Department of Commerce Guidelines Quality Management Guideline Issue No: 2.0 Issue Date: September 1997 Review Date: April 2002 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................2 2. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF GUIDELINE.....................................................2 3. CONCEPTS........................................................................................................3 3.1 Roles..............................................................................................................................4 4. KEY ISSUES......................................................................................................5 5. ACTIVITIES........................................................................................................6 5.1 Conduct Quality Planning...............................................................................................7 5.2 Implement Quality Assurance Framework......................................................................8 5.3 Conduct Quality Control Activities..................................................................................9 5.4 Implement Corrective Actions.......................................................................................10 6. SUMMARY.......................................................................................................12 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Key elements of the Quality Management Process…………………………………………………..4 Quality Management Guideline Page 1 of 12 1. Introduction The purpose of this Guideline is to promote an understanding of the key requirements for ensuring the quality of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project’s deliverables. That is, ensuring that deliverables are produced according to specifications and standards, to user’s requirements and in a manner perceived by the business to be successful. ICT projects may involve applications, infrastructure, supporting technologies, information management, and telecommunications projects, including the acquisition and/or maintenance of telephone, radio and network infrastructure. Management of quality is one of three core elements of a project. The other elements are Change Management and Project Risk Management and these are the subject of separate Guidelines. These elements are inter-dependent, and failure to implement them in a coordinated and effective manner is likely to jeopardise a project. This Guideline should be read in conjunction with other quality management guidelines issued by the Government and international quality standards. Reference should also be made to other policies and guidelines, particularly the other guidelines in this series: Project Management, Change Management, and Project Risk Management 2. Objectives and Scope of Guideline Senior management is not always clear about the importance of their role in promoting and supporting quality on a project. The objective of this Guideline is to provide guidance on the management of the quality of a project’s deliverables. Quality management is an integral part of all projects. It is not a separate process or function, but is a core element of every project activity, that must be planned for and not left to occur by chance. This Guideline does not provide a detailed definition of the steps to be taken, but does describe: • The role of key project participants in the quality management; • What senior management should expect to occur to ensure that there is an appropriate level of confidence in the quality of a project’s deliverables; • The questions to ask to determine whether quality is being managed effectively on a project; • Key issues and considerations in the quality management; The benefits of managing quality systematically and pro-actively include: • Lower project risks; • Lower project costs; • Increased confidence by the business in the processes that are followed to develop deliverables (because those processes are more visible); Quality Management Guideline Page 2 of 12 • Higher project team job satisfaction; • Lower operating and support costs for the delivered system; 3. Concepts For a project to be successful, a balance must be struck between its scope, cost, schedule and the level of confidence in the quality of its deliverables. The level of confidence in the quality of a deliverable is directly related to the investment in the quality management process. For example, a project can be completed quickly with minimal investment in quality management, but the level of confidence in the quality of its deliverables may be affected. The project’s sponsor, steering committee and all other levels of management that are involved with the project must work together to define and agree the level of confidence that is required in the quality of the project’s deliverables. The level of confidence that is required will depend on several factors including the: • Criticality of the project’s deliverables to the organisation; • Magnitude of the risk of project failure; • Cost to the organisation if the project fails; Once the level of confidence has been agreed, the scale of the investment that is required in the quality management process can be determined. Critical business applications will normally require a large investment in the: • Definition of comprehensive and rigorous quality control procedures; • Effort in performing those quality control procedures; Quality Management Guideline Page 3 of 12 • • • Figure 1: Key elements of the Quality Management Process As Figure 1 illustrates three key elements of the quality management process are: Quality assurance; Quality control; Corrective action and feedback; 3.1 Roles Quality management is the responsibility of all participants and stakeholders in a project. The project team and the business must work closely together to ensure that there