A pdf of the complete Praxis Comparative Glossary can be downloaded here.
From Q-sort method to Quantitative schedule risk analysis
An approach to the agreement of priorities for projects in a portfolio developed by W.E. Souder. The decision makers are grouped together and each is given the project names on separate cards. They are then asked to go through the following steps:
These steps help get over the natural tendency to give everything a high priority by forcing successive levels of breakdown. The Q-sort method can be combined with the Delphi technique to reach consensus on priorities at each stage before going on to the next. | |
A range of tools for examining specific risks based on considered judgement rather than statistical analysis. It includes techniques such as: | |
Quality | The degree of conformance or fitness for purpose of a product, output or process. |
An ISO 21500 subject group that provides a set of processes for managing quality. The processes comprise: The equivalent in Praxis are the planning steps in every functional procedure and the assurance and control functions. PRINCE2 covers this in the quality theme. The PMBoK® guide and ISO21500 share a very similar structure and the nearest equivalent knowledge area in the PMBoK® guide is project quality management. | |
This theme is concerned with the means by which products are created and verified to meet the project objectives. It covers quality planning and quality control. Assurance is split into project assurance (internal checking of quality procedures) and quality assurance (external checking of quality procedures). In Praxis, quality is deemed to be inherent in all other functions and processes. Quality planning is therefore achieved through all references to planning, quality control is achieved through all references to control and quality assurance is achieved through all references to assurance. The equivalent in the APM BoK is the quality management function. The equivalent in ISO21500 is the quality subject group and in the PMBoK® guide it is the project quality management knowledge area. | |
This MSP 4th Ed. theme deals principally with quality assurance of the programme and its procedures and processes. It is less concerned with quality planning and quality control. The scope of quality in a programme is defined as:
| |
The MSP 4th Ed. term for a quality management plan. Praxis covers the application of quality in multiple management plans. The equivalent in the SPgM is the program quality plan. | |
The boundaries of this area are least well defined in quality literature. It is really all about confidence, i.e. making sure that the quality planning and quality control systems are working. Quality reviews and audits are a key part of this process by periodically checking and validating the quality planning and quality control processes. In Praxis this is primarily covered by the assurance topic. The PMBoK® guide addresses this in the process Perform Quality Assurance and ISO21500 in the process Perform quality assurance. In PRINCE2 assurance is split into project assurance (internal checking of quality procedures) and quality assurance (external checking of quality procedures). | |
This comprises the processes and activities undertaken to check whether actual work and products meet the specified standards. It includes techniques of statistical sampling and physical testing. In Praxis this is covered by the control function and activities within the delivery and development processes. PRINCE2 covers quality control in its quality theme. ISO21500 covers this in Perform quality control and the PMBoK® guide in Control Quality. | |
Quality criteria | The characteristics of a product or deliverable which determine whether it meets the customer’s requirements. See also acceptance criteria. |
Quality function deployment | A technique for transforming qualitative user requirements into prioritised, quantitative parameters. |
Quality log | A document that lists the various quality control checks that are expected on a project. For each check, the log will record the name of the product being checked, the quality control techniques to be applied, the staff responsible and the results of the check. |
Quality management is an umbrella term for a range of approaches to managing quality: Quality management is a function in the APM BoK. In Praxis, quality is deemed to be inherent in all other functions and processes. Quality planning is therefore achieved through all references to planning, quality control is achieved through all references to control and quality assurance is achieved through all references to assurance. PRINCE2 distinguishes between quality assurance and project assurance which are covered by the quality theme. The PMBoK® guide addresses quality management in the processes that make up the project quality management knowledge area and ISO21500 in the processes that make up the quality subject group. | |
A document setting out how quality planning, quality assurance and quality control will be achieved on a project or programme. | |
The PRINCE2 term for a quality management plan. | |
The ISO21500 term for a quality management plan. | |
This work that plans the performance of quality assurance and quality control. | |
A PRINCE2 document that summarises all planned and completed quality activities. | |
A form of quality control applied to products where physical testing is not appropriate. For example, a test of the quality of concrete in a foundation may constitute a sample being crushed and its strength being measured. However, if the product is a process definition, document or a user interface of a software package, the testing will be more subjective and performed by a panel of reviewers in a quality review. | |
The acceptable range of values in the definition of acceptance criteria for a product. | |
Quantitative risk analysis revolves around numerical and statistical techniques. Some of these, such as Monte Carlo, focus on statistical predictions of project timescales. Techniques such as decision trees and sensitivity analysis focus on particular risk events. | |
A formalised approach to the application of statistical risk analysis techniques. |
