Quality control refers to the processes and activities implemented to ensure that a project or product meets specified quality standards and requirements. It focuses on preventing defects, identifying issues, and taking corrective measures to deliver a high-quality outcome.
Key aspects:
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Planning: Establish quality objectives, criteria, and metrics. Define quality processes, responsibilities, and resources needed. While quality control focuses on identifying and correcting defects, quality assurance focuses on the prevention of defects by establishing processes, procedures, and standards to ensure that the project is being executed correctly.
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Inspection: Examine project deliverables, components, or processes to identify any deviations from the specified quality standards. Inspections can be performed at various stages, such as design reviews, code reviews, or document reviews. Testing involves systematically verifying that the project or product meets the defined requirements through various testing techniques and methodologies.
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Actions: Create corrective actions to address the problems. This may include reworking, repairing, or retesting deliverables to ensure they meet the required quality standards. Additionally, take preventive actions such as updating processes, providing additional training, or implementing process improvements.
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Continuous Improvement: Document lessons learned. Share these to enhance future projects and processes. Collect feedback from stakeholders and customers, and use it to drive improvements in quality.