheses, the validation comes when users actually spend money buying
and using it.

Product teams must be nimble and reactive during this phase since there’s often a short runway
to determine whether the product has legs or if the company should cut its losses and move on.
Emphasizing different aspects of the value proposition, highlighting various features, and
quickly quashing points of friction are all essential to keeping a newborn product viable.

And because there’s no competition, a key choice must be made regarding pricing—do you sell
it for a higher price to eager early adopters because no other companies or products exist to
undercut yours, or do you offer it for a low introductory price to help convince as many people
as possible to give it a try?

Once the product begins gaining a bit of traction, product teams must understand who’s really
using it and which aspects of the product are resonating most. Personas may evolve and roadmap
priorities can shift based on this early usage data from real customers.

And while introduction may not be the most expensive phase of a product’s lifecycle, it is
definitely its least profitable, since sales and revenue will be slight compared to the high costs of
initial research and development, larger marketing expenses, and low sales totals. When those
sales volumes start ramping up, a product is ready to graduate to its next phase.

Although product management may not be performing or directly managing many of the go-to-
market tasks pivotal to this phase, they still serve an important role here. As the in-house subject
matter expert, their job is explaining to everyone relevant what the product can actually do
(which isn’t always obvious when it’s new) and why someone would want to use it. They should
be a readily available resource to the marketing and sales organizations during this phase.

Product Lifecycle Phase #2: Growth

Once sales increase and the product has proven it has a market, it enters into its second phase.
This is the stage when many companies really invest in marketing since they’ve identified which
messages are resonating and which channels are best suited to reach the demographic that
purchased early on.
Profit margins typically increase during this phase as economies of scale begin to kick in and
(when applicable) manufacturing costs decline per unit with higher volume and fewer defects.
But along with more sales comes more competition, as other companies realize there’s a valid
market for the product and introduce their own offerings.

What should product managers focus on for growth phase products?

This influx of competitors can drive prices down to either match or undercut alternative products
or expand the potential market of buyers. Product managers must manage this balance carefully
to remain competitively priced without giving away margin unnecessarily.

The other key challenge for product teams is identifying who beyond their initial early adopters
might want to purchase their product and which new features or changes are required to bring in
that additional business. With this data in hand, they can prioritize the product roadmap to
maximize sales during this land-grab growth phase.

And with so much money being spent on marketing and advertising that directly fuels growth,
product managers must continually remember that some of that revenue and profit should be
reinvested in product development. This is necessary in order to continue iterating and improving
the product, not to mention ensuring it can continue scaling to support ever-increasing usage.

Because so much of “growth hacking” is all about mining data to uncover patterns and trends,
this is a phase where a product manager’s technical skills can really shine and be of use.

Product Lifecycle Phase #3: Maturity

Product maturity might sound like a great goal, but for a product, it’s not always nearly as
attractive as the growth phase. At this phase, new customer growth tapers off, competitors
gobble up market share, and profits decrease as more companies claim a piece of the same pie.

Most who wanted to buy a product in your category already have and the influx of new buyers to
the market slows to a trickle. The biggest challenge now is retaining as much of your customer
base as possible while combating churn and attrition.

What should product managers focus on during a product’s maturity phase?

For product managers, the maturity phase is an opportunity to reduce costs while continuing the
differentiation of your product from the rest of the market. Lowering the cost of goods sold
(COGS) is all about creating more efficiency in every aspect of the operations, from keeping the
development team lean and mean to automate customer support and onboarding tasks.

To stand out in a crowded field, product managers must be very selective in which features they
invest in and how their value proposition evolves. The focus must be on enhancements with a
high ROI that either enables them to charge current customers more for new add-ons or that
opens up a new target market with a unique offering.

The product team’s focus on metrics is critical during the maturity phase, as it can make the
difference between a longer maturity period with only minimal decline or falling off a cliff.
Understanding user behavior and which actions result in continued usage and payment versus
those that precede churn and abandonment can drive both feature development and prioritization
discussions.
Focusing on user behavior may lead to the development of proactive nurturing campaigns, user-
specific promotions, and pricing changes–all of which are designed to keep current customers
happy and satisfied for as long as possible.

Product Lifecycle Phase #4: Decline

Everything eventually heads downhill, and your product won’t be the exception. The decline can
be precipitated by either the entire market for a product dwindling—either due to a replacement
solution or a reduction in overall demand—or it can just be specific to your offering, with
competitors having surpassed your product in popularity, affordability, and/or functionality.

What should product managers focus on during a product’s decline?

Understanding which scenario is driving the decline is key to how a product manager handles the
situation.

When the entire market is shrinking, product managers must explore how they can leverage
existing technology and brand equity to pursue an entirely new market. While a decline specific
to only your product may necessitate a different type of course correction.

While this kind of late-stage product pivot doesn’t often pan out, there are plenty of examples of
companies that took their current assets and found success beyond their initial product offering
and market.

#project
#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO

#product

#manager

#lifecycle

Product Management’s Role at Every Phase of the Product Lifecycle:

Every product has a lifecycle that consists of various phases. And the demands placed upon a
product manager often vary depending on the lifecycle stage their product is in. The product
manager role requires the use of different mental muscles and skills for driving it to the next step
in its lifecycle while being simultaneously led by the product strategy.

Identifying, acknowledging, and understanding which phase a product is in is just as critical as

knowing what each stage requires. This post will define each phase—Introduction, Growth,
Maturity, and Decline—and highlight what product managers should be focused on during each
period.

Product Lifecycle Phase #1: Introduction

All products start somewhere, whether they’re spinoffs, or brand extensions of a popular
offering, or something completely new from an unknown startup. Regardless of its origin story, a
new product faces a particular set of challenges, some of which require the attention of its
product manager.

What should product managers of newly-introduced products focus on?

When a new product is also novel (meaning it’s the first in its category), the main challenge is
generating demand. People aren’t used to buying this product so the focus is on creating
awareness and communicating its benefits so people want to actually buy it. This is also a critical
juncture in confirming product-market fit; while market research and early trials may have
corroborated your hypotheses, the validation comes when users actually spend money buying
and using it.
Product teams must be nimble and reactive during this phase since there’s often a short runway
to determine whether the product has legs or if the company should cut its losses and move on.
Emphasizing different aspects of the value proposition, highlighting various features, and
quickly quashing points of friction are all essential to keeping a newborn product viable.

And because there’s no competition, a key choice must be made regarding pricing—do you sell
it for a higher price to eager early adopters because no other companies or products exist to
undercut yours, or do you offer it for a low introductory price to help convince as many people
as possible to give it a try?

Once the product begins gaining a bit of traction, product teams must understand who’s really
using it and which aspects of the product are resonating most. Personas may evolve and roadmap
priorities can shift based on this early usage data from real customers.

And while introduction may not be the most expensive phase of a product’s lifecycle, it is
definitely its least profitable, since sales and revenue will be slight compared to the high costs of
initial research and development, larger marketing expenses, and low sales totals. When those
sales volumes start ramping up, a product is ready to graduate to its next phase.

Although product management may not be performing or directly managing many of the go-to-
market tasks pivotal to this phase, they still serve an important role here. As the in-house subject
matter expert, their job is explaining to everyone relevant what the product can actually do
(which isn’t always obvious when it’s new) and why someone would want to use it. They should
be a readily available resource to the marketing and sales organizations during this phase.

Product Lifecycle Phase #2: Growth

Once sales increase and the product has proven it has a market, it enters into its second phase.
This is the stage when many companies really invest in marketing since they’ve identified which
messages are resonating and which channels are best suited to reach the demographic that
purchased early on.

Profit margins typically increase during this phase as economies of scale begin to kick in and
(when applicable) manufacturing costs decline per unit with higher volume and fewer defects.
But along with more sales comes more competition, as other companies realize there’s a valid
market for the product and introduce their own offerings.

What should product managers focus on for growth phase products?

This influx of competitors can drive prices down to either match or undercut alternative products
or expand the potential market of buyers. Product managers must manage this balance carefully
to remain competitively priced without giving away margin unnecessarily.

The other key challenge for product teams is identifying who beyond their initial early adopters
might want to purchase their product and which new features or changes are required to bring in
that additional business. With this data in hand, they can prioritize the product roadmap to
maximize sales during this land-grab growth phase.

And with so much money being spent on marketing and advertising that directly fuels growth,
product managers must continually remember that some of that revenue and profit should be
reinvested in product development. This is necessary in order to continue iterating and improving
the product, not to mention ensuring it can continue scaling to support ever-increasing usage.
Because so much of “growth hacking” is all about mining data to uncover patterns and trends,
this is a phase where a product manager’s technical skills can really shine and be of use.

Product Lifecycle Phase #3: Maturity

Product maturity might sound like a great goal, but for a product, it’s not always nearly as
attractive as the growth phase. At this phase, new customer growth tapers off, competitors
gobble up market share, and profits decrease as more companies claim a piece of the same pie.

Most who wanted to buy a product in your category already have and the influx of new buyers to
the market slows to a trickle. The biggest challenge now is retaining as much of your customer
base as possible while combating churn and attrition.

What should product managers focus on during a product’s maturity phase?

For product managers, the maturity phase is an opportunity to reduce costs while continuing the
differentiation of your product from the rest of the market. Lowering the cost of goods sold
(COGS) is all about creating more efficiency in every aspect of the operations, from keeping the
development team lean and mean to automate customer support and onboarding tasks.

To stand out in a crowded field, product managers must be very selective in which features they
invest in and how their value proposition evolves. The focus must be on enhancements with a
high ROI that either enables them to charge current customers more for new add-ons or that
opens up a new target market with a unique offering.
The product team’s focus on metrics is critical during the maturity phase, as it can make the
difference between a longer maturity period with only minimal decline or falling off a cliff.
Understanding user behavior and which actions result in continued usage and payment versus
those that precede churn and abandonment can drive both feature development and prioritization
discussions.

Focusing on user behavior may lead to the development of proactive nurturing campaigns, user-
specific promotions, and pricing changes–all of which are designed to keep current customers
happy and satisfied for as long as possible.

Product Lifecycle Phase #4: Decline

Everything eventually heads downhill, and your product won’t be the exception. The decline can
be precipitated by either the entire market for a product dwindling—either due to a replacement
solution or a reduction in overall demand—or it can just be specific to your offering, with
competitors having surpassed your product in popularity, affordability, and/or functionality.

What should product managers focus on during a product’s decline?

Understanding which scenario is driving the decline is key to how a product manager handles the
situation.

When the entire market is shrinking, product managers must explore how they can leverage
existing technology and brand equity to pursue an entirely new market. While a decline specific
to only your product may necessitate a different type of course correction.
While this kind of late-stage product pivot doesn’t often pan out, there are plenty of examples of
companies that took their current assets and found success beyond their initial product offering
and market.

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO

#product

#manager
#lifecycle

SWOT Analysis

If you’ve ever worked in a corporate office environment, you may have come across the term
“SWOT analysis.” This has nothing to do with evaluating militarized law enforcement response
units, and everything to do with taking a long, hard look at your company.

Conducting a SWOT analysis is a powerful way to evaluate your company or project, whether
you’re two people or 500 people. In this article, you’ll learn: what a SWOT analysis is, see some
SWOT analysis examples, and learn tips and strategies for conducting a comprehensive SWOT
analysis of your own. You’ll also see how you can use the data a SWOT exercise yields to
improve your internal processes and workflows.

A SWOT analysis is a technique used to determine and define your Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats – SWOT.

1. Strengths

The first element of a SWOT analysis is Strengths.

01. Things your company does well

02. Qualities that separate you from your competitors

03. Internal resources such as skilled, knowledgeable staff

04. Tangible assets such as intellectual property, capital, proprietary technologies, etc.
Weaknesses

Once you’ve figured out your strengths, it’s time to turn that critical self-awareness on your
weaknesses.

01. Things your company lacks

02. Things your competitors do better than you

03. Resource limitations

04. Unclear unique selling proposition

3. Opportunities

Next up is Opportunities.

01. Underserved markets for specific products

02. Few competitors in your area

03. Emerging needs for your products or services

04. Press/media coverage of your company

4. Threats

The final element of a SWOT analysis is Threats – everything that poses a risk to either your
company itself or its likelihood of success or growth.
01. Emerging competitors

02. Changing regulatory environment

03. Negative press/media coverage

04. Changing customer attitudes toward your company.

Credits: wordstream

#SWOT

#strength

#weakness

#opportunity

#threats

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike
#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

Characteristics of Planning.

1. Planning is goal-oriented.

Planning is made to achieve desired objective of business.

The goals established should general acceptance otherwise individual efforts & energies will go
misguided and misdirected.

Planning identifies the action that would lead to desired goals quickly & economically.

It provides sense of direction to various activities.

2. Planning is done for future.

It requires peeping in future, analyzing it and predicting it.

Thus planning is based on forecasting.

A plan is a synthesis of forecast.

It is a mental predisposition for things to happen in future.

3. Planning is an intellectual process.

Planning is a mental exercise involving creative thinking, sound judgement and imagination.

It is not a mere guesswork but a rotational thinking.

A manager can prepare sound plans only if he has sound judgement, foresight and imagination.

Planning is always based on goals, facts and considered estimates.

4.Planning involves choice & decision making.

Planning essentially involves choice among various alternatives.

Therefore, if there is only one possible course of action, there is no need planning because there
is no choice.

Thus, decision making is an integral part of planning.

A manager is surrounded by no. of alternatives. He has to pick the best depending upon
requirements & resources of the enterprises.

5. Planning is the primary function of management / Primacy of Planning.

Planning lays foundation for other functions of management.

It serves as a guide for organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.

All the functions of management are performed within the framework of plans laid out.

Therefore planning is the basic or fundamental function of management.

6. Planning is a Continuous Process.

Planning is a never ending function due to the dynamic business environment.

Plans are also prepared for specific period f time and at the end of that period, plans are
subjected to revaluation and review in the light of new requirements and changing conditions.

Planning never comes into end till the enterprise exists issues, problems may keep cropping up
and they have to be tackled by planning effectively.

7. Planning is all Pervasive.

It is required at all levels of management and in all departments of enterprise.

Of course, the scope of planning may differ from one level to another.

The top level may be more concerned about planning the organization as a whole whereas the
middle level may be more specific in departmental plans and the lower level plans
implementation of the same.

8. Planning is designed for efficiency.

Planning leads to accomplishment of objectives at the minimum possible cost.

It avoids wastage of resources and ensures adequate and optimum utilization of resources.

A plan is worthless or useless if it does not value the cost incurred on it.

Therefore planning must lead to saving of time, effort and money.

Planning leads to proper utilization of men, money, materials, methods and machines.
9. Planning is Flexible.

Planning is done for the future.

Since future is unpredictable, planning must provide enough room to cope with the changes in
customer’s demand, competition, govt. policies etc.

Under changed circumstances, the original plan of action must be revised and updated to male it
more practical.

Credits: management study guide.

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech
#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO

Risk Management elements:

Roll out a business strategy that aims to identify, assess, and prepare for any dangers, hazards,
and other potentials for disasters that may impact your organization’s operations and goals.

Similarly, identify opportunities and assess them, and maximize benefits by putting plans to
address positive risks.

Introduce plans of actions, and make them accessible to all stakeholders. Ensure all risks and
opportunities are under control while running the business successfully exceeding customers and
stakeholders’ expectations.

Setup and define risk responses of different types:

o Mitigate

o Avoid

o Accept

o Enhance
Define plan of actions for each risk response, defining what needs to be done immediately, and
what needs to be done based on a risk trigger.

Have the different actions assigned to the team to ensure parallel processing with full
collaboration.

Setup controls with drills and tests to ensure your risks and opportunities are controlled by a
solid process in place.

Reassess your risks to ensure they are mitigated to acceptable levels.

Ensure all risks are in a controlled state and run. Iteratively identify new risks based on changing
business climate and address them.

