Page 97 - The Six Sigma Project Planner

Quality Plan *
The output from the quality plan activity is the project quality plan. A quality plan is a
document setting out the specific quality practices, resources and sequences of activities
relevant to a particular project or deliverable. According to the Project Management
Institute, project quality management
includes the processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the
needs for which it was undertaken. It includes all activities of the overall
management function that determine the quality policy, objectives, and
responsibilities and implements them by means such as quality planning,
quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement, within the
29
quality system.
• Quality planning involves identifying which quality standards are relevant to the
project and preparing plans that will satisfy the requirements.
• Quality control (QC) is the appraisal of specific project outcomes to determine if
they comply with quality requirements and taking corrective action if
noncompliance is found.
• Quality assurance (QA) is the periodic review of actual project performance to
ensure that quality plans have been implemented and that quality procedures are
being followed correctly. QA also involves taking corrective action if
noncompliance with established procedures is found or modifying the quality
plan if QC results show that it is inadequate.
As can be seen, the quality plan addresses the project’s processes as well as the project’s
deliverables. However, due to the nature of Six Sigma, Six Sigma projects have a built-in
concern for quality issues. Indeed, the Planner integrates product quality measurement
into the project plan completely. Thus, the “Quality Plan” section in the Planner will be
concerned primarily with project and deliverable quality issues rather than with
product or service quality issues. The team should keep in mind that all of the tools and
techniques used to create quality products can be used to provide project and
deliverable quality.

Quality Planning
To prepare for the creation of the quality plan the team must review information from a
number of sources, including:
• The organization’s quality policy and, if available, its quality manual
• The project charter and the Project Charter Form

*
Part of the official project plan.
29
Duncan, William R. (1996). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Newtown Square, PA:
Project Management Institute.

80