Applying Fundamental Quality Control Concepts
Your organization can implement several fundamental quality control processes to ensure that you produce or deliver a high-quality product or service. The following sections present the information you [more…]
Quality Control Technique: Trimming Down with Lean Processes
Lean processes are the latest diet craze in the world of quality control! Lean is a quality control technique you can use to identify and eliminate the flab in your company's processes. The [more…]
Considering the Pros and Cons of Rapid Improvement Events
All business processes start out operating perfectly (that's the plan, anyway). Over time, however, things change. Gradually, a simple process becomes more complex, and this complexity can breed inefficiency [more…]
How to Measure Your Current Quality Control Process
Careful measurement is key to managing your quality control processes. Use the following steps to ensure that you measure the right quality-control factors in the right way. [more…]
How to Obtain ISO Certification to Demonstrate Quality Control Standards
Meeting ISO (International Organization for Standardization) quality standards ensures customers that you'll provide quality product. ISO standards are the most recognized quality standards — after all [more…]
How to Introduce Quality Control to Your Organization
Introducing a quality control program into your organization requires careful planning and precise execution. Like any other major new program you introduce, thorough planning and attention to detail will [more…]
Implementing Quality Control Standards: How to Overcome Organizational Reluctance
Many people in the organization will see the introduction of a quality control process as an unwelcome change. Overcoming reluctance to a new quality control process calls for clear and consistent communication [more…]
How to Get Your Quality Control Project Back on Track
Of course you expect your quality-control project to succeed, but things rarely go as smoothly as planned. Even the best-laid plans sometimes run into problems. Be ready for trouble and use the following [more…]
How to Choose Which Risks to Manage in a Project
All identified risks affect your project in some way if they occur (after all, that’s the definition of a risk). However, you may determine that anticipating and minimizing the negative consequences of [more…]
How to Estimate Project Costs
In a world of limited funds, as a project manage you're constantly deciding how to get the most return for your investment. The more accurate your estimate of project cost is, the better able you will [more…]
How to Refine the Budget as a Project Progresses
As a project manager, you create an initial budget for your project. As your project continues you may find that your budget needs to be updated. To refine your budget as your project moves through its [more…]
Create a Budget Estimate Using the Bottom-Up Approach
Preparing a budget for your project requires two steps: First you prepare a rough estimate. Then when you move into the organizing and preparing stage of your project, you’re ready to create your detailed [more…]
Create a Project Budget Using the Top-Down Approach
There are two ways to create a budget for you project: bottom-up and top-down. You develop a top-down budget estimate by deciding how much you want the total project to cost and then dividing that total [more…]
Two Ways to Estimate Indirect Costs of a Project
Project managers can choose from two approaches when estimating the indirect costs associated with an activity: The first approach defines two different indirect rates; it’s more accurate but requires [more…]
Understanding and Managing Risk in Your Project
To manage projects effectively you need to be able to recognize and manage risk. Risk is the possibility that you may not achieve your product, schedule, or resource targets because something unexpected [more…]
How to Identify Risk Factors in Your Project
A risk factor is a situation that may give rise to one or more project risks. A risk factor itself doesn’t cause you to miss a product, schedule, or resource target. However, it increases the chances that [more…]
Identify Specific Risks Associated with Project Risk Factors
After you recognize your project’s risk factors, the next step in your project risk assessment is to identify the specific risks that may result from each of your risk factors. With this information in [more…]
Assessing the Likelihood of a Risk in Your Project
As you refine your project’s schedule, you need to assess the various risks that you have identified. Determining the likelihood of each risk will help you manage risk if the worst happens. The first step [more…]
How to Develop a Risk-Management Strategy
Managing risk is an important task for any project manager. After you have determined what risks exist for your project and assessed their importance, you need to choose a strategy for dealing with each [more…]
How to Communicate Project Risks
As a project manager you know that projects involve risks. Communicating those risks is a special skill. People often share information about project risks ineffectually or not at all. As a result, their [more…]
How to Prepare a Risk-Management Plan
Managing risk, like it or not, is a part of a project manager’s reality. A risk-management plan lays out strategies to minimize the negative effects that uncertain occurrences can have on your project. [more…]
How to Determine Nonpersonnel Resource Needs
The project you are managing may require a variety of important resources (such as furniture, fixtures, equipment, raw materials, and information). Plan for these nonpersonnel resources the same way you [more…]
How to Estimate Risk Consequences
After you identify the likelihood that a particular risk will affect the project you're managing, be sure to determine the magnitude of the consequences or effects that may result. That magnitude directly [more…]
How to Monitor Project Expenditures
Project managers monitor project expenditures to verify that they’re in accordance with the project plan and, if they’re not, to address any deviations. You may think that you can determine project funds [more…]
How to Track and Analyze Project Expenditures
To evaluate your project’s financial status, you compare actual expenditures with those you planned. Project managers use a cost report that presents expenditures for the current performance period and [more…]