#risk

#management

#dfmea

#quality

#rootcause

#QC

#QA

#project
#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

Vision, mission, value, tactics Definition:

1. Define your vision

An organization’s vision statement is an aspirational description of what it wants to achieve in

the future.

A vision statement serves as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action — a
definition of where you want your organization to be in the long term. It sets the tone and
provides a North Star on the horizon.

2. Create your mission

While your vision is an organization-wide goal, your mission how you plan to achieve the vision.

Without a mission, your organization lacks the why and how. If everyone in your organization
has their own interpretation of the vision, it can lead to conflicting strategies and initiatives.

3. Set your objectives

Objectives are specific results that a person or system aims to achieve within a time frame.
Defining success early lets you know if you are on the path to achieve your mission and vision.
Clearly articulating your objectives creates goal posts by which your organization can measure
its overall health and the impact of strategic initiatives.

In general, good objectives should be clear, measurable and be supported by multiple strategic
initiatives across the organization.

4. Develop your strategy

Your strategy is a long-term plan that enables you to achieve your organization’s objectives.

An effective strategy brings together vision and execution. Strategies are much more specific
than an organization’s vision, mission, and objectives. They are typically only shared within an
organization and ideally built around an organization’s needs and market context. Strategies
should map long-term plans to objectives and actionable steps, foster innovative thinking, as well
as anticipate and mitigate potential pitfalls.

5. Outline your approach

An approach provides a methodology for executing your strategy.

The approach is a framework for answering key questions that will later determine tactics. Plus,
it guides an organization on how to execute the strategic plan.

6. Get down to tactics

Tactics are focused initiatives, projects, or programs that allow organizations to execute a
strategic plan.

Tactics are the key to execution. They are the actions you take to make it all happen.
#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Vision, mission, value, tactics Definition:

1. Define your vision

An organization’s vision statement is an aspirational description of what it wants to achieve in

the future.
A vision statement serves as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action — a
definition of where you want your organization to be in the long term. It sets the tone and
provides a North Star on the horizon.

2. Create your mission

While your vision is an organization-wide goal, your mission how you plan to achieve the vision.

Without a mission, your organization lacks the why and how. If everyone in your organization
has their own interpretation of the vision, it can lead to conflicting strategies and initiatives.

3. Set your objectives

Objectives are specific results that a person or system aims to achieve within a time frame.

Defining success early lets you know if you are on the path to achieve your mission and vision.
Clearly articulating your objectives creates goal posts by which your organization can measure
its overall health and the impact of strategic initiatives.

In general, good objectives should be clear, measurable and be supported by multiple strategic
initiatives across the organization.

4. Develop your strategy

Your strategy is a long-term plan that enables you to achieve your organization’s objectives.

An effective strategy brings together vision and execution. Strategies are much more specific
than an organization’s vision, mission, and objectives. They are typically only shared within an
organization and ideally built around an organization’s needs and market context. Strategies
should map long-term plans to objectives and actionable steps, foster innovative thinking, as well
as anticipate and mitigate potential pitfalls.
5. Outline your approach

An approach provides a methodology for executing your strategy.

The approach is a framework for answering key questions that will later determine tactics. Plus,
it guides an organization on how to execute the strategic plan.

6. Get down to tactics

Tactics are focused initiatives, projects, or programs that allow organizations to execute a
strategic plan.

Tactics are the key to execution. They are the actions you take to make it all happen.

#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE
#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Project Plan Template and Creation Steps:

A project plan includes a number of documents that guide the execution and controlling phases
of a project. The aim of this plan is to list out the goals, define the roles, explain the key
stakeholders and provide schedule and cost baselines to define the process of how your team will
manage the project. Typically a project plan includes project charter, statement of work, schedule
baseline, Work Breakdown Structure, and other related important documents to answer who,
what, where, and when of the project. Although writing a project plan seems a bit difficult, it
worths all the efforts considering its benefits. In this article, we will provide a template example
and explain what exactly a project plan is in project management. Keep on reading to learn the
basics of project planning and the key steps to create a project plan with the help of an
infographic.

What is a project plan?

A project plan is an extensive document that includes project schedule, budget, cost baseline,
communication plan to guide both project execution and control. As per the definition, we can
understand that a project plan does not exactly mean the project schedule. It is a comprehensive
document that also includes the project schedule.
1. List the milestones, major project deliverables, and project phases:

At this step, provide the scope and list the milestones, major project deliverables, and the phases;

Project initiation

Project Planning

Project Execution

Project Closure

2. Define the Workflow:

Think about the overall flow of your project from beginning to close-up. Make a rough plan that
includes major deliverables and key project milestones.

3. Breakdown the Project:

Breakdown of the major project deliverables into meaningful steps. Decide the detail level of
your planning before creating the work breakdown structure. If you are creating a project plan
for a large and complex project, the detail level of planning should be high.

4. List the Major Project Resources to be allocated to tasks

Think about the resources and list them to complete the major project tasks.

5. Provide a Summarized Schedule:

In order to keep your project on track, you need a basis to make comparisons. At this step, you
need to provide a schedule that has a low detail level. Activities should be grouped and listed
under work breakdown structure levels. You can create the schedule by using software such as
Primavera P6 or Microsoft Project Professional.

6. List the Assumptions and Constraints

This section is one of the most important sections of a project plan template. List the
assumptions that you made and the constraints that you identified while planning.

Examples for assumptions;

There will be no change in the scope

Resources will be available when needed

Example of a constraint;

The second shift is not allowed by the client.

7. Provide a Cost Baseline

Provide a cost baseline that includes the cost of the major project deliverables.

8. Appendices
You can provide a list of key stakeholders, the communication plan, charts, graphs, and other
relevant information.

Credits: Project cubicle

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

Process Flow Diagram:

A process flow diagram is a flowchart that illustrates the sequence of steps needed to complete a
business process. It uses standardized symbols to describe and depict the flow between each step.
Using a process flow diagram ensures that key processes are completed to the same standard
each time, creating more consistent results.

Each task in the workflow diagram above is linked by directional arrows, so anyone working on
this particular process can follow the steps from start to finish.

Process flow diagrams use different shapes and symbols. Here’s what each flowchart symbol
means:

Ovals: Ovals indicate the start and endpoints of a workflow.

Rectangles: Rectangles describe a specific process step (e.g., a manager approving a form).

Diamonds: Diamonds indicate a decision (typically yes or no) in the flowchart path.

Arrows: Arrows indicate the direction of a workflow from one step to the next.

Credits: Frevvo

project lifecycle:

The definition given by the PMBOK Guide of a project life cycle is the series of phases that a
project passes through from its initiation to its closure.
The Project Management Life Cycle as described by PMI | Project Management Institute has 5
phases:

Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring &Controlling and Closure.

When discussing project management phases, the mention of project life cycle is inevitable. So
what’s the difference? The project phases make up a project life cycle, and as such, the phases
are tailored to fit a project’s needs. According to the PMBOK, the elements of a project life cycle
should define:

What work must be accomplished

What deliverables must be generated and reviewed

Who must be involved

How to control and approve each phase

Determining these elements will take a project from start to finish. It provides a systematic,
timely, and controlled process that benefits a project’s stakeholders. This helps PMs define what
needs to be accomplished before moving onto the next phase of a project.

Project vs Product lifecycle

Project Life Cycle

Most of the time projects are undertaken to produce a product, and once the product is delivered
the project ceases to exist.

It does not matter what kind of project you are managing; the project management fundamentals
are same in all fields. A project life cycle can have many phases and each phase can consist of
any activities from these process groups: initiation, planning, executing, monitoring &
controlling, and closing. The phases are generally sequential and can overlap.

Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle starts from the inception of the idea to the point when the product is
retired. The stages of the product life cycle are: development, introduction, growth, maturity, and
retirement. Usually, these phases are sequential and do not overlap. The project life cycle can be
a part of one or more phases in the product life cycle.

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks
#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO

5 Benefits of Quality Assurance.

Quality assurance offers multiple benefits, not only for the customers but also for the company.
Here are several reasons for implementing the QA:

Production Efficiency

1. Improving Production Efficiency

Production efficiency happens when every production element is in good condition. This means
high-quality materials, lack of defects, working machinery, proper warehouse, and competent
workers. Efficient production means fewer resources and time spent to achieve the goal.
Cost efficiency

2. Creating Cost Efficiency

Conducting quality assurance will create cost efficiency. The QA prevents quality issues from
the beginning, preventing faults, returns, repairs, and other cost-related problems.

Customer trust

3. Maintaining Customer Trust

Product quality determines the level of customer trust toward a brand, product, and company.
Conducting the QA can improve the quality of the manufacturing output. It will create a positive
response from the customers and increase their level of trust toward the business.

Business growth

4. Encouraging the Business Growth

Growing the business requires a consistent quality level and cost efficiency, among other things.
Conducting regular QA helps you maintain these important factors in running a business,
including in the manufacturing field. It can also help the manufacturer gain trust from the
stockholders and potential business partners.

Work environment

5. Creating Better Work Environment

Quality assurance contributes to a better work environment. It reduces risky practices and
hazards, ensuring that both workers and the environment are in the best conditions for
production.
Credits: Nimbly Technologies

#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Cost of Quality (COQ)

Cost of Quality (COQ) can be defined as Costs associated with quality-related efforts and
deficiencies- these include assuring, preventing, detecting, and re mediating product issues
related to quality. Quality involves in creating, maintaining, upgrading and delivering a product
having some standards that meets or exceeds the expectations of the customers. In doing so,
certain costs are incurred to perform quality related activities such as quality planning &
management; Statistical Process Control; investments in quality related information systems;
Inspection & Testing; Tracking the causes and effects of the problem; quality improvements;
Monitoring Progress; Scrap and Rework Costs; Complaints & Warranty Costs etc. Broadly Cost
of Quality (COQ) can be classified into two categories

– Cost of Conformance (COC) or Cost of Good Quality (COGQ) and

Cost of Non-Conformance (CONC) or Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ).

Cost of Conformance (COC) or Cost of Good Quality (COGQ) can be defined as Costs
associated with doing quality job, conducting quality improvements, and achieving quality goals.
These are the costs that aim at assurance of quality and prevention of bad quality. That means
Cost of Conformance has two sub-divisions : Cost of Assurance and Cost of Prevention.

Cost of Assurance :

These costs are associated with the quality requirements, systems and procedures, control
measures and audits to ensure appropriate quality standards are used and complied such as
money spent on establishing methods and procedures; Process Capability Studies; robust Product
Design; proper employee training in performing good quality job; supplier rating / supplier
certification (assessment and approval of suppliers of products and services), Quality audits
(confirmation that the quality system is functioning correctly) acquiring tools, and planning for
quality. Quality assurance provides confidence in the system that ensures quality of deliverables.

Cost of Prevention : The costs that arise from efforts to keep defects from occurring at all-
prevent errors to happen and to do the job right the first time. Prevention costs may include Costs
of Verifications – checking of incoming material, processes, products, and services to ensure that
they conform to agreed specifications; Preventive Maintenance; Calibration of measuring and
test equipment etc. These are planned and incurred before actual operation and money is all spent
before the product is actually built. The focus on prevention tends to reduce preventable costs of
bad quality.

Cost of Non-Conformance (CONC) or Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) is the costs associated with
all activities and processes that do not meet agreed performance and / or expected outcomes.
These costs would disappear if every task were always performed without deficiency. These
costs have two sub-divisions : Cost of Appraisal and Cost of Failure.

Cost of Appraisal :

Money spent to review completed products against requirements. Appraisal includes the cost of
inspections, testing, and reviews. This money is spent after the product is built but before it is
shipped to the user or moved into customers place. They could include: inspection of finished
goods, field testing, pre- dispatch inspection, checking the shipping documents before dispatch
etc
Cost of Failure : All costs associated with defective products produced and or that have been
delivered to the user. These costs are further sub-divided into Internal Failure Costs and External
Failure Costs.

#cost

#costofquality

#coq

#quality

#rootcause

#QC

#QA

#project

#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

Classic example of Fish bone diagram:

Late to office 😂😍...

A fishbone diagram is a way of visualising the causes of a problem. A fishbone diagram helps
you to understand your system before you change it. It helps to prioritise some of the areas where
the biggest impact could be made.

Also known as a Cause and Effect diagram, or Ishikawa diagram. The method was created by
Kaoru Ishikawa in the 1960’s. He created it to help employees avoid solutions that merely
address the symptoms of a much larger problem.

The defect or problem is shown as the fish’s head on the right side (typically). The major
categories or causes of the problem or defect are the ribs off the fish’s backbone.

The most common categories are the 6 M’s:

1. Manpower (People)

2. Methods (Processes/Procedures)

3. Materials (Supplies/Vendors)

4. Machines (Equipment)

5. Measurement

6. Mother Nature (Environment)

Another concept is 4 P’s:

1. Policies

2. Procedures
3. People

4. Plant/Technology

From each rib, additional levels or root causes of each category become branches from the
bones.

#quality

#rootcause

#QC

#QA

#project

#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

What activities does quality management comprise?

Software quality management is a comprehensive process that ensures software is compliant

with its requirements, national and international quality standards, for example, established by
ANSI, IEEE, and ISO. Quality management comprises the following activities: quality control
(QC), quality assurance (QA), and quality planning (QP).
Quality Control:

Quality control is a tip of quality management. As a rule, it’s observed even when the rest of
quality management is overlooked. This product-oriented quality management component starts
simultaneously with software development. QC includes software testing activities
predetermined by a quality plan. Manual and automated functionality, performance, integration,
usability, security, regression testing – all these and many other testing types comprise QC.
Quality control should check whether software is compliant with its requirements and no severe
defects will be revealed after software is released.

Quality Assurance:

Quality assurance is a process-oriented part of quality management, which should be introduced

as early as a project planning stage. QA deals with the following questions:

What standards and requirements software should comply with?

What should each stakeholder (for example, project managers, BAs, and developers) do for
software to be of high quality?

What kind of the software production process can prevent defects from occurring?

How to establish such a process?

As the US National Institute of Standards and Technology found, it’s 6 times more expensive to
fix a bug found during system testing than to organize software requirements gathering in the
way this bug wouldn’t appear. Mature quality assurance aims primarily at preventing, not
detecting the existing defects.
Quality planning.

A quality plan can be devoted either to general enterprise-wide quality management practices or
quality provision during each project specifically. On a project level, QP normally formalizes
such aspects of quality management as:

Stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities with regard to quality assurance.

Required project and testing documentation.

A software requirements specification and the set of standards software should comply with.

Relevant testing types.

An approximate testing schedule, cost, and human resources line-up for the corresponding
project.

Training required by QA team members.

A reporting process and schedule.

Testing KPIs.

A risk mitigation plan.

The common obstacles on the way to effective quality management include its underestimation
by parties involved in software production, leaving out crucial aspects of a quality plan (like
testing efficiency metrics or required professional training), and mixing up QA with QC. While
all three quality management parts are interdependent and none of them can be neglected if you
aim at high-quality software.
#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control:

What is Quality Assurance:

Quality assurance is a practice used to prevent the occurrence of errors during a process. These
processes could be related to the production of goods, the delivery of services, the designing of
software, or any other business process. Generally, quality assurance consists of administrative
and procedural workflows that ensure that requirements and goals for an activity, service, or
product, are met.

As an example, the medical profession leverages quality assurance tactics to ensure the expected
quality of medical care is provided. These tactics focus on structures or processes of medical care
that have a demonstrated relationship to positive health outcomes. In the medical field, in
particular, quality assurance is truly an ethical and moral obligation.

What is the Difference Between Quality Assurance and Quality Control:

People often interchange the use of “quality assurance” and “quality control” but they do mean
different things. Quite simply, quality assurance is the set of activities and methods that are used
to determine the procedures and standards to develop a product or service, while quality control
is the process of determining whether or not the product or service meets those quality assurance
goals.

