8.2 Manage Quality
Build quality into the work as it happens, not just check it afterward.
Executing / Quality · ← PMBOK reference · See it on the map
Why it matters
Catching a defect while the work is still in progress is far cheaper than finding it after the deliverable is finished and handed off.
What done looks like
Quality activities from the plan are running alongside the work, not deferred to the end.
First time tip
Audit the process, not just the product, early in the project. A process fix prevents the same defect from recurring in every later deliverable.
What you need (Inputs)
- Quality Management Plan
- Lessons Learned Register
How Scrum/Kanban projects satisfy this — counted from: sprint retrospective evidence (driftless/models/delivery.py:Sprint) — a sprint closed with retrospective notes is a lesson captured, the way a predictive project files one as prose - Quality Control Measurements
- Quality Metrics
- Risk Report
- Organizational Process Assets
How you do it (Tools & Techniques)
What you get (Outputs)
Worked example
The first run of shelving comes back with the wrong bracket spacing. Rather than redo that section and move on, the installer's own measuring step is audited, which is what keeps the same error out of the eleven sections still to come.
Common pitfalls
- Inspecting the product every time and never the process that produced it.
- Deferring every quality activity until the deliverable is already finished.
- Treating a single defect as bad luck rather than looking for its cause.
How driftless helps
- Root Cause Analysis can be run here.
- Audits can be run here.
- Quality Report can be created in the wizard.