Project Launch Process L080

L080 - Do Quality Plan

DEFINITION

The quality management approach should be defined and agreed.  Preferably this should follow a formal approach.  It would define standards, approaches, methods, techniques, controls, review methods and the end-of-segment audit process.

SUMMARY

The primary goal of the quality management process should be to ensure users’ needs are adequately satisfied.  A high level of quality will only be attained if steps are taken to integrate and manage quality as a vital component of project work.

The Quality Plan should document the approach to be taken to developing and implementing a formal quality management programme.  The programme should ensure that an appropriate quality assurance framework is established, and that adequate quality control processes are in place.  The plan should also identify the resource requirement, and the project manager should ensure that adequate resources are assigned to the quality management function.

The plan will normally address:

• he objectives of the quality programme,
• techniques and approaches which will be used to achieve quality, and
• methods that will be applied to check that the quality methods are applied and that the required levels of quality are achieved.

As part of defining the approaches to be used, the plan will normally indicate the agreed approach to project management, change management and other methodologies which may have been agreed during the preceding processes (see processes L040, L050 and L070 respectively).

PATH PLANNING GUIDANCE

This process is optional.  It is necessary in projects subject to formal quality controls.  It is recommended practice in other complex projects where a number of people are involved.

DEPENDENCIES

Prerequisites (Finish-Finish)

• Review/Confirm ToR, Scope, Objectives (L010)
• Select Paths (L030)
• Define and Agree Project Management Techniques (L040)
• Define and agree change management approach (for organisational issues) (L050)
• Define and agree requirements for linkage with other methodologies (L070)

Dependencies (Finish-Finish)

• Produce Path Plan (L090)
• Define Organisation, People & Support Requirements (L100)
• Agree Project Launch Deliverables (L110)

RECEIVABLES

• Project Constitution (L010)
• High level Path Plan (L030)
• Definition of Project Management Techniques (L040)
• Definition of Change Management Techniques (L050)
• Definition of use of other  Techniques (L070)

DELIVERABLES

• Quality Plan

TOOLS

• ITPM Core Guide

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TASKS

Define Quality Objectives

The primary goal of the quality management process is to ensure users’ needs have been adequately satisfied. In doing so quality management focuses on three areas:

• Goals
• (Does the system achieve the objectives of both the user and the organisation?)
• Methods
• (Are appropriate methodologies, standards, procedures and guidelines utilised effectively during the course of the project?)
• Performance
• (Does the design optimise resource utilisation? Is the conversion process economical and efficient?)

Quality objectives should be defined for these quality areas, specific to each segment in the project lifecycle (eg a quality “goals” objective for the requirements segment might be that: “user goals are realistic, and project goals are achievable and compatible with the overall goals of the organisation”).

Establish Quality Assurance Framework

The Quality Plan should define the role of the quality assurance function.  This should normally include responsibility for:

• ensuring that project methodologies, standards and guidelines are appropriate and reasonable for the project environment,
• monitoring detailed work plans to ensure that specific standards and measures are appropriate for achieving defined quality objectives for specific deliverables,
• reviewing the adequacy of, and adherence to, general project controls, such as technical methodologies and change control procedures,
• ensuring quality control activities are performed consistently and continuously,
• analysing errors and defects to provide a basis for improving the quality of the project environment.

It should also identify staffing requirements (as an input to Process L090 - Produce Path Plan & Process - L100 Define Organisation, People and Support Requirements) specifying the roles, responsibilities, extent / duration  of involvement and skill sets required to manage quality effectively.

Obtain Management Support

To be successful the quality assurance framework must have strong management support (from the project sponsor, steering committee and project manager).  Specifically:

• personnel performing the quality management function must be given the authority necessary to fulfill their responsibilities,
• the quality function must be adequately staffed with skilled resources,
• management must be supportive of recommendations,
• the project manager must assume responsibility for reviewing all significant quality management findings and recommendations, and acting upon the suggested actions in a timely manner,
• the project manager must ensure that management plans and detailed work plans are updated to reflect implemented quality recommendations.

Defining methods and approaches

The Quality Plan may be used to state the required techniques, approaches, methods and procedures which it has been defined should be used to address the quality objectives.  These techniques would normally include the approaches to project management, change management and other methodologies which were agreed during the earlier processes (see processes L040, L050, L070).

Plan Quality Control Activities

The objective of quality control is to identify defects and have them corrected so that defect-free deliverables will be produced.  The Quality Plan should emphasize that quality control is the responsibility of each project member, and that quality control must occur throughout the project, not just when a deliverable is complete.  Three methods generally used to monitor and control quality are:

• Reviews

These provide a mechanism for verifying and evaluating the objectivity, clarity, consistency, completeness and conformance to standards of project deliverables.  Depending on the review objectives, the review may consist of a self-review, an informal review, a formal team review or a structured walkthrough.

• Tests

Testing is used to compare and verify actual results against expected results in an objective manner.  The comparisons are generally quantified and classified to highlight strengths and weaknesses.

• Quality audits

These are audits performed on a regular basis by the quality management on parts of the project organisation.  They will monitor conformity to project standards by the personnel concerned, in all aspects of their work, and, where shortcomings / issues are identified, will prescribe corrective action (with a date for completion).  The quality control function will then monitor that corrective actions have been completed by the due date.

Where the degree of user acceptance needs to monitored, as part of the quality control process, surveys and questionnaires are another useful method which may be used.

Other Considerations

• Managing expectations

As the primary goal of quality management is to ensure users’ needs have been satisfied, it is important that their expectations are not unrealistic.  To manage expectations, the quality management function should ensure that there is adequate participation (by users of all levels) throughout the project lifecycle, and that users participate in and buy into the quality management process.

• Vendor guidelines

Additionally, the target package’s vendor (if already known) might provide guidance in quality audits and techniques.

• International quality standards

Adherence to international quality standards may be required for certain IT projects, and the need to ensure adherence will need to be reflected throughout the quality plan.  ISO 9001 is the current standard for quality systems, and its principles apply to IT projects where the “product” is the project deliverable(s), the “supplier” is the project team, and the “client” is the host or user organisation.