is an appropriate level of confidence in the quality of deliverables. The key management roles, and their major responsibilities are: • Senior management, who must fully support the actions that are required to maintain the project’s quality and ensure that all stakeholders and participants in the project adhere to those actions. • Project sponsor, who is responsible for: − ensuring that the required resources are available; − ensuring there is active participation in the quality management process by all stakeholders in the project; − monitoring the effectiveness of the quality assurance framework; • Project manager, who is responsible for: Quality Management Guideline Page 4 of 12 − driving and managing all aspects of the project’s quality; − planning for quality and the development and implementation of the quality assurance framework; − continual monitoring of the effectiveness of the quality assurance framework; − regular reporting of progress to the project sponsor and steering committee; • Business unit representatives, who must support the implementation of the actions and processes that are adopted for the quality assurance framework. • Project team members, who are responsible for: − adhering to the guidelines set out in the quality assurance framework; − conducting quality control activities; Some projects may also warrant specialist quality assurance and control resources. These resources may be assigned to the project team or may be required to act as an external quality audit function. 4. Key Issues 1) Quality management should be applied to a project pragmatically. It is essential that the measures adopted to promote quality on a project are cost effective and add value. 2) When determining the level of investment to be made in quality management, the risk rather than the size of the project should be the major consideration. For example, a small project costing less than $500,000 could be critical to an agency’s service delivery capability and this project would warrant high levels of investment in formal quality management. 3) Agencies that do not have skilled quality assurance and control resources that can assist with a project can obtain these resources from a third party such as another agency or a specialist private sector firm. 4) If an external quality assurance function is established for a project, it must remain independent without developing a “quality police” role. All participants and stakeholders are responsible for quality and the independent quality assurance function must add value by working in a consultative manner with the project team to develop and improve the quality of deliverables. 5) There is no effective way of guaranteeing that project outcomes will be free of defects and always function as intended. However, the processes, approach and quality assurance mechanisms that are followed to develop the project deliverables must provide the level of confidence that is required for the project. Quality Management Guideline Page 5 of 12 6) Stakeholder expectations of quality must be managed throughout a project. If stakeholders form unrealistic expectations about the quality of deliverables then they may perceive that the project has not met its objectives. 7) The quality measures that are adopted for a project must conform with the agency’s overall quality philosophy and mechanisms. This is normally achieved by following the agency’s approved project management methodology (see the guideline on IM&T Project Management). 8) Quality management is concerned with all activities and deliverables of a project, including project planning, design, documentation, specifications, procedures, training, risk assessment, benefits management and implementation planning, that combine to meet the expectations of stakeholders. 9) A project is more likely to meet its objectives when deliverables are produced correctly the first time. Everybody involved with the project must adopt this philosophy and ensure that the project’s agreed methodologies and standards are adhered to. 10) External stakeholders, such as independent regulatory authorities, unions and public interest groups, often have an interest in a project’s quality and their needs should be a consideration when planning for quality. 5. Activities There are four major activities that should occur to promote the quality of a project and its deliverables: 1) Conduct quality planning: Planning for quality is a key element of the development of the project plan and is the responsibility of the project manager (see guideline on IM&T Project Management). 2) Implement quality assurance framework: The quality assurance framework defines how the project’s quality will be managed and includes project methodologies, standards and guidelines and the project’s organisation structure. 3) Conduct quality control activities: These activities include review and testing of project deliverables. This should be a continuous process, with particular emphasis on pre-defined quality control checkpoints where the deliverables from one or more project tasks are examined in detail. 4) Implement corrective actions: Steps are taken to address any defects, non-conformities, issues or problems that are identified by the quality control process. Corrective action may include changes to the project plan, the quality assurance framework, methodologies, standards or guidelines (preventive action). The objectives and nature of each of these steps are described in detail in the following sections. Quality Management Guideline Page 6 of 12 4.1 Conduct Quality Planning The quality management plan may be included in the project plan. Quality should be an area of focus throughout all aspects of the project plan, and the document that many project managers call their quality plan is effectively the project plan. A key question that must be answered during project planning is “what is an appropriate, and cost justifiable, level of quality management for this project?”