In other words, quality assurance works to prevent mistakes, whereas quality control works to
identify mistakes. Certainly, findings from the quality control process can be used to inform
future iterations of quality assurance procedures, but in most cases, when both functions are
performing at their highest competency, mistakes are minimal if not non-existent, and quality
control simply serves as a final checkpoint to ensure the product or service is ready for delivery
to the consumer, end user, or employee.
Credits: Integrify

#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Project Charter: An Ultimate Guide to Showcase Your Project

A project needs descriptive assistance through which others can understand the technicalities of
it.

Many would ask what this is? Who does it? Who signs it? Can a project manager write it? Is it a
simple project document? Why is it important? The list goes on.

Project Charter is a versatile document that formally authorizes a project or a phase. It defines
the reason of establishing the project and assigns it to whoever is worthy of doing it.

Why project Charter is needed?

Similar to how a movie without a script can be a disaster, a project without its charter can end up
like a flop movie. The sole purpose of a project charter is to document and acknowledge the
existence of the project. This document will be proof to commit organizational resources to the
project. Project managers need to create a project charter in order to analyse the following
aspects:

Reasons for undertaking the project

Objectives and constraints

Directions concerning the solution

Identities of the main stakeholders

In-scope and out-of-scope items

Risks identified early on

Target benefits
High-level budget and spending authority

Certainly, the success of the project can never be measured if a charter is not present to do so.

Uses of Project Charter:

Projects are usually initiated by sponsors, project managers or chairperson of an organization. A

charter is needed to establish a roles and responsibilities among the members. If the project is a
shared collaboration between two organisation, it creates a smooth partnership between them.
Project Management Office (PMO) deals with formal contracts to ensure if the external
organization is trustworthy or not.

A clear and concise charter can be used to:

To initiate the project

Serves as the primary sales document for the project

Serves as a focal point throughout the project

Serves as a source to understand how the project will work.

To align with other organizational strategies

To show stakeholders and executives the business value of the project

For comparing Project Performance and Progress during Phase gate.

This high-level document demands attention and strategic changes which shall be given under
much needed circumstances. For better project management planning, a periodic review is
essential.
#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO

ISO 9001 History and a Brief Overview of the Standard

The United States was a leading player in the world of manufacturing during the 1950 and
1960s. The main competition existed only between the businesses in US. For the reason that
there was not much competition, US manufacturing backed down from statistical quality control
and management standards for certification were not considered compulsory. In the 1970s, Mil-I-
45208 inspection standard and Mil-Q-9858A quality program standard were developed by the
US military and emphasized that the proper standards must be met by their suppliers. There were
inspectors in the military that used to visit or take part in production plants to make sure the
systems were all set.

Acknowledgement of the Importance of a Quality Management System

The basic awareness that a quality management system QMS might influence a product’s quality
was initially presented in the 1970s. Moreover, it wasn’t introduced by the International
Organisation for Standardization, instead of that a few huge establishments like Ford and the
Ministry of Defense, who issued quality management standards maintained by their own
organisations. The leading influence upon the fast recognition of this idea was by the Ministry of
Defense, since it used to deal with a large number of various suppliers. It was obligatory for an
organisation to fulfill the necessities of their quality management standards to trade with them.

The First BS 9000 Issue

In 1971 the first standard published in UK was by the BSI (British Standards Institution), the BS
9000, this standard was specially planned for the electronics industry. Moreover, they published
the BS 5179 and 5750 as well; both standards were established very closely around the standards
of the Ministry of Defense. For the first time, the responsibility of quality assurance was
transferred to the supplier from the customer, instigating the practice of third party assessors.
The world progressed towards international trade during the 1980s. Nations and industries
needed to agree on quality assurance standards. The US again moved towards to the quality
management systems and statistical control due to the international trade.
The First ISO 9001 Within ISO 9001 History

In the same era, there was a lot of improvement in the American companies because of total
quality management theories. In the 1980s, the UK’s standards were implemented by the
International Organisation for Standardization into their international parameters and
certification qualifications. In 1987, the initial ISO 9000 was published. The ISO 9001:1987
possessed a restricted structure with twenty conditions, however it emphasized on meeting the
procedures requirements and the big-image of forming a superior course was slightly vanished.
The same issues of imposing conformity were found in ISO 9001:1994. The business
establishments were having a hard time below the weight of rules and principles, assembling
large manuals that usually withheld the process instead of facilitating it.

The ISO 9001:2000 Issue

In addition to that, from the time when the ISO 9001 was announced, the ISO 9001:2000
observed major modifications. It fought the complications and pursued to make a standard that
concentrated on progressive development. The running dictated the documentation instead of
large manuals and documents ordering the administration of a QMS. This third edition within the
ISO 9001 history sought to prolong the importance that the ISO 9001 was regarding the
formation of a quality management system by means of process performance parameters. The
documentation was substantiation of the process being running successfully.

Recent Version in The ISO 9001 History

At the present, ISO 9001 is one of the most commonly known standards at global level being
implemented by business entities and corporations internationally as a symbol of belief, quality
and high standards. A lot of organisations will not purchase from a company which is not ISO
9001 certified. The ISO 9000 standards are established on the notion that a systematic quality
assurance program delivers assurance in the products or services and the management team of an
organisation.

Furthermore, ISO has two types of quality management standards including the requirements and
guidelines. Collectively these two types of quality standards compose the ISO portfolio of
Quality Management Standards. Requirements are the official prospects that should be met if an
organisation wants to be certified or registered formally and they are obligatory. In contrast,
guidelines are just recommendations and suggestion which are non-mandatory. Formerly ISO
comprised of three groups of quality requirements: ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and ISO 9003. But, at
this moment there is just one standard: ISO 9001 2015.

credits: 9001academy

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process
#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

Scatter plot - 7QC Tools.

A scatter plot is a two-dimensional data representation that uses dots to show the values acquired
for two different variables, one plotted along the x-axis and the other plotted along the y-axis.

When entering a huge amount of data into a table, any attempt to reach a conclusion about the
data from the table would be impossible to the normal person. However if you plot pairs of data
in a graph to visualize it, it becomes easy for the human brain to interpret it. To perceive how the
factors identify with each other, you make scatter plots. So what is a scatter plot? A scatter plot is
a graph that is used to plot the data points for two factors. Each scatter plot has a horizontal axis
(x-axis) and a vertical axis (y-axis). One variable is plotted on every axis. Scatter plots are made
of marks; each mark shows to one member’s measures on the factors that are on the x-axis and y-
axis of the scatter plot.

Most scatter plots contain a line of best fit, it’s a straight line drawn through the center of the
data points that best shows to the pattern of the data. Scatter plots give a visual portrayal of the
correlation, or connection between the two factors.

Types of Correlation
All correlations have two properties: direction and strength. The direction of the correlation is
controlled by whether the correlation is positive or negative. The strength of a correlation is
determined by its numerical value.

Positive Correlation

Both variables move in the same direction. In other words, as one variable increases, the other
variable also increases. As one variable decreases, the other variable also decreases.

Example: years of education and yearly salary are positively correlated.

Negative correlation

The variables move in opposite directions. As one variable increases, the other variable
decreases. As one variable decreases, the other variable increases.

Example: hours spent sleeping and hours spent awake are negatively correlated.

credits: Latestquality

#quality

#rootcause

#qc

#project
#process

#QMS

#scatter

#fishbone

#ishikawa

Benefits of Quality Management System(QMS).

Do you have a Quality Management System your company can bank on? A stellar system that is
helping you win the race against your competitors? If not, you are losing money and customers
every day.

Picture this:

You have a fantastic product but your competitors are a step ahead of you. You have dedicated
fans interested in buying from you, yet your competitors steal a few more away each month.

You’re left wondering what could be wrong? Your product, marketing strategy, and customer
rapport are top notch. And even when you try a new approach, you don’t see a better ROI.

What if I tell you that a Quality Management System (QMS) must be put in place in your
company to be able to keep your competitors on their toes? With it, you’ll be able to outline how
your company wants to produce, document, control, and deliver your products and services in
ways that will meet the requirements of your customers.
In this guide, I’ll be taking you through the A-Z of Quality Management Systems (QMS), and
offering an extremely valuable worksheet that will help you implement QMS in your company.

Quality Management System: How It All Started

People pay for and expect a quality product.

Paying customers stick with a brand because the company has proven it produces quality
products and stands behind them.

To succeed in business, you need your customers to be happy with your products and thrilled to
recommend them to others.

So, while your company keeps up with product innovations, it also needs to satisfy the ever-
changing requirements of customers.

Quality Management System (QMS): What It Is All About

A Quality Management System (QMS) is an important process that you must put in place in your
company.

A QMS basically takes a critical look at the set of policies, processes, and procedures in a
company. It helps you to plan and execute the core business areas of your company such as
production, development, and service.
If you want customers to always come to you for more, then make “quality management” the
watchword in your company. Doing so will ensure that your products and services are consistent
with your company’s goals. This will push you to maintain the desired level of excellence.

According to this article, quality can be traced back to centuries ago when craftsmen began
organizing into unions called guilds that people could trust to produce quality goods.

During the Industrial Revolution, workers were grouped together into factories and businesses,
meaning that best practices were more important to maintain quality. During that period, the
quality of a product was determined by inspection. This involved the measuring, examining, and
testing of products against requirements put in place to make sure that each element followed the
guidelines.

This tactic worked for a good while. However, as businesses grew and expanded, greater
numbers of products were manufactured. As a result, companies experienced difficulties in
following through with quality control standards, signaling the need for a change.

Enter industry experts like Deming, Dodge, Juran, and Romig who implemented these changes
in the 1940s marking the beginning of Total Quality Management (TQM). With TQM,
inspections were carried out by production personnel, and they did this by inspecting the
products during specific production intervals. This changed the focus of quality from simply
inspecting the end product to preventing end product problems by detecting them earlier in the
production line.

World War II led to QMS becoming even more important. This was largely due to the mass
production of military hardware – guns and bullets, vehicle parts, and so on. Military equipment
needed to be checked thoroughly in order to ensure that the quality was maintained. For instance,
bullets made in one state had to work with rifles made in another. During this period, the armed
forces initially inspected virtually every unit of product. However, to make the process easier and
also not compromise the quality, the military began to use quality techniques of sampling for
inspection.

After the war, the importance of quality grew. This is because Japan enjoyed a quality revolution
which improved the bad reputation it was known for in the past. It achieved this with the input
of American thinkers like Juran and Deming who advised a shift in focus from inspection to
improving all organizational processes. Throughout the 50s and 60s, Japan’s quality focus was
on ensuring that manufacturers produced increasingly higher-quality goods at lower prices. It
was during this period that Japan became the hub of quality products, beating the U.S. at their
own production game, and by the 1970s, the U.S. industrial sectors such as electronics and
automobiles had been broadsided by Japan’s high-quality competition.

When this happened, the American economy suffered from its inability to compete on quality
with Japan. This compelled the U.S. corporate leaders to step up their game. Their response led
to the birth of the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM), which set the stage for quality
to flourish and operational excellence to become renowned in the U.S. With this, the
management of companies and its employees were concerned about their customers, ensuring
that they were satisfied and remained loyal. When independent organizations began producing
standards in the late 20th century to assist in the creation and implementation of quality
management systems, the phrase “Total Quality Management” began to fall out of favor, and the
term “Quality Management System” or “QMS” became preferred. Hence, leading to the creation
of QMS.

Benefits of QMS:
1. Simplify

With a QMS, you’ll be able to simplify:

Customer requirements

Customer satisfaction

Your company’s processes for improvements

Your company’s requirements in terms of effective and efficient use of resources

Internal communication

Prevention of product defects

When these areas are sorted, your company’s efficiency increases, making it easier for you to
reach the goals you’ve set for the company’s growth.

2. Clarify

When you have a QMS in place, it will become easy to clarify the following:

Roles and responsibilities

Compliance with standards and regulations

Internal processes of production/service rendering

The path for staff training

Removing the gray areas will ensure that your employees remain focused as they won’t be
confused about their roles and responsibilities and how to best serve the company.

3. Control

In addition to simplifying and clarifying, you will be able to do the following in your company
with a QMS:

Ensure your company’s commitment to its vision and mission

Drive greater consistency in product quality

Ensure continuous improvement

With greater control over your business, you’ll be able to document your company’s processes,
procedures, and practices easily, securing greater success in the long run.

Those are the biggest benefits of the QMS, but it offers other benefits too; here’s a video for
additional info.

Credits: sweetquality.

#quality

#process

#QMS
#tqm

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#improvement

#motivation

#growth

#satisfying

#reading

Quality Management system overview.

A quality management system or QMS is a set of business processes that focus consistently on
meeting customer requirements. It also focuses on enhancing consumer satisfaction. In this
context, consumer and customer have the same meaning (in other contexts they might not).

A quality management system is a formalized system. It documents processes, procedures, and

responsibilities for achieving quality policies as well as objectives.

QMS may not only focus on customer requirements but also regulatory requirements. Licenses,
restrictions, and laws applicable to a product, for example, are regulatory requirements. The
government typically imposes regulatory requirements.

The British Assessment Bureau has the following definition of a quality management system:
“A quality management system is a clearly defined set of business processes. Together with the
relevant documentation, it defines your commitment to creating products and services in
accordance with pre-defined standards.”

“A good QMS should include detailed information about processes and responsibilities within an
operational environment.”

Quality management is everything that an organization does to make sure it produces and
delivers goods and services to specifications. It also includes doing so at the appropriate cost.
QMS is a system for doing all these things.

What does an effective QMS ensure?

An effective quality management system makes sure that a business delivers to a consistently
high standard. It also includes a plan to continually measure and improve each aspect of a
company’s business operations.

QMS mainly focuses on two targets:

Meeting or exceeding customer requirements and expectations.

Regulatory compliance.

QMS - Quality Management System

Radioca Luburic, from the Central Bank of Montenegro, wrote the following in the Journal of
Central Banking Theory and Practice: “A quality management system is a paradigm of business
success in the entire world because its set up, inter alia, improves internal functions of an
organisation, instills confidence in customers and triggers improvement chain reactions with
suppliers and stakeholders.

QMS – meeting two key requirements

According to Business Balls, a fully-documented QMS will make sure that the business meets
two important requirements:

The Company’s Requirements – both externally and internally. The system will ensure the
requirements are met with the best use of available resources and optimum cost. Materials,
technology, information, and people, for example, are ‘available resources.’

The customer’s requirements – this means delivering the desired product or service consistently,
as well as meeting customer needs and expectations.

Regarding meeting these requirements, Business Balls states:

“These requirements can only be truly met if objective evidence is provided, in the form of
information and

data, to support the system activities, from the ultimate supplier to the ultimate customer.”

Many types of QMS

There are several types of QMS. You should define what yours is first.

Not all industries or sectors are the same. Rules and regulations, for example, in the
pharmaceutical industry are very different from those in banking and finance.
Some industries tell you what your processes must contain. In other words, some sectors tell you
which QMS system to use.

In most industries, apart from compulsory codes of conduct, there are also voluntary codes.

Not all processes that are important in one industry matter in another. Even within the same
industry, not every company has to follow the same processes.

A primary engineering business, for example, may require processes for product manufacture,
new product testing, and product design. In a sub-contract business, on the other hand, just one
process may be relevant.

Qualsys, a governance, risk and compliance blog, says that getting the right information to the
right person at the right time is crucial. To be able to do this properly, you need the right quality
management system software.

Regarding the different types of software, Qualsys says:

“Different types of QMS software support your business goals in different ways. Choosing the
best QMS for your company requires looking at your objectives and determining the main
quality challenges you need to resolve.”

credits: marketbusinessnews
#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

Voice Of The Customer (VOC)

The Voice of the Customer (VOC) is one process that is used to capture both the feedback and
comments from internal and external customers with the ultimate goal of delivering high-quality
products or services.

