Originally published here April 2002.
This page updated June, 2003

Introduction | A Generic 3rd Level Model | The Whole Project and Nothing but
Including Management by Projects | A Game of Two Halves | The Next Generation

Including Management by Projects

The issue of quality has been emphasized above, but how can the lessons of one project be taken to the next? If we consider the process of delivering projects (the project management system) as the business process then each project is one item off the production line. Now it is possible to apply 'traditional' quality management thinking to a series of projects, or Management by Projects.

Quality is the paradigm that underpins customer satisfaction. As shown above, the intrinsic cross-checking of this lifecycle model is akin to the classic model of Quality Control. This is excellent for ensuring internal consistency for a single project.

Modern management thinking goes beyond quality control and embraces the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM). It is from these TQM tenets that management by projects can discern inter-project quality methods. If each project that is completed is considered to be one "product" off the project "production line", then the Deming Cycle can be applied to a project's execution:[6]

At the beginning of this paper we described a project as having Plan and Do phases, two of the four steps in the Deming Cycle. However, it is important to remember that now the "product" under examination is not the project deliverable, but the project execution. The Check and Amend phases can now be integrated into the Close-out of the project. Thus, an intrinsic part of the Close-out phase is to review the ability of the project management system/process to successfully deliver projects.

The potential for continuous improvement in the execution of projects and the management of the engine of change for the corporation can only strengthen the argument for a Project Department and a Chief Projects Officer (CPO).[7]

The Whole Project and Nothing 

 but the Whole Project  The Whole Project and Nothing but

A Game of Two Halves  A Game of Two Halves


6. Oakland, J.S., "Total Quality Management — The Route to Improved Performance", 2nd Edition, Chapter 15, 1993
7. Levine, H., Does Your Company Need a CPO?; http://maxwideman.com/guests/cpo/intro.htm

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