What is "The Word"?

"Quality" is the word. But...what is "Quality"? Really. Who defines the word? Is it Webster? One of Webster's many definitions of quality is "character with respect to grade of excellence or fineness". Dictionary.com defines quality as "the character of an estate as determined by the manner in which it is to be held or enjoyed". My eight-year old daughter defined quality (as it relates to quality time) as "special alone time with someone".

Let us take a look at the word "quality" from a different perspective - specifically from your perspective. Do not think of yourself as the project manager at work, take off that hat. Think of yourself as the person who walks in to McDonalds (if you dare). Do you walk up to the counter and ask for a "Quality" Big Mac? Of course not! You ask for a Big Mac, coke and fries, or you ask for a "Number 1" on the menu. However, what if the cashier gave you a chicken sandwich with a diet coke? Is that what you expected? Not really. You expected 2 all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onion on a sesame seed bun burger, a leaded coke and some greasy fries with just the right amount of salt. And that same order would be given to you if you walked into any McDonalds, in any country (except India).

Okay, so let us try one more example. If you were sitting at a restaurant and you asked for a glass of water. You wouldn't ask for a "Quality" glass of water. However, you inherently do not expect the water to show up cloudy. You expect a clear, good tasting glass of water.

What is expected from "The Word"?

Now... put back on your Project Manager hat. From your customer's point of view, when you are documenting the expectations, success factors, scope etc. Nine times out of ten, the customer will never come out and say, "I want this project to deliver a quality product". Why? Because it's expected. And I can bet, you as the Project Manager will never ask your customer "Do you expect a quality product". That would give the customer the impression they would have to pay more for quality.

Do you have the right mind-set?

If the customer is always expecting quality, do you have a quality framework? What is a quality framework?

The PMBOK states Project Quality Management as "the processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken". Setting up your project to deliver a quality product can be as robust or as simple as you need. But it should never be the first thing thrown out when time constrains. However, quality activities such as subject matter expert reviews, unit testing, check point reviews etc., have been seen as non-critical tasks. Therefore, when push comes to shove, and your project is running out time, typically, those quality tasks are put aside. Evidence has shown when this occurs, the number of defects/issues goes up and customer satisfaction goes down. So then you need to ask yourself, was it worth it?

And that's "The Word".