Hi there. Now that we reviewed the benefits and main concepts of quality management, we'll explore what it means to define quality standards. We'll also discuss how to evaluate those standards to ensure you're meeting the project's goals. Before we get into discussing quality standards, let's define what we mean by project quality. Quality means making sure that you deliver what you say you will and that you do so as efficiently as you can. Getting a project done on time and under budget doesn't necessarily mean you've met your goals; you need to be sure you've delivered a project that meets your stakeholders' needs. That's why project quality is tracked throughout the life cycle of the project. You can measure project quality by defining quality standards for the various aspects of the project, like major tasks, milestones, and deliverables. Quality standards are the requirements and specifications that your product or service must meet in order to be considered successful by your organization and the customer. Establishing standards helps you identify ways of testing and evaluating the project's quality throughout the planning and execution phases and after the project is launched. If the quality of different aspects of a project is failing to meet the agreed-upon standards, you then have the opportunity to adjust your project plan to meet those standards. Let's use an example from the Sauce & Spoon project. One of the deliverables is training of management, front of house staff, and back of house staff. How will you know if that deliverable has been fulfilled successfully? What are the expectations or standards your stakeholders have for meeting this requirement? For this deliverable, think about what the staff needs to be able to do or demonstrate at the end of the training. Does each staff group need to be trained on the same things? Will management have different training requirements for front of house and back of house staff? Does the training need to fit within a specific time frame, budget, or geographic location to be considered successful? Your answers to questions like these will be the start of your list of quality standards for this deliverable. There are lots of resources that can help you determine the standards for your project, and standards will look different depending on the type of project. The first resources to consult are project documents like the business case and project charter. These documents state the goals, scope, budget, and other details that can clarify the different requirements of the project so it's acceptable to your stakeholders. Just like you did when you identified tasks and time estimates, if you need more information to help you determine quality standards, you can have conversations with experts and stakeholders and you can do some industry research. For example, if you need to know how long it takes the tablets to recharge, ask the vendor who will be training the staff or the tablet sales representative. It's also a good idea to have conversations with the stakeholders who are funding the project to understand their perspective on how long they expect the tablets to last before needing to be replaced. Do industry research on the internet to see if there are established quality standards for the type of project that you're working on. For example, software and construction industries have established quality standards related to functionality, design, and safety. Other categories of established quality standards that you'll find in many industries include ease of use, productivity, effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. It's important that your standards are objective and measurable so you can clearly identify that the standard has been met. As you have conversations and conduct your research, you might notice stakeholders referring to a general category, like ease of use, without providing specifics. As the project manager, you should aim to get specific details by asking, "What would be a sign that the tablets are easy to use or hard to use?" You might get a response like, "It shouldn't take longer than 20 seconds to place an order," or "Returning customers report that it's faster to use the tablet versus placing an order with a server." Now you have objective, measurable standards. Let's consider a few questions to ask yourself when considering various standards. If standards are related to productivity and effectiveness, you might want to ask questions like, "Should the existence of the tablets change anything about how the front of house staff works? Does it make them faster or allow them to serve more tables at one time?" If standards are related to customer satisfaction, you could ask questions like, "How would the tablets ideally impact the customer's experience? What would you want the customer to do or say as a result of using the tablets?" By asking yourself or your task experts these kinds of questions, you can narrow down the standard that you're aiming to make objective and measurable. All of these resources, such as project documents, conversations with experts, and industry research, can help you determine the quality standards for different aspects of your project. But remember, you'll still need to use your critical thinking skills to determine the right standards and adjust them, if necessary, to meet the specific needs of your project. Let's review what we've discussed so far. Quality means making sure that you deliver what you say you will and that you do so as efficiently as you can. Quality standards are the requirements and specifications that your product or service must meet in order to be considered successful by your organization and the customer. There are lots of resources that can help you determine the standards for your project, including project documents like the business case and charter, conversations with experts and stakeholders, and industry research. Some common categories of established quality standards from various industries include functionality, design, safety, ease of use, productivity, and effectiveness. Finally, it's important that your standards are objective and measurable so you can clearly identify that the standard has been met. Coming up, you'll use your critical thinking skills to determine quality standards for one part of the Sauce & Spoon tablet project. Then you'll learn how to evaluate against your standards to ensure that your project is achieving the required level of quality. Meet you there.
