There are three types of quality assurance methods that project teams commonly use. These methods can vary depending on the requirements of the company.

Three types of quality assurance methods are as follows:

• Statistical Process Control: Statistical process control (SPC) is most often used for developing products with technology and/or chemistry involved. This can include everything from consumables to cleaning supplies to software. The SPC method monitors ongoing progress through charts and strives for continuous improvement.

The steps involved in this quality assurance method include discovery, investigation, prioritization, further analysis, and charting. This can be done internally using project data, team input, and studies conducted by QA and operations teams. Decisions are based on facts and figures and will likely follow the scientific method approach.

• Failure Testing: This technique is commonly used to test physical or virtual products. For physical products, that means whether the product will break down under pressure or in various usability scenarios. For example, crash testing a vehicle’s safety airbags would be considered failure testing.

For virtual products, failure testing focuses on a program’s resiliency against a number of possible high-stress scenarios. Issues such as cybersecurity and transaction capacity are all evaluated. Overall, failure testing aims to assess a prototype or finished product and decide if it’s ready to go to market.

• Total Quality Management: Total quality management (TQM) method aims to continuously improve products by using quantitative methods. Practically speaking, it helps build a process that is consistent and predictable. It does so using a variety of modules that help manage the various phases of a project.

TQM also supports teams by relying on data and analysis to plan and implement future updates. This method is most popular for improving assembly-line efficiency.