The VOC process is a proactive and progressive process because the customer's needs and
requirements keep changing over time.
There are many different ways that you have to capture the Voice of the Customer. These
include questionnaires, focus groups, surveys, observation, field reports, interviews, customer
specifications, warranty data, direct discussion, complaint logs, among others.

The data collected is then used to make sure that all the supplied materials and components for
the final product or service have the expected quality.

Credits: sixsigmatrainingfree

#quality

#project

#Requirements

#design

#development

#voice

#VOC

#VoiceOfCustomer

#QMS

#tqm

#jazotech

#qualityvalu
#valuedin

Project Scheduling Steps for a Successful Management:

Creating a serviceable project schedule is an indispensable activity for a project’s successful

completion. Most of the project managers suffer from poor schedules that lead wrong decisions.
Poorly created project schedules involve an inadequate number of activities and resources
required to complete the tasks. As a result of this, project performance reporting becomes a
serious problem. Project scheduling process involves tools and techniques that help project teams
to develop effective work schedules. In this article, we will discuss the importance of project
planning and scheduling, and project scheduling steps for successful project management.

Importance of Project Scheduling and Monitoring:

Project Scheduling is a process of determining what tasks need to get done and which resources
will be allocated to complete those tasks in a given period. A project schedule is a document that
involves all the efforts needed to complete the project on time. Without a fine and complete work
schedule, the project manager can not make performance calculations necessary to deliver the
project on time. Also, it is not possible to make an effective resource and cost management
without a full and accurate work schedule. In order to create an efficient work schedule, some
basic project scheduling steps must be followed.

Project Schedule Development Process (Project Scheduling Process & Steps)

There are seven basic steps needed to be taken to improve the efficiency of a work schedule.
1. Analyze the Project Scope and Create the Work Breakdown Structure

The first step of project scheduling involves establishing the policies and creating procedures for
creating and managing the project schedule. At the beginning of a scheduling process, a time
management plan which includes standards, performance measurement methods, updating
period, etc. should be prepared. Then should be fully analyzed. Because the project schedule
must reflect the whole project scope in order to analyze the whole projects performance. The
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which is a hierarchical structure of the project deliverables
should be created at this step.

2. Determine the Project Activities

The goal of the activity determination step is to identify all the activities required to complete the
project. In order to identify all the activities, project scope must be analyzed and stakeholder’s
requirements must be defined. Activities are listed and grouped under specific Work Breakdown
Structure levels. For example, several procurement activities are grouped under procurement
WBS and product development activities are grouped under research and development WBS. At
this step, activity types such as task dependent, milestone, level of effort should also be
determined to represent different types of tasks.

3. Determine the Resources Required to Complete the Activities

Resources of a project consist of labor, materials, equipment, subcontractors, employees, etc.

Resource planning and allocation are one of the most critical steps in project scheduling. Poor
resource planning results in project delays and cost overruns. Identification of the resources,
resource quantities and their availability should be determined at this step. Also, activity resource
assignments must be done at this step. It is important to decide the detail level of resources in
order to avoid multiple resources to a given task. Resources should represent the nature of the
task.

4. Estimate Activity Durations

Activity duration is the quantity of working period required to complete the task. Estimating
activity durations within a project can be difficult depending on the crew compositions and
project execution plan. There are some basic tools used to determine activity durations which are
Expert Judgement, Analogous Estimating, Parametric Estimating, and Three point estimation.

Depending on the project requirements, activity durations can be defined in hours, days or
weeks. There are many duration types used in project scheduling tools. Commonly used duration
types are Fixed Duration &Units, Fixed Duration and Units/Time, Fixed Units, Fixed
Units/Time.

5. Determine the Activity Dependencies (Activity Relationships)

Determine the Activity Dependencies is one of the most critical project scheduling steps. Each
activity should have at least one predecessor and one successor. If you do not obey this rule, The
Critical Path(CPM) of your schedule may be wrong and your schedule will not be realistic.

Dependencies are the relationships among activities which determine the order in which
activities need to be performed. There are four (4) types of dependency relationships which are
below:

• FS: Finish to Start

• SS: Start to Start

• SF: Start to Finish

• FF: Finish to Finish

6. Analyze the Project Schedule and Detail if Necessary

In this step, the accuracy of the schedule should be examined and if needed, the schedule can be
detailed. The target of this step is to validate the project schedule correctly models the planned
work. If needed, a resource leveling process can be performed and resource assignments can be
analyzed again.

7. Monitor and Control the Project Schedule

Monitoring and controlling the project schedule is the final step which must be performed
throughout the project’s life cycle. Project performance reporting is a part of this step which uses
inputs created at previous steps. Monitoring and controlling require the comparison of planned
and actual dates, durations, resource quantities, and performance measurement.

Earned Value Management techniques can be used, Schedule Performance Index (SPI), Schedule
Variance (SV), Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Cost Variance (CV) can be calculated to
demonstrate the performance of each task and the whole project.

credits: Project cubicle

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

Scrum Master in Agile Methodology.

Agile implementation is based on iterative development which is the repetition of a process until
the desired outcome is achieved. When a project is presented to a team and the desired outcomes
communicated, the team splits the project into sections known as sprints. They then focus on a
single sprint at a time, and only once the product owner is satisfied with the results of this sprint
does the team move onto the next one.

When implementing Agile procedures within departments, a Scrum Master is a crucial team
player that needs to be allocated. The person in this role ensures that the best team for the project
is put together, everyone on the team is working towards the same deadline and is sure of what
they need to accomplish to achieve the same goal.

“In most cases a team will form and start self-organising immediately in a new agile
implementation, mostly based on an affinity. The developers will sort out who is who, the testers
know what they are doing and want to achieve, and soon the business cases, specifications and
rules are transformed into stories. Cards will be placed on the walls, which are prioritised giving
an indication of what we are tackling. Followed by code being written, and test cases run,”
explains Vermuelen. “Everyone feels good about what is happening until something goes wrong,
and without a Scrum Master to help the team solve the issue, and make sure that everyone is
working together, time is wasted and there is a good chance that the sprint will fail.”

On projects with smaller teams the Scrum Master can be the product owner, while larger teams
need a dedicated Scrum Master as this type of project requires time that the product owner does
not have. For an agile project to be successful constant communication and fast reverts need to
be provided and expected to make sure that deadlines are met.

“A Scrum Master will hold daily scrum meetings with his team to chat about the status of the
project, and if there is anything that needs to be communicated. From here any issues will be
dealt with as a team, and the sprint will continue,” comments Vermeulen. “A Scrum Master is
vital in leading the team and uncovering any issues that may arise before the project continues.
Having a dedicated pair of eyes on the backlogs, ensuring that these backlog items are as concise
as possible, that priorities are aligned, and continually communicates the status of efforts of the
team to all stakeholders adds another layer of transparency to the project efforts.”

A dedicated Scrum Master that is well-versed in agile will almost immediately add value to your
agile implementation. Effective communication and leading the change that increases
productivity can often be the lynchpin that takes an agile implementation in the organisation to
the next level.

credits: businessmediamags.

#agile

#project

#scrummaster

#projectleader

#scrum

#safelean

#Sprint

#projectmanagement

#valuedin

#jazotech

#qualityvalu

Project communication plan:

A communication plan is a policy-driven approach to providing stakeholders with information.

The plan formally defines who should be given specific information, when that information
should be delivered and what communication channels will be used to deliver the information.
An effective communications management plan anticipates what information will need to be
communicated to specific audience segments. The plan should also address who has the authority
to communicate confidential or sensitive information and how information should be
disseminated (email, websites, printed reports, and/or presentations).

Finally, the plan should define what communication channels stakeholders will use to solicit
feedback and how communication will be documented and archived.

Credits: 911weknow

#quality

#project

#projectmanagement

#PMP

#QualityPlan

#projectplanning

#plans

#jazotech

#qualityvalu

#communication

#meeting
Quality Project Metrics :

1.Customer Satisfaction: A company needs to measure customer satisfaction as it directly

impacts quality metrics. Customer satisfaction can be measured in various ways, and an
organization should have different strategies to achieve this. For example, one strategy could
provide customers with quick service, while another might involve providing high-quality
products or services.

2.The Net Promoter Score, or NPS: is a quality metric that measures the likelihood of customer
referrals. The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of customers who are not likely to
refer your company from the percentage of customers who are likely to refer your company. A
high score indicates that most customers would be happy with their experience and recommend it
to others.

3.The number of errors and customer complaints: This metric counts all the mistakes made by
employees within an organization and then divides them by the total number of employees. The
result is expressed as a percentage with higher percentages indicating more mistakes per
employee than lower portions.

4.On-time completion and planned hours vs. actual time spent: On-time completion is a metric
that measures the percentage of jobs completed on time. Planned hours vs. exact time spent is
also a metric, and it measures the difference between how long you expected to take for a job
and how long you took. Evolved in quality metrics are qualities such as meeting customer
expectations, safety, efficiency, or productivity.
5.The number of time and budget changes- Quality metrics are commonly used to measure a
product or service quality. However, quality is evaluated using many different measurements,
including budget and time changes.

6.Resource Conflict- The resource conflicts involved in quality metrics are a common problem.
This often leads to a reduction in productivity and efficiency.

7 Types of Quality Metrics:

Quality metrics are the measurements of a product or service that determine its level of quality.
Understanding what they are and how to use them is vital for a successful business, so we have
outlined seven types.

1.Performance- Performance metrics are a significant component of quality metrics. Performance

is about the performance of the process and not just how quickly it is completed. Here's what you
need to know about performance metrics:

They are often measured in terms of speed, accuracy, or quality

They can be used to measure processes as well as products

Different types of performance measures will be used depending on the process being evaluated

2.Features- They help you identify areas where you can improve and show the positive effects of
your changes.
3.Reliability- Reliability is a vital part of quality metrics. Quality can be defined as the degree to
which an item satisfies stated and implied needs. Reliability, on the other hand, is a measurement
that indicates how well a product performs its function in the time between when it was designed
and when it will likely need servicing or replacement.

4.Conformance- To ensure that the quality of your product or service is top-notch, you need to be
able to measure how well it conforms with what was expected. You can do this by having a plan
for measuring and meeting expectations, continuously improving processes necessary for
meeting those expectations, and constantly monitoring the process.

5.Durability- The durability of quality metrics is an important consideration. Quality metrics are
used to monitor product quality and determine when it's time for a product recall. The durability
of these measures can be affected by many factors, including external environmental conditions
such as temperature or humidity.

6.Capturing Metrics- The quality of a product is one of the most critical aspects of its success.
Quality metrics measure how well a company meets customer requirements and expectations and
safety standards. They can be measured to provide information that will help companies make
decisions about their products or services.

7.Aesthetics- It is essential to know what aesthetic qualities make up the best quality and their
role in overall usability.

credits: techno-pm
#quality

#project

#metrics

#KPI

#management

#projectmanager

#manager

#progress

#improvement

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

Control Charts:

Control charts are a key part of the management reporting process that have long been used in
manufacturing, stock trading algorithms, and process improvement methodologies like Six
Sigma and Total Quality Management (TQM). The purpose of a control chart is to set upper and
lower bounds of acceptable performance given normal variation. In other words, they provide a
great way to monitor any sort of process you have in place so you can learn how to improve your
poor performance and continue with your successes.

The control chart serves to “sound the alarm” when a process shifts (for instance, a machine
suddenly breaking on a factory floor) or if someone has a breakthrough that needs to be
documented and standardized across the larger organization. Simply put (without taking
anomalies into consideration), you'll know something needs to be fixed if you're below your
lower control limit or above your upper control limit.

Control Charts At Work In 2 Industries

In industrial settings, control charts are designed for speed: The faster the control charts respond
following a process shift, the faster the engineers can identify the broken machine and return the
system back to producing high-quality products. At a factory, a lag in testing could mean that
thousands of parts are produced incorrectly before anyone notices the machine is broken, which
results in wasted time and materials, as well as angry customers.

In nonprofit organizations, a control chart could be used to determine when an online donation
system has broken down. If the website goes offline, halting critical donations, the leadership
team can quickly alert IT and ensure the page gets back up and running quickly. Alternatively,
seeing a major jump in donations likely means something good is happening—be it world events
or a successful marketing campaign. Either way, leadership should know as soon as possible
when donation activity changes.

Control Chart Examples: How To Make Them Work In Your Organization

Budget:

You can use your control charts to examine your percentage of spend each month. If you spend
over 15% of your budget in one particular spring month, that is extremely helpful to know right
away so you can cut back over the rest of the year. Or, if you spend less than 8% of your budget
for a couple months in a row, you'll know you may have a little wiggle room in the months to
come.

Retention rate:

Some organizations feel like they need a little turnover to keep the organization healthy. If you're
retaining your talent at a rate above your normal control limit, you'll know that you may not be
evaluating staff very selectively. You'll want to be sure to identify the reasons you may be
retaining so many employees to see if this is positive news or if an HR process is broken. But if
your retention rate is increasing or it drops below your lower control limit, you'll be able to
determine how to move that trend the other direction and dedicate more resources to recruiting
for a period of time.

Employee or citizen surveys:

Companies do quarterly customer support feedback surveys to see how our clients feel we’re
doing. If the company is doing something that is having a positive effect, we want to know what
it is and continue to do it well. But if we're falling below our normal control limit, we'll want to
note that something needs to change. This could be anything from having better customer service
response time to changing a particular feature in our software that is frustrating or difficult to
use.

Source: Clearpointstrategy.

#quality

#QC

#causes
#project

#management

#work

#analysis

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#English

Project Management Skills.

As companies strive to deliver complex projects in hyper-competitive environments, the demand

for skilled project managers is higher than ever before. In fact, the Project Management Institute
estimates that by 2027, the number of project management roles will increase by 33 percent,
creating nearly 22 million new jobs for qualified project managers.

Organizations, however, are facing talent shortages that leave them at significant risk. As such,
career opportunities are abundant for project management professionals who possess the key
skills these organizations need. Research shows that demand is highest for practitioners with the
necessary mix of competencies—a combination of technical and leadership skills plus business
acumen.
Are you ready to meet the demand? Read on to discover the seven essential project management
skills you need to succeed, and learn how to refine these skills to stand out among the
competition.

Below are the list of technical and soft skills required for a Project manager.

Technical Skills

1. General Technical Expertise

2. Technical expertise in area of work

3. Planning and Scheduling

4. Information and Technology

5. Budgeting and estimating

6. Change Management

7. Quality Management

8. Risk Assessment

9. Safety Management

10. Procurement and Contract

11. Resource Management

Human-Related/ Soft Skills

1. Leadership

2. Negotiation

3. Communication

4. Public speaking

5. Delegation

6. Decision Making

7. Political Awareness

8. Problem Solving

9. Accountability

10. Goal Orientation

11. Dispute resolution

12. Team Building

13. Flexibility

14. Dedication

#project

#projectmanagement

#skills

#leadership

#manager

#quality
#qualityvalu

#projects

#PMP

#certification

Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram.

Also known as a Cause and Effect diagram, or Ishikawa diagram. The method was created by
Kaoru Ishikawa in the 1960’s. He created it to help employees avoid solutions that merely
address the symptoms of a much larger problem.

The defect or problem is shown as the fish’s head on the right side (typically). The major
categories or causes of the problem or defect are the ribs off the fish’s backbone.

The most common categories are the 6 M’s:

1. Manpower (People)

2. Methods (Processes/Procedures)

3. Materials (Supplies/Vendors)

4. Machines (Equipment)

5. Measurement

6. Mother Nature (Environment)

Another concept is 4 P’s:

1. Policies

2. Procedures

3. People

4. Plant/Technology

From each rib, additional levels or root causes of each category become branches from the
bones.

#quality

#rootcause

#QC

#QA

#project

#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech
10 Steps to Become a Project Manager

To assist you on your project management journey, we have summarised the top ten steps you
must follow to become a successful project manager below.

