In this APM Project Management Qualification (BoK7) podcast Paul and Jan discuss quality control, quality management and quality assurance. This podcasts aims to address the following APM PMQ assessment criteria; Explain what is meant by quality planning Differentiate between quality control and quality assurance This podcast is just part of the parallel learning system for the APM Project Management Qualification. This approach includes a wide range of learning resources including a printed study guide, on-line e-learning, a tutor lead study group and a wide range of project management courses   Here is a summary of the different aspects of quality within a project management environment: Quality Planning A project manager will always need to create a quality plan detailing how the project will produce products of the required quality. Included in the quality plan will be the following: Roles and Responsibilities related to quality issues The processes to be followed for both production and testing procedures A description of how continual improvement will performed Details of quality assurance such as supplier vetting Details of quality control techniques such as Pareto Analysis How to establish and manage interactions with other project processes such as configuration management Quality Assurance Quality assurance demonstrates how the necessary quality will be achieved and in doing so instils confidence in stakeholders regarding quality levels of the final outcome.   The typical components of quality assurance are: Training Are members of the project team competent and fully trained to complete the work assigned to them. Audit A formal, external audit of processes provides reassurance that the project will be carried out as expected. Supplier Accreditation When goods and materials are supplied to be used in creating the products that will form the project deliverables then those goods or materials must be assessed to be of the required quality. Lessons Learned Lessons should be learned throughout the project and effectively communicated so that any problems are resolved at the point they are being made. This ensures the root of the problem is identified rather than issues recurring again and again.   Quality Control Quality control measures will vary widely depending on the type of project and the type of project deliverable. The key similarity, however, will be a comparison of the final deliverable with the original specification. Some of the quality control techniques that might be used in a project management environment include: Pareto analysis Walk-throughs Process control charts Visual inspection and measurement Continuous improvement   And here is a transcript of this podcast:   Introduction  Welcome to a parallel project training APM project management qualification podcast based on the APM body of knowledge seventh edition, you should be using this in conjunction with our elearning podcasts, and potentially a tutor led course. For more information, please visit www.parallelprojecttraining.com   Paul  Hello, welcome to another Parallel Project Training podcast today we're doing quality podcasts with Jan. Hello, Jan   Jan  Hi there.   Paul  Very good. Very good. So this is based on the seventh edition of the body of knowledge with PMQ. So the learning so the assessment criteria in this question section are explained what is meant by quality management and differentiate between quality control and quality assurance?   Jan  Right? That's a mouthful   Paul  Explain what is meant by Quality Management, I suspect we have two definition of what quality is first.   Jan  Okay, so it's going for the body of knowledge. It says qualities assessment of a product's fitness of purpose. While the definition appears to be limited the products that the project will produce. It also implies not only to these products is the process and procedures deployed in managing