Is project quality a real problem in IT projects? Yes, it is. Today, we depend on high-quality technology, especially AI software and technology, to solve our everyday problems. So, when these systems don’t deliver good work, it’s more than just a tiny inconvenience.

Before diving into improving the quality of IT projects, let us understand what quality is and how essential it is to a project.

 

What is quality?

The ISO defines quality as “the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.”

Individuals can have different perceptions of quality. For instance, when considering the main features of a phone, different people may prioritise various aspects such as battery life, camera quality, or other factors.

Addressing this issue requires ongoing, professional communication with customers and stakeholders. This ensures a clear understanding of their expectations and what quality means for that project.

 

Project Management Quality Processes

Project management quality ensures that a project fulfils its intended purpose and meets the required needs. This involves three distinct processes.

Quality Planning

Project management quality involves determining the appropriate quality standards for a project and finding ways to meet those standards. This is particularly important in IT projects.

For example, quality standards for an IT project may include factors like accommodating system growth, planning for a reasonable system response time, and ensuring consistent and accurate information from the systems.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is essential in IT projects to ensure deliverables meet standards. It involves testing and monitoring to prevent issues and ensure customer satisfaction.

For example, in an IT project, quality assurance may include rigorous software testing to identify and fix bugs before deployment. Project teams can address deviations from the desired quality by implementing quality assurance measures and achieving successful outcomes.

Quality Control

Quality control in an IT project ensures that desired quality standards are met. It involves monitoring results, fixing issues, and measuring compliance. It works with quality assurance to maintain and improve project quality.

For example, in a software development project, quality control involves rigorous testing to ensure the functionality and performance of the software.

 

How to improve the quality of IT project 

For a project to be successful, common quality management errors must be addressed. Quality problems can occur in any industry, even within reputable companies, leading to accidents, failures, or product recalls that can damage the company’s reputation.

Identifying and mitigating these issues improves quality. The common problems that the IT sector encounters when attempting to deliver high-quality projects are listed below.

 

Leadership

The absence of strong leadership is often seen as the main reason for quality problems. In the IT industry, many issues arise from top-level management rather than technical issues. Good leadership at the highest level is vital for maintaining productivity and delivering high-quality projects in the competitive IT sector.

Motorola exemplifies effective leadership in this regard. The company’s top-level management emphasises the significance of enhancing quality and motivates employees to take ownership of customer satisfaction. They establish quality standards, allocate resources, and train staff to improve customer input.

The cost of quality

The cost of quality in an IT project includes the cost of doing things right and not doing things right. Doing things exactly means delivering products that meet requirements, while not doing something right leads to failure and dissatisfaction. There are five major categories of costs related to quality:

• Prevention cost (planning and executing to avoid errors)
• Appraisal cost (evaluating processes and outputs
• Internal failure cost (correcting identified defects)
• External failure cost (dealing with errors after delivery to the customer)
• Measurement and test equipment costs (cost used to perform appraisal and prevention activities)

Effective leadership and a culture that values quality are essential to reducing nonconformance costs in the IT industry.

 

Workplace Factors

A study found that productivity levels varied greatly among different teams, with some completing coding projects in just one day while others took up to 10 days. However, within the same organisation, the productivity difference was only around 21 percent.

The study showed that factors like programming language, experience, and salary did not significantly impact productivity. Instead, having a dedicated workspace and a quiet environment were identified as critical factors in improving productivity.

The study emphasised the importance of creating favourable work conditions to enhance productivity and quality. It also highlighted the need to minimise office politics and empower individuals to work without obstacles.

 

Quality Expectations and Cultural Variations

An essential component of project quality management is managing expectations. While certain quality aspects can be clearly defined and measured, others are subjective and vary among project stakeholders. Project managers must understand and address these diverse expectations to avoid conflicts.

For instance, users’ dissatisfaction with system performance highlights the need to align their expectations with the project scope and deliverables. Additionally, expectations can differ based on organisational culture or geographical location.

Recognising these variations and adapting to different quality standards is essential when working across departments or in foreign countries. By effectively managing expectations, project managers can enhance project quality and stakeholder satisfaction.

 

Maturity Model

Adopting maturity models is one strategy for increasing the quality of software development projects and project management. Maturity models provide frameworks that guide organisations toward improving their processes and systems. These models outline a progressive path from less organised and mature organisations to highly organised and mature ones. Three popular maturity models are

The software quality function deployment model focuses on specifying user needs and scheduling software projects to increase quality by establishing quantifiable requirements and priorities.

The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a popular model that helps organisations improve their processes and achieve higher maturity levels. It has different capability levels, from incomplete to optimising.

The Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) focuses on enhancing and aligning project management capabilities with organisational strategies.

 

Software and AI to assist in project quality

Quality management relies on tools and techniques, including software. Spreadsheets and charting software create visuals, while statistical software aids in data analysis. Project management software helps with planning and monitoring. Choosing the right software is vital for success. Project management encompasses more than just quality.

Gartner’s research says significant changes are coming if you consider using AI in your projects and project management. They predict that by 2030, AI will take over 80% of project management tasks using big data, machine learning (ML), and natural language processing.

Research shows that if project management is not done well, it can lead to a loss of about 12%, or around 122 million US dollars per billion dollars spent. However, the company prevented such problems by using standardised processes and a mix of simple tools like MS Project, MS Excel, and SharePoint, as well as advanced tools like QSYS and SAP, in their project management. As a result, all 10 projects they worked on between 2009 and October 2016 were very successful.

 

Read the full article here: Software for improving the quality of project management, a case study: international manufacturer of electrical equipment.

 

Final Notes

Managing project quality is complex, involving team supervision, goal setting, and evaluation. Quality is vital in every project, requiring practical tools for monitoring. Project quality management is integral to project practices in today’s competitive market.

Improving IT project quality relies on strong leadership, understanding cost implications, fostering a conducive work environment, and recognising stakeholder expectations and cultural differences. Software tools and AI play critical roles in achieving quality.

 

At Markup Camp, we provide expertise and support for company-wide digital transformations and ongoing initiatives, offering fresh perspectives to address your IT project challenges.