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For quality professionals, interacting with project managers is undoubtedly the
most frustrating part of their job. It’s not that project managers are bad
people. In fact, I must confess that I am a project manager myself, and I have
sometimes done my best work while making my quality colleagues crazy. For that I
am truly sorry. Well, mostly sorry.
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| Why are project managers so frustrating to quality professionals? I believe it’s
because of the differences in world view. Concepts like value, frameworks,
goals, and speed, along with the inherent differences in personality types drawn
to each profession, make us view each other from slightly different
perspectives. At our worst, we tend to look at each other like we live on
different planets. |
| Here’s an example I share with my students to illustrate the differences. Once
upon a time I managed a team of project managers in a technology company. I had
just hung up the phone from a planning call for the upcoming ISO audit when one
of my most experienced project managers burst into my office. |
| “I just came out of my preliminary prep audit,” he said. “They’ve docked me for
two findings! We’ve got to fix them before the real outside audit or my project
will be the reason we can’t recertify!” As he slumped into the nearest chair,
the internal quality auditor, obviously equally agitated, raced up to my door,
coming to an abrupt halt when she saw the project manager sitting in my visitor
chair. |
| “Did he tell you how he is going to make us fail the audit?” she asked, pointing
at the project manager. |
| “It’s not my fault!” said the project manager. “It’s your crazy interpretation
of the rules!” |
| As you can imagine, some animated and emotional conversation ensued. Finally I
asked:
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| “So what you’re saying is that the problem is that the software developers have
gone ahead and written and deployed some code before going through all the gates
required by our product development process? And those gates involve writing
down detailed requirements before a line of code is written? Have I understood
correctly that this is the problem?” Both the project manager and the internal
auditor nodded emphatically.
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| “Yes, they can’t be allowed to do that,” said the auditor. “You must tell the
developers that they must write detailed requirements, and then get those
requirements signed off by the appropriate management, and only then can the
development move forward.” |
| “But that’s ridiculous,” I said. “We’re a small innovative company. Even if we
wanted to write detailed requirements we don’t have either the staff or the time
to do it. And why would we ask developers to write requirements when that isn’t
even close to what they do best? We need them to write code.” As the
implications became clear, I became more frustrated. “Over my dead body are the
project managers going to ask the developers to slow down their innovation to
write a bunch of so-called “quality” paperwork!”
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| Fast forward five or six years, and the quality auditor and I now laugh about
this ugly meeting. While painful, it was the catalyst for us to understand and
appreciate the sources of our frustration, and to change the way we work
together for our common goals. If you are finding yourself in a similarly
confrontational and frustrating situation, here are a few perspectives to
improve the relationship between quality and project management: |
| Project managers are rewarded when they deliver products on time and on budget
with full functionality. Quality professionals are rewarded when defects are
reduced and when certifications are maintained. In the worst scenarios, project
managers focus on timelines, on budgets, and on delivery, without integrating
quality metrics into the concept of full functionality. Similarly, quality
professionals who focus on a rigid interpretation of a standard, without
considering corporate time or budget constraints, are missing out on
opportunities to bring real value to the process. In the best scenarios, quality
professionals and project managers work together to draw connections among
quality standards, well-written corporate processes, zero defects, and rapid
development within tight budgets. |
| In practice, this means project managers must involve quality professionals in
the initial project planning meetings, making use of their expertise in
designing and monitoring metrics and processes, and ensuring that the entire
product development team understands that the quality team has just as much
“skin-in-the-game” as any other development role. For quality professionals,
this means you can’t simply point out failures in process or product after the
fact; you must be willing to be integrally involved in designing those processes
and products to ensure quality is built in from the start. Yes, this is more
work. Yes, this is sometimes very hard to do. However, it’s one of the best ways
I know to reduce that working frustration between the two disciplines. |
| I’m willing to bet if you asked a room full of project managers and quality
professionals, most of the quality professionals would admit to colouring inside
the lines in elementary school art class, and a fair number of the project
managers would admit to the opposite. Each of the professions attracts some key
personality traits. Some of these traits are similar; both professions naturally
prefer order over chaos. Some of these traits, however, are quite different, and
yet all viewpoints are required for success. |
| For example, the best project managers I know demonstrate an understanding of
how to just barely colour inside the lines. This means the ability to see and
understand the rules, the ability to create and follow a detailed project
schedule, while simultaneously using charm and creativity to convince people to
get things done. It’s a balancing act that requires the willingness to break the
rules, and the knowledge of when it is safe and best to do so. On the other
hand, the best quality professionals I know combine an understanding of why the
best results require adherence to the standards, along with the ability to share
that knowledge in a way that’s meaningful to others. So while the best project
managers inherently push the limits of a framework, the best quality
professionals strengthen those limits. Recognize and encourage the value of
these different views, and frustration will decrease. |
| From the project management viewpoint, quality standards are boring statutes
that get in the way of getting the work done quickly and effectively. From the
quality viewpoint, quality standards are the framework ensuring the work will
get done in a way that produces a quality product every time. Just as project
management operates within various frameworks (PMBOK, agile, etc), so does
quality. These frameworks are complementary, not adversarial, and the more
clearly both sides can come to see how to make use of each others’ frameworks,
the more effectively product development will achieve corporate goals. |
| Practically speaking, this means to hold “pizza and pain” lunches jointly with
project management and quality to share issues and concerns. It’s also important
for project managers to learn about and understand changes to quality standards
relating to project management. And for quality professionals to learn about and
understand changes to project management standards relating to quality. |
| The intersection of quality and project management is key for the effective
development of new products, new markets, and new opportunities. Programs
focused on developing understanding between these two disciplines can help
promote both corporate and personal career success. In the upcoming weeks, we
will be offering classes and articles on understanding the new project
management guidance for ISO9000, plus other topics of interest to both quality
professionals and project managers. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, please tell
me about your project management and quality challenges. |
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Karen Creditor has practical experience as a project management executive who has
lead project management offices and successfully managed million dollar technical
programs for enterprise level companies, including Monsanto, Peabody Energy, Research
in Motion, and Marsh Company.
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Karen also is an inspiring teacher, passionate about applying new learning to achieve
business and personal success. She has taught in the Applied Science and Engineering
Programs at Washington University in St. Louis and Conestoga College Institute of
Technology and Advanced Learning in the Department of Business.
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