When you encounter quality concerns in a project, it's important to let management know. But building an overly detailed list of faults and shortcomings undermines the impact of the important points and muddles communication. To effectively convey the crucial issues, you have to prioritize.

Of course it's important to work efficiently, without wasting time, money, or energy. But working effectively is just as important. Agile cycles between creating, testing, and getting feedback, allowing us to work in small chunks and make sure what we're producing has the most value. That's effective.

On systems integration projects where a vendor is building or configuring a system for a client, you sometimes cross the canyon from development to production and maintenance in several smaller bounds rather than one big leap. A warranty period after go-live can help stakeholders confidently monitor quality.