Quality, Control & A Pinch of Salt
I originally planned this project management series to be 10–12 posts. I’ve already published seven, then I got a little bored. Honestly, explaining it can be just as exhausting as doing the work itself. But I won’t quit before finishing. So, here I am again, back at the keyboard to continue this series—not because I’m dying to write, but because it needs to be completed.
Quick note: This content isn’t just for project managers or those aspiring to become one. It’s for everyone.
Quality Control & Management: The Unloved Stepchild of Project Work
Quality control and quality management are often the most dreaded parts of a job for engineers, architects, social workers—basically, anyone doing the actual work.
If someone is highly experienced, quality rarely fluctuates dramatically anyway. The project manager’s efforts might seem irrelevant.
For someone less experienced, it often feels like busywork—extra steps, redundant checks, and surface-level formalities.
I can’t speak for large corporations, but based on what I’ve seen and experienced during internships, bigger organizations seem to integrate quality control more naturally, making it less repetitive.
In smaller firms, though, it’s often intrusive—interrupted constantly, adapted on the fly, inconsistent.
Let me give you an analogy:
Imagine you’re cooking a meal. You follow an online recipe, but it doesn’t taste quite right. So next time, you investigate what went wrong, adjust, and try again. That’s a lot of extra time and effort.
Another method? Having someone more experienced stand next to you, constantly intervening.
Not only does it ruin your enjoyment, but it also breaks your focus and confidence.
Or worse—you’re a master of this recipe, maybe even the best in the world, and someone still gives you unsolicited advice while you’re cooking. You’d lose your mind.
That’s what quality management often feels like.
But What If There’s No Quality Control?
Disaster, potentially. The food might burn, a key ingredient might be forgotten, the seasoning could be off. And once it’s ruined—especially if it’s burnt—there’s no going back.
That’s why quality management exists:
To prevent these situations in advance.
First comes the plan:
What are you cooking? How will you cook it? Do you have all the ingredients? How will you know it turned out well?
Then comes control:
Do you check the dish periodically to see if it’s burning? Do you taste it along the way? Did hair fall in? Did you wash your hands?
And finally, quality assurance:
Does everything taste as it should right before serving? If someone else were to cook this meal, could they follow your steps and get the same results? Have you documented everything?
Managing People Without Driving Them Crazy
While doing all this, you also need to avoid frustrating or demoralizing the person actually doing the work. This is one of the toughest challenges a project manager will face.
If the process is well designed, you’ll spot issues before they spiral out of control. That gives you a chance to fix them while the work is still in progress.
It also means you don’t have to constantly monitor people—you’re not a micromanager, and they can work more freely.
Still, life will throw curveballs. That’s part of the beauty of it.
Even if you follow the plan to the letter, things can go wrong:
Someone gets sick.
A cat gets into the electrical box.
Someone pushes back.
The people you relied on fall short.
The oven breaks.
The power goes out.
The gas runs out…
Even if nothing happens, something always happens.
Which brings us to this:
While the goal may be perfection, we should always remember—perfection doesn’t exist.
What matters is continuous improvement.
The more standardized the process, the higher the quality.
But ironically, the higher the quality, the more boring the job becomes.
So… maybe don’t overdo it either.
bahadirhancicek 
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