. The level of confidence that is required in the quality of the project’s deliverables must be agreed with the project sponsor and other key stakeholders. Quality planning is the responsibility of the project manager. Specialist quality resources such as an agency’s quality manager or resources from another agency can provide key guidance and support for the project manager during the planning for quality. However, the responsibility for the management of the quality of the project, and its deliverables, must remain with the project manager. Two major components of quality planning are: • Selecting the quality assurance framework that will be followed. This framework includes the standards and guidelines that will be used to plan, manage, staff, control and deliver the project effectively (normally they are based on the agency’s standards for project management). • Communication to project team members and stakeholders on the quality mechanisms that will be adopted and their role in ensuring the quality of deliverables. It is particularly important that the planning process clearly describes to all stakeholders the ways in which quality will be achieved. The skill and experience of the individuals who plan for quality is a major consideration in the effectiveness of this process. The project manager must have extensive experience in planning for, and managing quality, and any specialist quality resources assigned to the project should have similar levels of skill and experience. While quality management is a continuous process, major checkpoints in the project where key deliverables will be tested need to be clearly identified. Each process or phase within the project must be structured to allow easy measurement of progress against the specification. This will enable early identification of deviations from the specification. If it is difficult to measure progress towards meeting the specification, the risks associated with the project will escalate. The major considerations when planning for quality are: • Identify the project’s quality objectives; • Avoid development of a separate “quality plan”; Quality Management Guideline Page 7 of 12 • Ensure the project manager retains responsibility for quality; • Plan for quality control to occur continuously with detailed reviews at major checkpoints; 5.2 Implement Quality Assurance Framework Quality assurance involves monitoring the effectiveness of quality planning, quality control and the processes that are followed to develop deliverables. The quality assurance framework is an integral part of the effective management of a project. It may include: • Ensuring the project methodologies, standards and guidelines that are identified in the project plan are appropriate and reasonable for the project environment; • Ensuring that the processes and standards identified in detailed work plans are appropriate and reasonable for achieving the objectives of each deliverable; • Ensuring that the project’s organisation structure clearly identifies roles and responsibilities; • Defining the nature and frequency of the reporting that is required on quality. This reporting should be part of the overall project reporting cycle and is the responsibility of the project manager; • Ensuring that all project participants have adequate levels of skills and experience and that any deficiencies are addressed by appropriate training or assigning additional resources to the project; • Reviewing the adequacy of, and adherence to, general project controls such as software development methodologies and change control procedures; • Ensuring that quality control activities are performed consistently and at the right time; • Analysing errors and defects to provide a basis for improving: • The quality of project deliverables; • The quality planning, quality control and development processes; The quality assurance framework should have the flexibility to cater for unexpected changes to the project such as its scope, staffing, assumptions and constraints. A project’s organisation structure must promote quality and there are a number of considerations when determining the most appropriate structure for a project, Quality Management Guideline Page 8 of 12 including the: • Project’s scale and complexity; • Level of risk associated with the project; • Availability of specialist quality assurance resources; • Levels of skill and experience of the project team; If specialist quality assurance staff are assigned to the project, an added level of confidence in the project can be obtained by including the progress reports these staff produce within the project’s regular reports to the project sponsor and steering committee. Large, complex or high risk projects may also warrant an external quality assurance function that is provided by specialist agency staff or a third party. Effectively this is a project audit role and involves regular reviews to assess independently the effectiveness of the project’s quality assurance framework. The project manager must be provided with the opportunity to comment on any independent reports before they are released to the sponsor or steering committee. While remaining independent, the external quality assurance function must add value to the quality of deliverables and should not be designed to “catch-out” the project manager or project team. The major considerations in implementing a project’s quality assurance framework are: • Ensure the project’s methodologies, standards & guide-lines appropriate; • Do not set up quality assurance functions in a “policing”role; • Include reporting on quality as part of the project’s regular reporting cycle; 5.3 Conduct Quality Control Activities Quality control is the process that measures the quality of the project’s deliverables. Quality control is the responsibility of