ITPEC IP April 2025 Question 52
A system development project at a company is becoming delayed. In order to resolve the delay, the project leader proposes to project members that part of the planned work procedure be omitted. The project members are divided into those who think that this cannot be avoided and those who are opposed because the quality will decrease. From the perspective of ensuring quality in a project, which of the following is the most appropriate action for a project leader to take?
Explanation
Discussing measures against the drop in quality and building consensus as a project — the team decides together how to recover the schedule without losing the required quality.
Omitting part of the planned work procedure saves time but can let defects through. From the quality perspective the leader should bring both views into the open: which steps could be omitted, what that does to quality, and which substitute measures (focused reviews, extra tests on risky parts, added staff) keep quality at the required level. A plan the whole project has agreed on is one the members will carry out, and the concerns of those opposed become part of the quality measures instead of being overruled.
Answer (a)
Why not others:
- •(b) — a majority vote among a few skilled members settles the question by headcount, without analysing the effect on quality, and leaves the rest of the team out
- •(c) — experience does not make the proposal right; adopting it as it stands ignores the quality risk the members have raised
- •(d) — replacing members who disagree removes the people pointing out the quality risk, not the risk itself, and damages the team
Key rule: When schedule and quality conflict, assess the effect on quality and agree countermeasures as a team; deciding by authority, vote or removing dissent leaves the quality risk unmanaged.
Project Management · AI-written, may contain errors
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