Step One:

Know The Scope

Knowing clearly the project’s goals and objectives and knowing who you will be working with is
the logical starting point of becoming a project manager. This would also be a good time to
acquire as much knowledge as possible about the project and the processes involved so that you
can see the project successfully to the end. Knowing the scope is one thing, but ultimately
knowing as much as you can about the systems, processes, legal requirements, and any other
aspect likely to occur will put you in good stead in the long run.

Step Two:

Weed out bad ideas early.

Vetting ideas at an early stage so that the bad ideas can be weeded out is a no-brainer but is
easier said than done. Fortunately, there are several key questions you can ask yourself which
will give you an indication of whether an idea is good to go or not:

What is the problem you are trying to solve by undertaking this project?

Will the project you are working on solving this problem?

Is the project a good use of your resources?

What would be the consequence of not completing the project?

Step Three: Risk Analysis

Risk analysis is not an exercise done at the start of the project as the market is constantly
changing, and risks can arise seemingly out of nowhere.

In 2016, a survey of almost 700 project managers in the United Kingdom discovered that close to
one-third of the organizations surveyed never or rarely completed a project on time, on a budget,
or with the full benefits initially anticipated. Therefore, an effective project manager regularly
updates their baseline as the project evolves.

Step Four: Communicate Regularly

By communicating with your team from the beginning of the project, you can align expectations
quickly and painlessly, which helps you to avoid problems later down the road. To this end,
project charters can help clarify the types of elements involved in the project.

Communication should also not be limited to just those members working directly on the project.
Don’t forget to include other relevant stakeholders or interested parties in your communications
and consultations. This can be done formally through weekly meetings and status reports or can
be done through email updates.

Step Five: Kick Off The Project

The next step to becoming a project manager, having completed step four above, is for you to
kick off the project. This will require you to accurately work out your stakeholders and involve
them in a kick-off meeting. This is a great opportunity to align everyone’s expectations, as stated
above and get the project to gain momentum in the right direction.

Step Six: Document And Prioritise Tasks

Documenting tasks does not need to be a complicated or costly process. By first having a great
understanding of the project, as laid on in Step One above, you will be better able to itemize your
team's specific tasks and improve how your team contributes towards the end goal.

If you are unsure about the specific nature or is best suited to handle a task, becoming a Project
Manager requires you to find out. Don’t be afraid to ask, research and search online for a project
plan template that suits your project if necessary.

Step Seven: Manage the Agreed Upon Scope

Just because someone has come along and told you to add a task, remove another, or include a
consideration that you had not originally included in your project plan does not mean you need to
automatically accommodate those requests. Becoming a project manager requires you to do just
that: manage. Do some research where possible to work out how this new scope will affect the
end goal, meeting your deadline, and whether or not it will change the fundamental nature of the
project.

Step Eight: Know When To Escalate Issues

The key thing to note here for any project manager is to keep a cool head. A problem that may
seem like a major problem may, in fact, have a simple and timely solution, provided it is not
escalated unnecessarily. If an issue has arisen, that is likely to put a significant dent in your
project, consult the relevant members of your team and provide them with all the information
necessary so that an informed decision can be made.

The skills required for successful project management can be found in our everyday lives

Step Nine: Kill Distractions

You shouldn't deviate from your list of priorities in Step Six. As the project unfolds, it is natural
that something you may not have anticipated as being integral to the project has suddenly
become that much more important. In that case, consult and do your research before making any
impulsive decisions.

Furthermore, don’t be tempted to be interrupted in your workflow by unnecessary emails, text

messages, or other mediums that can kill your productivity.

Step Ten: Wrap Up, Debrief and Learn From Your Mistakes

#QMS #project #principles #goals #sigma #projectmanagement #pmp #Manager #manage

Don’t be in such a hurry to move on to your next project even after your current project is all but
completed; now is the time to self-reflect. Are the stakeholders happy with the outcome? Did you
meet your goals? What went wrong along the way?
Understanding the errors, what worked well, and what could be improved upon will enable you
to become an outstanding project manager.

Likewise, if the project doesn’t work out the way you intended, you can embrace the failure as
part of the learning process. As Thomas Edison once reportedly said: “I have not failed, I’ve just
found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

Quality Management principles

The seven quality management principles are :

QMP 1 – Customer focus

QMP 2 – Leadership

QMP 3 – Engagement of people

QMP 4 – Process approach

QMP 5 – Improvement

QMP 6 – Evidence-based decision making

QMP 7 – Relationship management

These principles are not listed in priority order. The relative importance of each principle will
vary from organization to organization and can be expected to change over time.
#quality

#goals

#TQM

#principles

#qualityintamil

#project

#QMS

#sigma

Six Sigma Methodology:

DMAIC

DMAIC's five steps

Main article: DMAIC

The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:

Define the system, the voice of the customer and their requirements, and the project goals,
specifically.

Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data; calculate the "as-is" process
capability
Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause and effect. Determine what the relationships are,
and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out the root cause of the defect
under investigation.

Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques such as
design of experiments, poka yoke or mistake proofing, and standard work to create a new, future
state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.

Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from the target are corrected before
they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical process control, production
boards, visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the process.

This process is repeated until the desired quality level is obtained.

Some organizations add a Recognize step at the beginning, which is to recognize the right
problem to work on, thus yielding an RDMAIC methodology.

DMADV

DMADV's five steps

DFSS

Also known as DFSS ("Design For Six Sigma"), the DMADV methodology's five phases are:
Define design goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise strategy.

Measure and identify CTQs (characteristics that are Critical To Quality), measure product
capabilities, production process capability, and measure risks.

Analyze to develop and design alternatives

Design an improved alternative, best suited per analysis in the previous step

Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it over to the
process owner(s).

Source: Wikipedia

#quality

#sixsigma

#lean

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#TQM

#project

#product

#DFSS
#DMAIC

Overview of Software Testing objectives.

The objectives of the testing are the reasons or purpose of the testing and the object of the testing
is the work product to be tested.

Testing objectives can differ depending on few factors as,

1. The context of the component

2. System being tested

3. The test level

4. The software development life cycle model

Above distinctions may include, for example:

Example 1: One goal of component testing may be to find as many failures as possible so that the
underlying defects can be identified and fixed as soon as possible. Another goal could be to
increase the code coverage of the component tests.

Example 2: One goal of acceptance testing may be to confirm that the system works as expected
and meets the requirements. Another goal of this testing could be to inform stakeholders about
the risks of releasing the system at a specific time.
The major objectives of any software testing process are outlined in the diagram above. Any
attempt to set quality goals for software development will need to take these objectives into
account.

Prevent Defects:

The most important objective of any Software Quality process is to prevent bugs in the software
development process. Early defect detection reduces the costs and labor associated with fixing
these defects. By conducting a root cause analysis of previous defects, we can also future-proof
our solution against any future flaws.

Evaluate Work Product:

Any goal of a software quality assurance process demands the creation of artifacts that help set in
the context of the product being developed. The principles of agile development demand a shift
left in terms of QA

Verify Requirements:

Meeting the needs of the client is the primary aim of the software development process. Any and
all software testing goals gravitate around ensuring that the expected standards are met, and QA
techniques are developed to ensure full compliance with both industry standards and user
expectations.
Validate test objects:

All test objects need to be validated in order to ensure that they meet the expectations set by the
business requirements of the project. Both manual, as well as automation test procedures, can be
implemented to ensure the validity of the test objects.

Build Confidence:

The bedrock of client confidence in a project is the software QA process. Having a low number
of or ideally no defects during user acceptance testing and presenting the clients with
comprehensive test reports is a surefire way to build confidence in your product.

Reduce Risk:

A major goal of any software quality process is to try out as many possible scenarios while
testing the product, in the shortest possible time, to identify and root out any risks during
deployment.

Share Information to stakeholders:

An essential goal for any software quality process is to provide the relevant stakeholders with
objective and accurate information to make an educated judgment of the quality of the tested
product. Test Coverage reports and other software testing metrics can cover these bases.
Find Failure and Defects:

The primary goal of any software QA process is to test the software as thoroughly as possible to
uncover any bugs and ensure superlative software quality.

These software quality objectives provide a useful yardstick for the QA team to evaluate and
modify any software testing goals based on their progress. These also enable us to understand the
activities which lead to the fulfillment of these objectives to meet our software quality goals.

Credits: BrowserStack

#quality

#test

#software

#softwarequalityassurance

#cmmi

#softwaredevelopment

#tester

#testlead

#QA

#valuedin

#qualityvalu
RACI Matrix: Discover the Roles Associated With a Process:

The roles associated with a process are quite often shown in the form of a RACI Matrix:

1. Responsible

2. Accountable

3. Consulted

4. Informed

Responsible and Accountable:

The key roles are those associated with accountability (where the buck stops) and responsibility
(who carries out the activity or activities) whilst the other two roles, consulted and informed are
very often ignored.

Whilst those accountable and responsible are the most important roles to identify, recognising
those that should be consulted and informed can sometimes mean the difference between a
process being successfully adopted and functioning, and it being partially adopted or not
functioning properly - or worse still, non-compliances.

Consulted:
The consulted group are those that: need to have a say somewhere in the process either at the
process design stage or during the operation of the process. In other words, there is a two way
conversation.

Quality or Compliance are good examples of these roles.

Informed:

The informed group of roles is a bit harder to pin down, but they are the roles that just need to be
told something is happening, they don’t input into the activity.

A good example of an informed role is customers who are informed that a delivery has been
despatched to them; however, if you need to contact the customer to arrange a suitable delivery
date, they would then have a consulted role.

Credits: traister UK

#quality

#RACI

#sigma

#six

#TQM

#process

#continuousimprovement
#project

#projectmanagement

#projectplanning

#responsibility

#accountability

#consultant

#information

#valuedin

#qualityintamil

#jazotech

What is a Process Capability Index?

The process capability index is a subset of statistical process control (SPC), which is quality
control through the use of statistics. Process capability can be further broken down into two
values: Cp and Cpk. The purpose of Process Capability (Cp) is to measure how much an output –
such as cable length or crimp height – varies, and whether those outputs stay within an
acceptable tolerance range as defined by an upper and lower limit. The Process Capability Index
(Cpk) measures how closely the range of those values is centered between the two limits.

To use an analogy, think of the upper and lower limits representing goal posts at a football game.
Process capability is concerned with how much the distance varies between successful field goal
attempts, and the index is concerned with how closely the spread of attempts line up with the
center of the uprights.
Cp is calculated as taking a sample of articles over a period of time and plotting their values in a
histogram. It’s important that these samples are randomly taken from various times of
manufacture, rather than just the first articles made, to account for machine drift. Once the
outputs are plotted on the graph, the values are inspected to see if they fit between the upper and
lower bounds set by a client’s tolerance (e.g. a +/- 0.4 inch tolerance for a cable length). If the
values are distributed evenly and can be represented by a bell curve within the upper and lower
bounds, the process is said to be capable. The actual value is determined by the estimated
variance across the outputs. This spread is processed using Six Sigma, and correlates to the
standard deviations from the target output. A higher Cp denotes a narrower bell curve and a
better, more controlled process.

What Process Capability Index Is Not?

Determining process capability is meant to be a snapshot in time, not representative of a

manufacturing process into perpetuity. As such, Cp and Cpk are values that should be used to
verify that equipment is running correctly and should be re-measured periodically as part of an
ongoing SPC regimen.

Evaluating process capability should only be done on established, stable processes. If special
circumstances cause variations, Cp is not equipped to account for them without a sufficiently
large sample size. New, untested processes can also be tested, but through a different process
called the Preliminary Process Capability Index (Ppk), which is based off the study of a body of
complete work rather than a sample of ongoing work like Cpk.

It should be noted that process capability is not a useful index for processes involving a large
amount of human interaction, or open to human error, such as labeling. The purpose of
calculating Cp is to make incremental improvements and, with the help of additional run and
control charts, determine when machines drift from their intended target output.

#quality

#TPM

#TQM

#six

#sigma

#process

#product

#ProcessCapability

#capable

#improvement

#continuousimprovement

#iso

#ISO9001

Project Planning Steps:

1. Define stakeholders.
Stakeholders include anyone with an interest in the project. They can include the customer or end
user, members of the project team, other people in the organization the project will affect and
outside organizations or individuals with an interest.

2. Define roles.

Each stakeholder's role should be clearly defined. Some people will fill multiple roles, however.

3. Introduce stakeholders.

Hold a meeting to bring stakeholders together and unify the vision behind the project. The topics
covered should include scope, goals, budget, schedule and roles.

4. Set goals.

Take what is gleaned from the meeting and refine it into a project plan. It should include goals
and deliverables that define what the product or service will result in.

5. Prioritize tasks.

List tasks necessary to meet goals and prioritize them based on importance and
interdependencies. A Gantt chart can be helpful for mapping project dependencies.

6. Create a schedule.

Establish a timeline that considers the resources needed for all the tasks.

7. Assess risks.
Identify project risks and develop strategies for mitigating them.

8. Communicate.

Share the plan with all stakeholders and provide communications updates in the format and
frequency stakeholders expect.

9. Reassess.

As milestones are met, revisit the project plan and revise any areas that are not meeting
expectations.

10. Final evaluation.

Once the project is completed, performance should be evaluated to learn from the experience and
identify areas to improve.

#planning

#quality

#qualityvalu

#qualitytime

#management

#project

#ProjectManagement

#photography
#sixsigma

#lean

#quotes

#steps

#process

Change Management Process:

As much as change is difficult and even painful, it is also an ongoing process. Even change
management strategies are commonly adjusted throughout a project. Like communication, this
should be woven through all steps to identify and remove roadblocks. And, like the need for
resources and data, this process is only as good as the commitment to measurement and analysis.

Common Challenges of Change Management

Change management, like any other business process, involves some unique challenges. From
the evolving approaches to the need for continual adjustment and improvement, change
management is a sometimes difficult — but always worthwhile — task.

Due to ever-changing consumer expectations and the competition in the global economy, the
science of organizational change is itself constantly changing and evolving. The human element
of change management may be one of the most difficult to navigate because people do not
inherently like change or adjust to it well.

Most change methods agree that change is difficult and cumbersome. Therefore, it’s critical to
involve people early on, implement processes, and continuously adjust for improvement. This
includes thorough planning, securing buy-in and resources, developing strong communication
norms, and continuously evaluating your processes.

#change

#quality

#qualityintamil

#management

#planning

#leadership

#process

#workflow2022

#changeneverchanges

#analysis

Risk Management process:

1. Identify and eliminate concerns early in the development of a process or design

2. Predict the likely effects for product performance

3. Identify critical steps/processes

4. Identify high risk areas

5. Prioritize risk

6. Prioritize remediation actions/solutions to maximize impact

7. Provide a methodology that facilitates process improvement

8. Prevent or minimize product manufacturing related quality issues

9. Improves internal and external customer satisfaction

#risk

#management

#quality

#qualityintamil

#QMS

#qualitytime

#process

#work

#ISO

#mitigation

Introduction to Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP):

Complex products and supply chains present plenty of possibilities for failure, especially when
new products are being launched. Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) is a structured
process aimed at ensuring customer satisfaction with new products or processes.
APQP has existed for decades in many forms and practices. Originally referred to as Advanced
Quality Planning (AQP), APQP is used by progressive companies to assure quality and
performance through planning. Ford Motor Company published the first Advanced Quality
Planning handbook for suppliers in the early 1980’s. APQP helped Ford suppliers develop
appropriate prevention and detection controls for new products supporting the corporate quality
effort. With lessons learned from Ford AQP, the North American Automotive OEM’s
collectively created the APQP process in 1994 and then later updated in 2008. APQP is intended
to aggregate the common planning activities all automotive OEM’s require into one process.
Suppliers utilize APQP to bring new products and processes to successful validation and drive
continuous improvement.

