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8 - PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality auditors compare actual processes to documented processes by observation and inspection of
records. As described in Section 8.2 of the PMBOK Guide, QA personnel audit the results from quality control
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measurements to assess whether or not the quality requirements are being met. Quality auditors may discover a
lack of documentation or erroneous documentation that needs to be updated. In this case, the software project
manager assures that action is taken to correct the discrepancies. While adaptive life cycle teams emphasize
the preference for working, deliverable software over documentation, some level of documentation is necessary
to meet internal and external quality requirements. Quality auditors ensure that project teams are meeting the
necessary level of working, deliverable software and the supporting documentation.

SQA also examines the volatility of software product requirements. Frequent changes to requirements can be a 8
warning that there are serious problems in the project. This may indicate that the system boundaries are not well
defined, or that affordability constraints need to be addressed by adjusting the scope of product features. Note,
however, that emerging requirements or derived requirements are not classified as symptoms of volatility. These
are refinements. A software development project team may begin work on a set of requirements or features that
are sufficiently well understood even when other requirements or features are still unknown or changing, or the
project team may produce a prototype to allow users to determine whether the approach will fulfill their functional
and quality expectations.

External SQA is often involved in identifying areas for process improvement. Process analysis is a foundational
element of process improvement by identifying bottlenecks, process delays, and sources of error. Tools such as
flowcharts and process flow diagrams, as well as state diagrams, can be used as process improvement tools to
document process flows and process state transitions. For example, the various states that a defect passes through
from first being reported until being resolved may be depicted in a flow diagram or a state-transition diagram.

Training is covered in Section 10 of this Software Extension (Human Resources); however, training may also be
regarded as a quality assurance technique, particularly training required for individual software and team software
processes.

8.2.2.1 Quality Management and Control Tools

See Section 8.2.2.1 of the PMBOK Guide.
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8.2.2.2 Quality Audits

See Section 8.2.2.2 of the PMBOK Guide.
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8.2.2.3 Process Analysis

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See Section 8.2.2.3 of the PMBOK Guide.

©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition 153
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