all stakeholders including project team members and the business unit that owns the project. Quality control occurs throughout the project, with a number of check-points defined where progress and the quality of the current deliverables are reviewed in detail. Examples of methods for quality control include: • Review of deliverables through mechanisms such as self review, peer review and structured walk throughs; Quality Management Guideline Page 9 of 12 • Testing of deliverables to determine their level of compliance with user requirements; • Assessing the satisfaction of stakeholders with major deliverables of the project. Projects that have an independent quality assurance function will have a second level of quality control. The independent quality assurance staff should: • Review the project’s quality control records to determine whether the Planned quality control activities are taking place; • Conduct its own quality control activities on randomly selected project processes and deliverables to assess their quality. The project sponsor and steering committee should receive regular reports from the project manager, and the independent quality assurance function (if applicable) that summarise the outcome of the project’s quality control processes. These reports may include statistical information such as the number of incidences that have been identified through testing and the number that have been resolved and cleared by the project team. In summary, the major aspects of quality control are: • Quality control is the responsibility of the entire project team; • Quality control should occur throughout the project, with an emphasis on major project check-points; • If used, an independent quality assurance function will provide a second level of quality control; • The outcome of the quality control activities must be a part of the project reporting process; 5.4 Implement Corrective Actions The project manager must regularly collate and analyse the results of quality control activities and other relevant information about the project. This analysis will lead to the prompt identification of general trends or issues and allow the early implementation of corrective action. Quality control activities will normally identify a number of incidents and it is important to assess whether an incident is: • An isolated case; or • Part of a pattern that will result in the problem recurring; Realistic corrective actions need to be developed by the project team to address Quality Management Guideline Page 10 of 12 the issue or problem. If the cost of the corrective action exceeds its benefits, then the project manager must identify a more acceptable alternative, which may be to take no action. If a problem is identified by an external quality assurance function, the external staff should work with the project team in a consultative manner to identify appropriate corrective action. Examples of corrective action that may be considered include: • Reworking of a deliverable; • Changing of methods or standards; • Refinement of the project structure, which may include assigning more experienced resources to the project team; • Changes to the project plan or the quality assurance framework such as scheduling more regular peer reviews of deliverables. Effective corrective action depends on good records of quality control activities. Comprehensive records assist the project manager to track and identify the source of defects. Records are also necessary to demonstrate that quality assurance mechanisms have been established and are working as planned through effective quality control. The project’s regular reporting must include summaries of the action that has been taken to address quality control incidences. The reports should also demonstrate that the effectiveness of the corrective action has been reviewed to ensure that the problem or defect has been successfully rectified and will not recur. The steps that need to be taken to implement corrective action include: • Collecting, collating and integrating the quality control data and statistics; • Identifying and categorising the defects and non-conformities to determine if problems are unique (one-time) or recurring; • Analysing categorised data to identify trends early; • Identifying realistic corrective actions and selecting the most cost effective solutions; • Implementing the solution and measuring the results; • Maintain good records of quality control activities; • Follow-up and monitor the effectiveness of the corrective actions; Quality Management Guideline Page 11 of 12 6. Summary Quality management is a key component of a project and it is the responsibility of all participants and stakeholders to support and promote the quality of the project and its deliverables. A project will be successful when: • It is managed effectively; • It has an appropriate governance structure (see IM&T Project Management guideline); • Appropriate levels of skilled and experienced resources are assigned to the project team; • The business and the project team work closely together to ensure that deliverables are produced according to the specification, to an appropriate standard, on time, within budget and are fit for their intended purpose; • Appropriate and cost effective corrective action is implemented to address deficiencies; • The effectiveness of corrective action is monitored; • Reporting on quality is an integral component of the project’s regular reporting cycle; • An appropriate level of quality management is chosen that reflects the importance of the deliverables to the business, the risk of failure and the cost of failure. The Office of Information and Communications Technology is part of the Department of Commerce Address: Level 21 McKell Building 2-24 Rawson Place Sydney NSW 2000 T: (61 2) 9372 8877 F: (61 2) 9372 8299 E:mailto:oict@commerce.nsw.gov.au Quality Management Guideline Page 12 of 12