There are numerous tools and techniques described within APQP. Each tool has potential value
when applied in the correct timing. Tools that have the greatest impact on product and process
success are called the Core Tools. The Core Tools are expected to be used for compliance to
IATF 16949. There are five basic Core Tools detailed in separate guideline handbooks, including
Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP). The other Core Tools are:

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)

#quality

#newdevelopment

#productivity
#design

#planning

#QMS

#leadership

#APQP

#PPAP

#ISO9001

#ISO

#valuedin

#jazotech

#qualityintamil

Simplified Project Management process:

Define

Project Charter – at Gate 0, the project charter provides enough information to approve the
opportunity for further definition (ie enable initial filtering or down-selecting of projects or
opportunities). The charter typically includes goals, objectives, business case, sponsors, team
members, scope statement, constraints, assumptions.

Statement of Work (SOW) – tells a ‘story’ about what the team will do to achieve the desired
result or future state. How will the team get there?
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – define and organize the project work according to a
deliverable-oriented breakdown into smaller components (work packages or activities). The
WBS can be an appendix of the SOW.

Plan

Project Plan Checklist – a customized checklist that asks key questions about how the project
will be managed, executed, monitored and controlled.

Risk Assessment – an ongoing list of risks, scored by severity x likelihood.

Action Item List – an ongoing list of actions. Ideally the action item list would include the
problem, issue or opportunity, in addition to the corresponding action. Each action has a person
responsible and an action sponsor.

Process Map – almost always necessary as a planning and analysis tool. It may be optional;
however, the team should justify why it isn’t needed.

Project Schedule – schedule of activities and milestones, ideally in MS Project. Alternatively, a

more informal schedule can be established within the action item list.

Work Breakdown Structure (update) – as a result of more comprehensive planning in this phase,
an update of the WBS should be performed.

Implement

Project Status Document(s) – typically MS Powerpoint slides that provide project background
information and status. Content can include: original problem statement, vision, business case or
expected result/benefit, team members, project status (what’s been done thus far), and next steps.
Close

Lessons Learned – a project retrospective can be added to the MS Powerpoint project status
documents.

Summarizing the deliverables (1) charter, (2) SOW/WBS (3) project plan & action items
spreadsheet (4) project schedule if MS Project is used, (5) process map and (6) project status
document. From 3 to 6 collaborative project planning & execution deliverables, in addition to
sponsorship (gate) reviews, can significantly improve a multi-project initiative.

Note the deliverables suggested herein enable the most basic project management for
organizations that don’t have resources trained in the discipline of project management or
certified project management professionals. (Think “project management for non-project
managers” or “project management for core team leaders”.) Also note this approach is best
suited for many low risk projects (as opposed to a single, high-risk project).

Also, if pursuing a process improvement initiative, the above framework can be either replaced
or complemented by the DMAIC thought process. Define, Measure and Plan, Analyze, Improve,
Control and Close. A lean sigma black belt with a background in project management could
partner with core team leaders for a successful initiative. Finally, all of the above is scalable and
customizable to add structure and clarity to an organizations current-state project management
process.

#Quality
#leadership

#project

#management

#projectmanagement

#planning

#monitoring

#PMP

#QMS

#professional

#Promotion

#boss

#Leader

#process

A true leader doesn't demand respect. They command it. Unless you were lucky enough to fall
into your dream job straight out of school, you have worked under both leaders and bosses. You
might be thinking, yeah, but what's the difference between a leader and a boss? Aren't they the
same thing?

#quality

#boss

#leadership
#leaders

#TQM

#QMS

#manufacturing

#professional

#promotion

Elements of the House of Quality (HOQ).

The House of Quality (a simplification of the 6-part QFD House) is well explained in an article
published in the Harvard Business Review, “House of Quality,” by John R. Hauser and Don
Clausing[1].

Customer Requirements—This is generally the first portion of the HOQ matrix to be completed
and also the most important. It documents a structured list of a product’s customers’
requirements described in their own words (VOC). This information is usually gathered through
conversations with customers in which they are encouraged to describe their needs and problems.

The list of requirements gathered in such an exercise must be structured before its entry into the
HOQ. The construction of an affinity diagram can be used to do this.

Planning Matrix—The planning matrix attaches to the right side of the HOQ matrix and serves
several purposes. Firstly, it quantifies the customers’ requirement priorities and their perceptions
of the performance of existing products. Secondly, it allows these priorities to be adjusted based
on the issues that concern the design team. The measures used in this section are generally
gathered from customers using a questionnaire. The first and most important measure in this
section is the requirement ‘importance weighting.’ This figure quantifies the relative importance
of each of the customer requirements (described in the left hand portion of the HOQ matrix)
from the customers’ own perspective. This measure is often shown in a column alongside the
customer requirement description in the left section of the HOQ matrix. The ‘weightings’ of the
customer requirements can use the figure of merit (FOM) process to find their importance.

Technical Requirements—This section of the HOQ matrix is also referred to as the engineering
characteristics or ‘voice of the company.’ It describes the product in terms of the company. This
information is generated by the QFD design team who identify all the measurable characteristics
of the product which they perceive are related to meeting the specified customer requirements.
Again, the affinity diagram is applied to interpret these product characteristics. An additional
row is often included in this section to illustrate the direction of change in each of these
variables, which is considered to result in an improvement in product performance.

Interrelationships—This section forms the main body of the HOQ matrix and can be very time-
consuming to complete. Its purpose is to translate the requirements as expressed by the customer
into the technical characteristics of the product. Its structure is that of a standard two-
dimensional matrix with cells that relate to combinations of individual customer and technical
requirements. It is the task of the QFD team to identify where these interrelationships are
significant. Each combination of customer and technical requirement is considered in turn by the
QFD team.

The level of interrelationship discerned is weighted usually on a four-point scale (high, medium,
low, none) and a symbol representing this level of interrelationship is entered into the matrix
cell.
Roof—The triangular “roof” matrix of the HOQ is used to identify where the technical
requirements that characterize the product support or impede one another. As in the
interrelationship section, the QFD team work through the cells in the roof matrix considering the
pairing of technical requirements these represent. In using a paired ranking, the question is:
“Does improving one requirement cause a deterioration or improvement in the other technical
requirement?” Where the answer is a deterioration, an engineering trade-off exists and a symbol
is entered into the cell to represent this (usually a cross or “-“). Where improving one
requirement automatically leads to an improvement in the other requirement, an alternative
symbol is entered into the cell (usually a tick or “+”). Different levels of such positive or
negative interaction (e.g., strong/medium/weak) can be indicated using different colored
symbols. The information recorded in the roof matrix is useful to the design team in several
ways. It highlights where a focused design improvement could lead to a range of benefits to the
product.

It also focuses attention on the negative relationships in the design. These can represent
opportunities for innovative solutions to be developed which avoid the necessity for such
compromises being made.

Targets—This is the final section of the HOQ matrix to be completed and it summarizes the
conclusions drawn from the data contained in the entire matrix and the team’s discussions. It is
generally made up from three parts:

1. Technical priorities

2. Competitive benchmarks

3. Targets

Technical Priorities—The relative importance of each technical requirement of the product in

meeting the customer’s specified needs, can be simply calculated from the weightings contained
in the planning and interrelationship matrix sections. Each interrelationship weighting is
multiplied by the overall weighting from the planning matrix. These values are then summed
down the columns to give a priority score for each technical requirement.

Competitive Benchmarking—Each of the technical requirements that have been identified as

important characteristics of the product can be measured both for the company’s own existing
product and the available competitive products. This illustrates the relative technical position of
the existing product and helps to identify the target levels of performance to be achieved in a
new product.

Targets—The final output of the HOQ matrix is a set of engineering target values to be met by
the new product design. The process of building this matrix enables these targets to be set and
prioritized based on an understanding of customer needs, the competitor performance and the
organization’s current performance. The QFD team now need to draw on all this information
when deciding on these values.

#quality

#quotes

#TQM

#manufacturing

#design

#Requirements

#HouseOfQuality

#valuedin
#jazotech

#sonyandrews

#ISO

#ISO9001

7 Step DFMEA process.

Planning and Preparation – identify the scope of analysis and determine strategies to focus on

Structure Analysis – determine how to break down the system in subsystems, components,
process work elements, etc.

Function Analysis – describe the intended functions of each element from Step 2

Failure Analysis – identify the potential failure modes, effects, and causes for each intended
Function

Risk Analysis – assign Severity, Occurrence, and Detection values for each item from Step 4 to
prioritize the need for action

Optimization – establish the prevention and detection actions required to reduce risks
Results Documentation – record the complete results of the failure mode and effects analysis

#quality

#FMEA

#risk

#riskmanagement

#process

#manufacturing

#design

#TQM

#QA

#quotes

#valuedin

#jazotech

7 QC Tools for Quality Improvement.

Continuous quality improvement process

assumes, and even demands that team of experts in

field as well as company leadership actively use

quality tools in their improvement activities and

decision making process. Quality tools can be used

in all phases of production process, from the

beginning of product development up to product

marketing and customer support. At the moment

there are a significant number of quality assurance

and quality management tools on disposal to

quality experts and managers, so the selection of

most appropriated one is not always an easy task.

In the conducted research it is investigated

possibilities of successful application of 7QC tools

in several companies in power generating and

process industry as well as government, tourism

and health services. The seven analysed quality

tools are:

o Flow chart

o Cause-and-Effect diagram

o Check sheet

o Pareto diagram

o Histogram

o Scatter plot

o Control charts
#quality

#QMS

#qualityassurance

#safety

#Improvement

#TQM

#manufacturing

#production

#qualityintamil

#sonyandrews

#jazotech

#valuedin

A true leader doesn't demand respect. They command it. Unless you were lucky enough to fall
into your dream job straight out of school, you have worked under both leaders and bosses. You
might be thinking, yeah, but what's the difference between a leader and a boss? Aren't they the
same thing?

#quality

#boss

#leadership

#leaders
#TQM

#QMS

What is a Process Capability Index?

The process capability index is a subset of statistical process control (SPC), which is quality
control through the use of statistics. Process capability can be further broken down into two
values: Cp and Cpk. The purpose of Process Capability (Cp) is to measure how much an output –
such as cable length or crimp height – varies, and whether those outputs stay within an
acceptable tolerance range as defined by an upper and lower limit. The Process Capability Index
(Cpk) measures how closely the range of those values is centered between the two limits.

To use an analogy, think of the upper and lower limits representing goal posts at a football game.
Process capability is concerned with how much the distance varies between successful field goal
attempts, and the index is concerned with how closely the spread of attempts line up with the
center of the uprights.

Cp is calculated as taking a sample of articles over a period of time and plotting their values in a
histogram. It’s important that these samples are randomly taken from various times of
manufacture, rather than just the first articles made, to account for machine drift. Once the
outputs are plotted on the graph, the values are inspected to see if they fit between the upper and
lower bounds set by a client’s tolerance (e.g. a +/- 0.4 inch tolerance for a cable length). If the
values are distributed evenly and can be represented by a bell curve within the upper and lower
bounds, the process is said to be capable. The actual value is determined by the estimated
variance across the outputs. This spread is processed using Six Sigma, and correlates to the
standard deviations from the target output. A higher Cp denotes a narrower bell curve and a
better, more controlled process.
What Process Capability Index Is Not?

Determining process capability is meant to be a snapshot in time, not representative of a

manufacturing process into perpetuity. As such, Cp and Cpk are values that should be used to
verify that equipment is running correctly and should be re-measured periodically as part of an
ongoing SPC regimen.

Evaluating process capability should only be done on established, stable processes. If special
circumstances cause variations, Cp is not equipped to account for them without a sufficiently
large sample size. New, untested processes can also be tested, but through a different process
called the Preliminary Process Capability Index (Ppk), which is based off the study of a body of
complete work rather than a sample of ongoing work like Cpk.

It should be noted that process capability is not a useful index for processes involving a large
amount of human interaction, or open to human error, such as labeling. The purpose of
calculating Cp is to make incremental improvements and, with the help of additional run and
control charts, determine when machines drift from their intended target output.

#quality

#TPM

#TQM

#six

#sigma

#process
#product

#ProcessCapability

#capable

#improvement

#continuousimprovement

#iso

#ISO9001

#manufacturing

#professional

#promotion

5 Why Analysis:

The name of the method pretty much explains the steps: ask why and ask it again. Asking
“why?” five times usually gets to the bottom of the problem, but don’t let the name stop you
from asking more times. The idea is to drill down to the details of an event until you are left with
the actual root cause.

An example involving a faulty mixer subjected to 5 Whys is shown below.

#quality

#rootcause

#5why
#fishbone

#QC

#QA

#project

#product

#causes

#effects

#qualityvalu

#valuedin

#jazotech

What is a Plan?

How do you define a plan in your terminology?

Nothing is right or wrong. Please provide your views.

It could help many of the Quality, Product and project Aspirants.

Please comment your answers below.

Thanks,
Quality valU Team.

#questions

#ask

#what

#How

#quality

#plan

#project

#valuedin

#jazotech

#qualityvalu

#help

#aspirants

#QA

#QC

Quality Management System Documentation:

A Quality Management System (QMS) is a formalized system documenting processes,

procedures, and responsibilities for ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality products and
services to the consumer.
A QMS provides a framework for employees to plan their work, monitor progress, identify
problems, and take corrective action. It helps organizations improve performance and reduce
costs through better planning, improved communication, increased efficiency, and reduced risk.

The QMS should be designed in such a way as to provide the necessary information to manage
the business.

An effective QMS will help you:

• Identify areas where improvement is needed

• Reduce product defects

• Improve customer satisfaction

• Increase productivity

• Manage quality risks

• Control costs

• Ensure compliance with regulations

• Communicate effectively with customers and suppliers

• Make informed decisions

• Meet regulatory requirements

Elements of a Quality Management System

The purpose of this document is to describe the components of an effective QMS that will allow
you to meet your objectives. Typical elements of QMS include Quality Policy, Quality Manual,
Procedures, Work Instructions and Records.

1. Quality Manual
Your quality manual defines the Goals, Policies and rules, overview of procedures by which your
organization will operate. This includes all aspects of the quality management system. The levels
of details and the manual's format will depend on the type of organization.

2. Quality Policy

Quality Policy is a document developed by management to express the organization's overall

direction. It provides a framework for quality objectives and includes a commitment to meet
applicable requirements as well as to improve continually.

It states what the company stands for and should be aligned with the organization's mission and
vision statement or value proposition.

3. Procedures

They outline specific activities that must be performed at each step along the production process.
A procedure describes the sequence of operations required to produce a product. Procedures aim
to deliver efficient, high-quality outputs and ensure compliance with industry regulations.

4. Work Instructions

Work Instructions are written documents that contain step-by-step descriptions of how to
perform a task. They are sometimes referred to as "how-to" instructions. These instructions
should be used in conjunction with other tools such as manuals, procedures, and records.

5. Templates
A template is a form used as a guide to make something. A template is a sample document that
is used for the basis for a new document. A template determines the basic structure for a
document and contains document specific settings such as fonts, styles, page layout, macros etc.
When you create a document the file that is created initially is just a copy of its template.

6. Records

Records serve as documentation of activity and are essential for recording and reporting on the
status of various activities. Examples of records could include purchase orders, invoices,
inspection reports, test results, and defect data.

Conclusion

Ideally, QMS is not just a set of policies and procedures but also a culture and attitude towards
quality. It is more than just a collection of documents; it has to be implemented throughout the
organization to get the best benefit out of it.

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi
#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

SWOT Analysis with Example:

SWOT analysis is a simple and structured planning tool for reviewing and assessing the position
and health of an organization. It allows the organization to look deeply within itself to
understand the factors that influence its ability to achieve its goals. It can be helpful for an entire
organization, a department, a business unit, a project, and even in personal development and
career progression. SWOT simply stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

In order to execute a strategy within an organization, it is important to understand the factors

influencing the business performance, and this is where SWOT analysis comes in. It has become
one of the most popular tools for strategic planning, and often used before developing or
updating the strategic plan. It allows to examine the gap between where the company currently
is, where it aims to be in the future, and where the company currently stands within the industry
and market.

