TOPIC: Control Chart and Quality clarification

Hi There,

I would like to get clarity from anyone who can give more insight on the following
1. Trying to understand the control chart. For the control chart where upper control limit and lower control limit is identified, in a case where you have 3 points above the upper control limit and 3 points below the lower control limit, would this scenario be considered out of control and require an assignable cause?
2. Having a project situation whereby the deliverables are completely validated and are ready to be transitioned to operations, and a change request gets approved for new quality criteria, what will be the best action to take?
3. Which skill would be the best use for a project manager to influence and manage a project team, Interpersonal, and team skills or leadership skills? I want to believe interpersonal skill is inclusive of leadership skills?

Matilda,

I will answer the control charting question. The answer comes from the perspective of my profession (chemist), not the PMBOK guide.

A control chart has FIVE lines on it.
1. The mean (in the center)
2. The upper and lower WARNING limits (UWL and LWL) that are +/- 2 Standard deviations from the mean respectively.
3. The upper and lower CONTROL limits (UCL/LCL) that ar +/- 3 standard deviations from the respectively.

Data that is charted between WARNING limits is IN CONTROL.
Data that is charted between the WARNING limits and the CONTROL limits is IN CONTROL but must be watched. Depending on the quality assurance plan, there may be trigger for action for 3 or 5 consecutive measurements that are in this region, as it indicates a bias in the process.
Data that is charted outside the CONTROL limits indicates that the process is OUT OF CONTROL.

Hope that helps.

Harry

From PMI's perspective on your control chart you would have your mean, upper and lower control limits (specified by the project), and upper and lower specification limits (specified by the client). Your control limits should always be within your specification limits. If one data point falls outside the control limits the process is considered out of control and an assignable cause must be determined (so to answer your first question 3 data points is definitely out of control if they fall outside the control limits). This doesn't dispute Harry's answer as his explanation is definitely more of an industry spin that you'd see on the job. I have seen this before as well.

We would really need to see the options to help with your second question. However it likely involves going through the Control Quality process if the change request is necessary and correctly approved.

I agree with your reasoning for the third question.

Thank you so much for the explanation Harry

Thank you Kyle
For the second question I was wondering if the best option would be ;
a. Go ahead and transition the completed deliverable to the client
b. Hold off on the deliverable transition and apply the new approved quality criteria on the deliverable
c. Apply the new approved quality criteria only on future project phase
based on the options i would go with option a which is to go ahead and hand over my completed deliverable, hopefully that is the best action to take.

Thanks

In your example you stated that an change request is approved for new quality criteria, despite the deliverables being validated. Here are my comments on the three options presented:

a. Go ahead and transition the completed deliverable to the client
This is not the best option. This option ignores the fact that a change request has been approved. Remember, the change request was approved by the CCB for a reason. As a PM you should be proactive and address change ASAP.
b. Hold off on the deliverable transition and apply the new approved quality criteria on the deliverable
c. Apply the new approved quality criteria only on future project phase
In my opinion, both b and c have the potential to be correct depending on the specific circumstance in the question. However, I believe the most correct option is b for this questino. The question did not state that the deliverables were accepted by the customer. If the change request was approved, I would assume the CCB approved it with an understanding of the potential impact on cost and schedule. It may not be correct to apply the new criteria only in future phases as this could result in your new deliverables not meeting the requirements (e.g. the new quality requirements) expected by the customer.

Hi Kyle,
Thank you so much for your insight and in depth explanation.