Point 14 - Deming in Project Management

Total Participation Starting From the Top

This point speaks to the need for (1) commitment from top management and (2) commitment from everyone else in the organization. Quality is everyone’s job, and if any implementation is not total, it will not fulfill its full potential.

In project management, I see this point alluding to executive formation and support of a company-wide Project Management Office. That PMO must be the central source of all project management knowledge, under continuous development by the practitioners of project management. Lessons learned and any potential improvements to the project management methodology used by all PM’s in the company should be evaluated, tested, and implemented as a positive change.

Communication channels and documentation management must be in place so that everyone is completely and totally aware of any changes and how it impacts the way they are to run projects. Feedback mechanisms must be in place to allow those same project managers to make suggestions to initiate their own changes to the methodology.

This also speaks to the necessity for everyone who works on projects to have some knowledge of the methodology. They should at least be familiar with the methodology from an executive summary point of view. They should understand how to use some of the tools and techniques that may be applicable to their contributions on projects.

(Back to Deming’s 14 Points)

References and Resources

Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence
Deming and Goldratt
Out of the Crisis
The Deming Management Method
The New Economics
Four Days with Dr. Deming
Deming Route to Quality and Productivity
Deming The Way We Knew Him

About the author

Josh Nankivel is the Vice Chair of Special Projects for the Students of Project Management SIG of PMI, and a project management student/enthusiast. His website is http://www.pmstudent.com.