SWOT analysis helps identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to
a business venture. It involves identifying the key internal and external factors that are helping or
hindering reaching your goals. Internal factors are the strengths and weaknesses within the
organization, whereas external factors are the opportunities and threats presented by the external
environment. Results of a SWOT analysis workshop are often presented in the form of a four-
field matrix.
Strengths – the internal positive characteristics that increase the overall performance and put the
business at a competitive advantage.

Weaknesses – the internal deficiencies which may decrease the overall performance and inhibit
the business from achieving its goals.

Opportunities – the external factors and events that the business could exploit to its advantage in
order to achieve its goals.

Threats – the unfavorable external factors and events that may interrupt the business from
achieving its goals.

SWOT analysis has many uses other than in strategic planning. It can be useful, for example,
when evaluating strategic alternatives like an investment opportunity, or a potential joint venture,
partnership or acquisition. It can also be useful in project management during the prioritization
process of projects. This will increase the chances to select the projects or the strategic
alternatives with the greatest benefits.

Conducting a SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is normally led by a facilitator who has considerable responsibility for executing
the company’s strategy. The following steps describe how to conduct a SWOT analysis:
Invite representatives from finance, operation, marketing, and any other key players.

Clearly explain the purpose for conducting the SWOT analysis and how you will do it.

Hang out four large flipcharts, one for each of the four SWOT categories.

Brainstorm the strengths and weaknesses within your business, and the opportunities and threats
present in your environment.

Record inputs and ideas from the brainstorming session on the flipcharts.

Clarify content and ensure the appropriateness and completeness of the recorded information.

Share and communicate the outcomes to relevant stakeholders.

Take actions and assign responsibilities to maximize strengths and opportunities and minimize
weaknesses and threats

The following example uses a four-field matrix to present the outcome of a SWOT analysis for
an organization. Note that It is normal for any business to have weaknesses and potential threats.
Attempts should be made to convert weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities.

#SWOT
#strength

#weakness

#opportunity

#threats

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control.

What is Quality?
Quality is extremely hard to define, and it is simply stated: “Fit for use or purpose.” It is all about
meeting the needs and expectations of customers with respect to functionality, design, reliability,
durability, & price of the product.

What is Quality Assurance?

Assurance is nothing but a positive declaration on a product or service, which gives confidence.
It is certainty of a product or a service, which it will work well. It provides a guarantee that the
product will work without any problems as per the expectations or requirements.

Quality Control:

Quality control popularly abbreviated as QC. It is a Software Engineering process used to ensure
quality in a product or a service. It does not deal with the processes used to create a product;
rather it examines the quality of the “end products” and the final outcome.

The main aim of Quality control is to check whether the products meet the specifications and
requirements of the customer. If an issue or problem is identified, it needs to be fixed before
delivery to the customer.

QC also evaluates people on their quality level skill sets and imparts training and certifications.
This evaluation is required for the service based organization and helps provide “perfect” service
to the customers.

Credits: guru99
#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality

#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ISO9001

12 Basic Project Management Principles for Absolute Beginners

Managing projects can be daunting, especially if you find yourself thrown into project
management with little training or guidance beforehand. Besides the actual work of project
management, just sorting out the terminology, tools, and methodologies can be frustrating. But
where does one acquire the knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques needed to be a good project
manager?

For starters, what is a project means to them? Not everything that happens at your organization is
a project. According to PMI, a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique
product, service, or result.” By temporary, we mean that a project has a clear beginning and end.

A project’s uniqueness refers to the fact that all the facets of the project are meant to contribute
to a specific objective that isn’t a constant part of the organization’s operations.

So then, project management can be defined as “the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.” And project management
principles are a general guideline for how to operate. They can’t provide all the answers or tell
you precisely what to do, but they can give you direction.

1. Have well-defined project goals and objectives

This principle is at the top of our list for good reason. The goals you set for your project will play
a critical role in its success or failure in projects. When you set your project objectives before
work begins, you, your client, and your team are all on the same page and future
misunderstandings can be avoided.

Good goals are realistic, clear, and measurable.

Realistic– Can we accomplish this goal with the allotted time and resources available to us?

Clear– Do we know exactly what is being asked of us? Does everyone understand?

Measurable– Are there quantifiable indicators with which we can judge each goal?

2. Define your deliverables

The Project Management Institute defines a deliverable as “any unique and verifiable product,
result, or capability to perform a service that is produced to complete a process, phase, or
project.”

Once the project’s goals and objectives have been established, you can define your project
deliverables. If the customer’s objective is for end-users to manage their own content, for
example, the deliverables might be a piece of software that enables users to manage content as
well as training materials for employees and end-users on how to use the newly created software.

3. Work to create and maintain organizational alignment

There are two ways of thinking about organizational alignment:

Organization-focused view

Employee-focused view.

The organization-focused view emphasizes several important components of the organization

supporting one another. The company’s purpose, strategy, capabilities, structure, and systems
should all work together.
The employee-focused view encourages managers to evaluate how well-matched the employee is
in terms of individual role, professional goals, team membership, and organizational vision and
mission.

As a project manager, you may not have control over all these factors, but to the extent, you can
affect change, you should leverage these organizational alignment concepts for a more successful
project.

4. Have clear team roles and responsibilities

Few things cause more confusion and tension on a team than a lack of clarity around roles and
responsibilities. When the project team doesn’t know what their roles are or how those roles
relate to other people on the team, boundaries are crossed and unnecessary conflicts arise.

As a project manager, it’s your responsibility to clearly define the role of each team member to
help everyone work well together.

5. Create a strategy for initiation and execution

Project initiation includes all the preliminary work that must be done before any other project
activities can take place. That preliminary work can be broken down into four categories:

building a business case for the project

conducting feasibility project reports

involving project stakeholders

creating a Project Initiation Document (PID).

Project execution is what most people have in mind when they think about project management.
It usually starts with a project kickoff meeting to officially begin the project. This is when you
share the vision and plan for the project, delegate tasks to team members, and send everyone on
their way to get things done.

During the execution phase, make sure there’s a plan in place to document errors, corrections,
and other changes.

6. Know your numbers do careful budgeting and scheduling

Every project and every project manager has limited resources. It almost goes without saying
that you need to budget your financial resources carefully, give yourself some margin for
unexpected expenses, and take reasonable measures to save costs during the course of your
project. Your budget is inextricably linked to your project schedule; if your timeline gets
wrecked, your project budget probably will too.

Make sure to have project scheduling tools and see if you’ve accounted not just for how long
each project task should take, but also for things like holidays, corporate and stakeholder events,
and team member vacations.

7. Identify priorities and milestones ahead of time

Priorities tell you what to focus on, and project milestones tell you where you are. When you’re
in the midst of a project, it’s easy to sometimes get distracted from essential things by less
important details that feel urgent at the moment. When you define your task priorities at the
outset of your project, you already know where to direct your team’s energy should a conflict
arise. It’s also easy to lose track of the big picture when you’re involved in the details of a
project.
Identifying milestones in the project planning phase will help you know if you’re on course and
on schedule. Recognizing milestone achievements is good for morale as well. Your team will be
more motivated if there’s a tangible sense of progress on the project.

8. Establish a means of accountability and responsibility

Speaking of motivation, one of the best motivators for team members is empowering them with a
sense of responsibility and accountability. By giving individuals responsibility for their own
work, you take the burden of micro-management off of yourself and give your employees the
ability to work from their strengths and learn new project management skills, both of which are
better for your project and your organization, not to mention the employee, in the long run.

Part of giving team members individual responsibility is setting up a means of accountability.

You need a system in which task delegation and project deadlines can be tracked and each team
member can visualize his or her contribution in the context of the larger project.

9. Create a communication plan

Explain and implement strong communication guidelines from the outset of your project.
Whether it’s email, text messaging, a chat service, or some combination of things, make sure
everyone on the team understands why communication in project management is essential and
how to use the technology you’ve selected.

You also need to set clear expectations about the kinds of information that need to be
communicated and who needs to be notified in certain circumstances. As a project manager, be
sure to model the kind of communication you expect from all stakeholders.
10. Be transparent

In the realm of projects, transparency means creating a system in which all team members can
access all relevant information about a project easily and efficiently. Creating project
transparency is relatively easy, especially if you utilize the right project management software.

To create or improve project transparency, let everyone see the big picture, make project data
available to your whole team, provide good tools for collaboration, and share calendars among
team members and even outside stakeholders. Project transparency leads to better outcomes for
both the team and the project itself.

11. Do a risk assessment

A risk assessment is an acknowledgment that something could go wrong. It’s important to

identify the project management risks and mitigate them at the beginning of your project rather
than be caught off guard later. Ask your team members what risks they think you need to
consider.

You can’t eliminate all the risks from your project, but being prepared for them can save you
from project failure.

12. Monitor and measure progress

As part of your project planning, you’ll establish key project management KPIs in the form of,

budgets
project timelines and

quality expectations.

During the course of your project, you should regularly keep track of project progress and check
your KPIs so you can catch issues and make corrections quickly. Don’t forget to celebrate
successes when your KPIs tell you the team has achieved a goal!

Credits: Kissflow

#estimation

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter
#charter

#chart

#PMO

#projectmanagement

#skill

Deming’s 14 Points with Examples:

Let’s jump in and look at each of Deming’s 14 Points with examples.

1. Create Constancy of Purpose

Constancy of purpose is about prioritizing continuous improvement over the long term.
Improvement isn’t just something you should do ad-hoc when it suits you; it should be core to
everything you do and one of your highest priorities.

Doing what you’re doing now only better is all well and good, but constancy of purpose is about
committing to allocate resources to long-term planning, research and development, and
improving the design of your product or service.

Increasing customer satisfaction, developing employees, reducing errors and waste should be
continuous and expected of all employees.

Example:
Here are some examples of how to implement this constancy of purpose:

Commit to developing your team on an ongoing basis.

Create a vision of the future. Make sure every employee knows this vision.

Ask for process improvements and product quality improvements every week from your team.

2. Adopt the New Philosophy

Adopting the new philosophy is about striving for perfect quality. You must no longer tolerate
commonly accepted levels of mistakes, people who don’t know what they’re doing, defects, and
inadequate supervision.

At the heart of this new philosophy should be the desire to put your customer’s needs first.

Example:

Here are some examples where you could adopt the new philosophy.

If you run a business delivering white goods, is the commonly accepted four-hour delivery
window really putting your customer’s needs first?

If you run a restaurant, is it acceptable for a customer to order only to be later told that what they
ordered is out of stock?

Is it acceptable to wait over fifteen minutes to speak to a customer support team member if you
run a bank?

3. Stop Depending on Inspections

Stop depending on inspections to improve quality and build quality into your processes instead.
An inspection doesn’t improve quality because it happens too late. At the point of inspection, the
quality of the product already exists, good or bad, so all an inspection does is find an existing
lack of quality.

Toyota makes exceptionally reliable cars, and it has achieved this by building quality into its
processes. This approach doesn’t just apply to manufacturing. A manager “signing-off” a team
member’s work doesn’t improve the quality of that work either.

Example:

Imagine you run an e-commerce store. The next time you identify a problem, then in addition to
fixing the issue, examine the process that enabled the problem to happen, and come up with a
way to error-proof the process.

If you can error-proof your process, you remove the need for inspections, and the quality of your
products will improve over time. You may wish to combine this with statistical control methods
to show that your processes improvements are having the desired effect.

4. Focus on Total Cost, Not Price Tag

Many companies purchase goods and services based solely on price alone. Similarly, many
organizations will source identical items from different suppliers and pit those suppliers against
each other to drive down the price.

While this might work in the short term, Deming believes it’s a poor long-term strategy. Deming
encourages you to use a single supplier for any one item and build a long-term relationship with
that supplier, where you consider them an extension of your own business. Doing this will
eliminate many of the hidden costs that occur when you purchase items based solely on price.

Example:

Imagine you are a watch manufacturer. Right now, you purchase an identical part from six
different manufacturers. Let’s examine the hidden benefits you could achieve by transitioning to
a single supplier:

You’d have a smaller supplier base to manage.

There would be no variation in quality between suppliers.

You could maintain a smaller inventory because your supply chain is more straightforward.

5 . Improve Constantly and Forever

Continuous improvement isn’t something you should do when it’s convenient. You should
commit to continuous improvement always and forever.

Instead of reacting when something goes wrong, invest in continuous improvement to

consistently improve the quality of your products and processes.

Deming created the PDCA Cycle to help organizations continuously improve. If you use this
cycle, then over time, your product quality will improve, your customer satisfaction will
increase, your costs will reduce, and ultimately your business will grow.

Example:
Imagine you are a senior manager at a sizeable online technology company. Firefighting and
reacting to problems as they arise is not continuous improvement; it’s just rectifying something
to get it back to where it should have been in the first place. You decide to invest in PDCA and
every week make improvements to your products and processes, such as:

Improve how you select your suppliers.

Improve the process for hiring staff.

Improve your software development process.

Improve the onboarding training for new team members.

6. Institute On The Job Training

Without adequate training, you are wasting the abilities of your employees. Not only that, you
are holding them back from taking more pride in their work. People can do amazing things if
given the opportunity.

Train people for consistency to help reduce variation. This training needs to encourage people to
understand the big picture and why it is vital to continuously improve processes. Provide an
environment where staff learn from each other. Move away from a blame culture to one where
people work together to improve quality.

Example:

Imagine you run a small startup with twenty employees. What happens when you hire employee
number twenty-one? Right now, you introduce them to the team and expect them to be up and
running immediately.
Wouldn’t it be better if:

You established clear job responsibilities.

You defined what good quality work looks like.

You had a standard process they could follow.

You provided them with complete onboarding training.

7. Institute Leadership

Institute leadership is one of the most controversial of Deming’s 14 Points as it is the opposite of
what most managers do today. Most managers today look for their employees to hit targets, react
to problems as they happen, and then hold them accountable when things go wrong. Their idea of
continuous improvement is simply to set higher targets each year.

According to Deming, behaving in this way is management, not leadership. To create leadership
in your organization, Deming proposes that:

Leaders must know the work. How are you qualified to hire and train staff if you don’t
understand the job?

Leaders must remove barriers for hourly workers. Remove barriers to enable these workers to do
their best. They are the drivers of your business.

Leaders must work on sources of improvement.

Example:
Imagine you run a fashion retailer. Your hourly workers are those that work on the shop floor,
helping customers. To remove barriers, you could create a feedback channel for these staff and
quickly act on their suggestions.

8. Drive Out Fear

A culture of fear is not conducive to great work. Employees should not be scared of:

Expressing a different opinion to the CEO.

Ridicule.

Relaying bad news or mistakes.

Taking action on long-term goals, even if it means a hit to short-term goals.

Creating a fearless and blameless culture will increase product quality and employee retention.

Example:

You’ve just been put in charge of a team and, with it, inherited a culture of fear. Here are some
actions you decide to take to eliminate this culture:

Encourage views that differ from your own.

Encourage people to provide bad news.

When a team member makes a mistake, emphasize that the problem was caused not by them but
by bad processes.

Be approachable.
9. Break Down Barriers

This concerns breaking down the barriers between departments. Instead of just improving
processes within each department, also focus on improving processes across departments.

Ways to achieve this include:

Create internal customers by recognizing that each department has each other department as its
customer.

Build a shared vision.

Use cross-functional teams.

Example:

Imagine you are CEO of a large company. You are concerned that your departments have
conflicting goals, and communication and cooperation between departments is poor. To improve
things, you consider:

Creating a cross-functional task force to build out horizontal processes.

Establishing internal customers and tasking each department to improve its quality to its internal
customers continuously.

10. Eliminate Unclear Slogans

You have probably encountered slogans such as:

“Take pride in what you do.”

“Always go the extra mile.”

Deming says that you should get rid of these types of slogans as they can be detrimental to
performance and quality. Why? Because quality is being held back by the system, not
employees, and the system is the responsibility of management.

Instead of improving things, these slogans can lead to resentment and frustration in employees.

Example:

Imagine you are a manager wanting to boost morale and retention. You remove all slogans and
instead decide to show employees what you are doing for them every month. This might include:

Moving to a single suppler.

Buying new equipment.

Providing better training.

By showing your team that you are taking ongoing responsibility for allowing them to work
smarter and not harder, you should begin to increase morale and retention.

11. Eliminate Management by Objective

This principle is similar to principle 7, Institute Leadership, and also controversial. Your aim
should be to replace management by objective with leadership.

All too often, management sets numerical targets, frequently based on the average output of
employees. This creates a twofold problem. Half your team won’t be able to hit the target, and
the other half will find it too easy. Overall, this has the effect of reducing morale.
Improvement should come from not focusing on the result but instead on the details.

Deming is not advocating the abandonment of all measurement, but saying that you should move
away from measuring employees’ performance relative to targets and focus instead on improving
the quality of your products and processes. It is fine, however, to measure employee competency.

You then measure the capability of your people, not their output.

Example:

You are a manager and decide to get rid of management by objectives. Instead, you replace this
with hands-on actions to increase the capability of your people: more training, continuous
improvement, more communication about inputs, outputs, and processes.

12. Remove Barriers to Work Pride

Remove the barriers that stop your team from taking pride in their work. You can do this by
switching your focus from volume to quality of output and process.

Build into your processes the ability for workers and management to improve the quality of the
processes they use.

Example:
Imagine you have recently been appointed to lead a team manufacturing widgets. Morale is low
because although the team are experts in what they do, they have no authority to change the
processes that they perform.

You decide to help your team regain pride in their work by:

Allowing them to stop production when they encounter a problem to fix the issue at source once
and for all.

Encouraging employees to raise concerns and responding quickly to those concerns.

13. Implement Education and Self-Improvement

Implement a vigorous program of training and self-improvement to improve the skills of all
workers and managers.

Building your team’s skills will increase employee retention, make them better able to improve
processes, and make them more adaptable to future change.

Example:

Imagine you’re a manager that has just taken control of a team where training has previously
been performed on an ad-hoc basis.

You decide to improve this by:

Creating a system that ensures ongoing training.

Tracking and reviewing the training of each team member.

Creating Personal Development Plans for each team member.

14. Make Transformation Everyone’s Job

The final point of Deming’s 14 Points is that transformation should be the job of everyone in the
organization.

Although your team can’t produce quality better than the constraints the management system
places on them, it is everyone’s job to work together to transform, not just managers.

Transformation is a journey that requires commitment and input from everyone. Only over
hundreds or thousands of tiny improvements can you transform the whole organization.

Example:

Assuming you have a vision for where you want your organization to go, the perfect tool to
transform an organization using hundreds of small steps is the PDCA Cycle.

Credits: Expertprogrammanagement

#Deming

#muda

#principles

#quality
#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

Quality Assurance Concepts!!

1. Quality Systems

2. Operational Quality

3. Customer Service

4. Continuous Improvement

#quality
#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

#qualityvalu

#jazotech

#valuedin

What is a Flow Chart ? Process Flow Diagram or Chart its use, PFC Symbol and Example.

What is Process Flow Chart / Diagram (PFC/PFD)

PFC is chart or diagrams that show us a clear picture of step by step process in sequential order.
Or in simple words process flow chart or diagram is a chart or sheet which shows us the step
wise process of making a part/component from material inward to dispatch. Developing a flow
chart is one of the best activity for process Improvement effort.
Process Flow Chart/Diagram is one of the important 7 QC Tools, as everyone knows 7QC tools
are used for problem solving, monitoring and analyzing the process data. It is true in an
organization 95% quality related problem is resolved by using 7QC Tools.

Flow Chart are mainly used in industrial Engineering (IE) to structure the step wise process, but
today flowchart are used in other purpose in manufacturing, chemical ,engineering, education,
science and government etc.

There are different types of flow chart like Process Flow Diagram, Workflow Diagram, Yes/No
Flow Charts, and Data Flow Diagram etc.

Use and purpose of Flow Chart

A Process Flow Chart/Diagram has multiple use and purposes as below

1. For Planning a New Project

2. For Process Documentation

3. For Process Improvement Study

4. To show everyone how involved in process that how the process and part is manufacturer

5. For Audit a process to avoid inefficiencies

6. To create a new process

7. To avoid unnecessary steps and bottleneck from any process

8. To standardise a process for repeatability

9. To remove and identify non-value adding operations

10. To understand the flow of an process

11. It helps us for decision making

12. It highlights the important step of any process

13. In this chart we are using define process symbol

credits: GKdaring.

#flowchart

#flow

#chart

#qualityvalu

#quality

#rootcause

#RCA

#QMS

#project

#projectmanagement

#value

#analysis

Project Scope management:

It’s every project manager’s dream that the project goes on smoothly from initiation to
completion, without delays and exceeding budgets. But, that rarely happens in reality.

Even if you discuss and plan out all the details in advance with all the project stakeholders
involved, there’s always something that changes the scope of the project during its course. In
fact, scope creep is a huge concern for project managers, affecting 52% of the projects.

By managing the scope of the project, you can document everything required to achieve the
project goal and avoid issues like scope creep.

What is project scope management?

Project scope management is a process that helps in determining and documenting the list of all
the project goals, tasks, deliverables, deadlines, and budgets as a part of the planning process. In
project management, it is common for a big project to have modifications along the way.

With the scope in the project management defined right in the beginning, it becomes much easier
for project teams to manage and make the required changes.

Importance of project scope management

For a project manager, managing the expectations of the stakeholders and clients is one of the
most challenging tasks. With a definite project scope, managers can easily stay on track and
ensure that all the deadlines are being followed throughout the project life cycle.

A well-defined project scope management helps avoid common issues like:

1. Constantly changing requirements

2. Pivoting the project direction when you are already mid-way

3. Realizing that the final outcome isn’t what was expected

4. Going over the discussed budget

5. Falling behind the project deadlines

Effective project scope management gives a clear idea about the time, labor, and cost involved in
the project. It helps to distinguish between what is needed and what isn’t needed for
accomplishing the project. Scope in project management also establishes the control factors of
the project to address elements that might change during the project life cycle.

How is the project scope defined?

Project scope is a part of the project planning process that documents specific goals, deliverables,
features, and budgets. The scope document details the list of activities for the successful
completion of the project.

The scope is defined by understanding the project requirements and the client’s expectations.
The scope statement usually contains,

1. project objectives

2. project deliverables

3. exclusions
4. project constraints and

5. project assumptions.

Scope statement in project management:

The project’s scope statement is also called its scope document or statement of work. The project
scope statement

details all the boundaries of the project while also establishing the responsibilities of the team,

defines all the procedures that need to be followed for verifying and approving the finished work,
and,

gives team members a definitive guideline for making project-related decisions.

When documenting the scope of a project, team members and stakeholders have to be as specific
as possible to avoid scope creep, a situation where some parts of the project end up taking more
time and effort than initially discussed due to miscommunication or poor planning.

With effective project management, teams are able to ensure that the project is finished on
deadline, a proper project communication plan is done, and the final product aligns with the
initial requirements.

Project scope management process

Let’s discuss the six processes involved in accurately identifying the project scope management:
project scope management

1. Planning scope management

In the first process in project scope management, you create a scope plan document that you can
refer to in the later stages. The document mainly helps in defining, managing, validating, and
controlling the project’s scope.

It includes:

Detailed project scope statement

Breakdown of all the project requirements

Expected project deliverables

Project change control process

The document doesn’t have to be very detailed, it just has to fit the purpose. You can also use a
previous project’s scope management plan as a reference for this.

2. Collecting requirements

The next step is to work out stakeholder requirements and expectations. You will be required to
document all the project requirements, expectations, budgets, and deliverables through
interviews, surveys, and focus groups.
This is a rather important step because more often than not, stakeholders can have unrealistic
requirements or expectations and the project managers would be required to step in to find a
solution that is acceptable by everyone from avoiding project delays.

At the end of the collection requirements stage, you should have the following:

Functional as well as non-functional requirements

Stakeholder requirements

Business requirements

Support and training requirements

Project requirements

3. Defining the scope

At this step, you need to turn your requirements into a well-detailed description of the service or
product that you are trying to deliver through the project. You will then have a project scope
statement that you can then refer to throughout your project.

While it is important to list what is in the scope of the project, it is just as important to note down
what is out of the project scope. Any kind of inclusions to the scope would then have to go
through the entire change control process to ensure the team is only working on things that they
are supposed to work on.
With a defined scope, you get a reference point for your project team and anyone else involved.
In case there is something that is not involved in the scope, it doesn’t need to be completed by
the team.

4. Making a project breakdown structure

A project breakdown structure is a document that breaks down all the work which needs to be
done in the project and then assigns all the tasks to the team members. It lists the deliverables
that need to be completed and their respective deadlines as well.

You can use project management software for this step of the process to assign and prioritize
project tasks which will make it easier to track the entire progress of the project and avoid any
unnecessary bottlenecks.

5. Validating scope

In this step, the scope and deliverables that you have recorded need to be sent to project
executives and stakeholders to get the necessary approvals. Scope validation needs to be done
before starting the project to ensure that if something goes wrong then it is easy to find where it
went wrong.

6. Controlling scope

Project managers need to ensure that as the project begins, it always stays within the defined
scope. In case there are some things that need to change, then the proper change control process
should be followed.

5 Tips for an effective project scope management

Ensure to create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) as it will provide a breakdown of the scope
statement into smaller, more manageable parcels.

To avoid unnecessary work and stress, avoid ambiguity in your scope. Define it as clearly as
possible.

Make the process of defining scope a collaborative process to prevent misinterpretations of

requirements. You can use project collaboration tools to improve effective communication
between project teams.

Ensure that the scope document is not altered during project execution to avoid any increase in
scope beyond what was initially discussed.

Finally, take your time to consult all relevant stakeholders and define the project scope, as it
cannot change once finalized.

Credits: Kissflow

#estimation

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday
#wrike

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#jazotech

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#ProjectCharter

#charter

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#skill

Basic Estimation Techniques:

It’s hard to estimate a project as you never find exactly the same ones to take examples and guess
how much effort, time and budget it can take. What works best in one case doesn’t work at all in
any other even with the same data, teams and budget. Moreover, even the best project estimation
techniques can fail and the only technique that really works is project accomplishment itself.
Only its fulfilment shows the exact amount of time.

Any project manager should know: the better you are prepared with project estimates, the more
likely you finish a project and save budget.

What is estimation?
The thing we have to learn right away. To put it generally, estimation is some kind of a process
with the purpose to find a certain value – an estimate. Using this estimate as a baseline, project
managers are able to determine key points such as efforts, budget, resources, time and some
others to successfully complete a project.

Project estimation techniques

1. Analogous estimate

2. Parametric estimate

3. 3-point estimate

4. Bottom-up estimate

To start with estimates, I would mention a very important point. It’s crucial to be precise as
possible with a project scope and know as many as possible successful project scope statement
examples. If everything is defined from the very beginning, it is much better for farther project
development and accomplishment. It should be clear from a project scope what a project should
achieve.

Project estimation techniques are critical for predicting its accomplishment date and money it
requires. The described techniques to estimate can be applied in any methodology be it
something traditional like Waterfall or modern like Agile. Of course, if we go deeper into, say,
Agile, we will discover plenty of other techniques. But I will pay your attention to 4 significant
ones. To possess them is also necessary as to have a good command of top 10 project
management skills.

1. Analogous estimate

Some people also call it top-down estimate. The project estimate is used in cases when there is
not much documentation or information. To make estimates, a similar project or projects are
taken from the past. Of course, it’s much better if past projects are taken by people who managed
them and know what exactly it took to complete it.

Example

There is a task – to develop five new marketing landings. Your team already dealt with similar
tasks with five landings and it took 1 week. Consequently, you take this amount of time as an
example. Thus, if you need to develop 10 landings, you multiply 1 week by 2 and get 2 weeks.

Pros: calculation is fast; not much documentation is needed.

Cons: not so accurate in comparison with other techniques.

Accuracy: the lowest

2. Parametric estimate
It’s very similar to analogues estimation. But it’s more accurate as the whole work in a project is
divided into parts or units that can be measured. Some people consider it to be one of the most
accurate methods to determine cost and durations of a project.

The approach relies on detailed data from previous projects or activities. For this you need to
define each deliverable and what it requires and then research information that will tell you
duration or cost of each deliverable. The difference between this estimate and analogous one is
that here there is statistical prove for the technique.

Example

Again our landing example. We search the Web in order to find relevant information about how
much time it takes to develop a similar landing. We find that approximately it needs 10 hours. If
we need 5, we multiply 10 by 5 and get 50 hours.

Pros: fast calculation; probably, fast search for data.

Cons: not so accurate as other project estimates (but more accurate that analogous one).

Accuracy: higher than analogous.

3. 3-point estimate

This one of the project management estimating techniques has another name – Project
Evaluation and Review Technique, or PERT for short (now you don’t need to ask everyone what
are PERT charts). It allows team members to provide their help or input to estimate tasks and
makes this process easier.

Project estimation techniques

The project estimation technique, like a bottom-up estimate that goes next in the list, also
deploys the method of decomposing a project into smaller tasks. Then a manager works with his
team and identifies involved risks. If to say it in a few words, positive risks require less time and
negative ones – vice versa.

Then each task is estimated according to 3 points: best case or optimistic (let’s call it O), most
likely case (M) and worst case or pessimistic (P). It should be obvious that the M option has the
most weight.

If to go into details, there are three formulas to estimate a project.

The simplest one: (O+M+P)/3

A more accurate one: (O+4m+P)/6

The one that gives standard deviation: (P-O)/6

Example
Let’s go back again to our example and put it very simple. So, to develop landings we estimate O
as 40 hours, M as 45 hours and P as 55 hours. According to the second formula, we have
(40+4*45+55)/6 = 46 hours.

Pros: it is considered to be one of the most accurate estimation techniques in project

management; it reduces the scenario with too optimistic and too inflated estimates.

Cons: it requires more time to provide three estimates for each task.

Accuracy: close to the highest value.

4. Bottom-up estimate

This project estimate technique deploys Work Breakdown Structure. In this case a project or a
task is broken into smaller parts until it gets possible to estimate each of them. Thus knowing
how much time, efforts, resources or money are required for a certain task, it gets possible to
summarize all of them and obtain a picture of the whole project estimate.

The technique requires more time to estimate, but it gives the most accurate results.

Example

If you need to develop landings, break the whole process, as it was stated, into smaller parts that
can be easily estimated. It requires some deeper analysis with obligatory things to do, but at first
view it includes text writing, design, front-end and some other phases. After that sum each
estimation up and you’ll get the whole estimate.
Pros: the highest level of accuracy; since all the project is divided into smaller parts, it is highly
likely that not a detail will be missed.

Cons: it requires the greatest amount of time in comparison with other techniques.

Accuracy: the highest.

Credits: Ganttpro

#estimation

#project

#schedule

#manager

#activities

#tasks

#quality

#Jira

#monday

#wrike

#qualityvalu
#jazotech

#valuedin

#ProjectCharter

#charter

#chart

#PMO

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#skill

How do Quality Control and Quality Assurance differ?

Quality Assurance is the system of administrative procedures, set up to ensure that effective
quality control on the production line can be carried out. This includes the training of staff, so
that they know how to recognise substandard work / products.

Quality Control is, carrying out regular checks on the production line, as a product is
manufactured. Substandard components / products are rejected, ensuring that only products of
the correct standard are distributed to the customer / retailer.

#qualityassurance

#qualitycontrol

#quality
#QMS

#product

#project

#tqm

#ISO9001

#ISO

#cmmi

#ASPICE

#process

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#ISO9001
.