Stating Project Quality Policy

Strategic planning of project quality requires the development of a policy that could state high-level goals and general direction the project quality management process. A project quality policy is an effective tool of quality management to identify the right way for an organization to implement a project following expected quality levels and performance. In this article we try to answer the question “What is a project quality policy?” and determine approaches for implementing this policy.

Project Quality Policy Definition

Project Quality Policy is a statement of a high-level strategic governance model for identifying project quality goals and constituting the general direction of the quality management process. It is a strategic vision of an organization regarding formal expectations and requirements of project quality being achieved during the process implementation. The project quality policy statement gives a common description of all low-level (tactical) elements of the governance model, such as standards, plans, guidelines, approaches, activities and procedures.

The project quality policy statement is often an unalterable document that is never changed. The development of the project quality policy document is the primary process within project quality planning and management that is undertaken at the Project Planning Phase when subsidiary plans for managing a project are to be designed and approved. The quality policy statement is a foundation for developing a project quality management plan which is a sequence of tasks and activities aimed at putting the policy in practice and producing operational results.

When you work on the development of your quality policy statement template for a project, you need to take into account direction and expectations of senior management regarding desired quality of project products and processes. Also you need to consider several approaches to the implementation of your policy. These approaches are reviewed below.

Project Quality Policy Approaches

To achieve successful implementation of your sample project quality policy statement, a series of approaches need to be adapted and applied during the course of the process for project quality planning and management. Quality policy approaches can be organized into three groups, such as Human Resources, Process and Performance. Let’s review the approaches in detail.

1. Human Resources.
• Investments in People. Human resources are the greatest asset of the project. Your organization needs to consider employees a resource that is worth investments because by having qualified and experienced employees the organization is able to follow the best project quality management practices and implement competent solutions in the field of quality control and assurance. This approach should be prioritized in your project quality policy statement example and server as a motivation for your employees to use their full potential and achieve the highest possible quality level. Project quality management software will be required for designing human resource investment estimates.
• Employee Feedback. This approach is about ensuring that your employees are actively encouraged to send their feedback to the project quality management team and report current level of performance. The employee feedback will be used to facilitate the implementation of stated project quality policy objectives and continual improvement of your organization’s system of project quality management and planning. It allows employees to be actively involved in the process of project quality policy planning and to help the organization achieve strategic objectives. Software for project quality management can be used for receiving and processing employee feedback.
• Quality Reviews. This approach is targeted at developing and maintaining a programme of employee quality and performance appraisal to facilitate the project quality management & planning team with measuring employee performance, identifying productivity gaps, and describing reasons for reduced employee quality. Project quality management software will help conduct reviews of employee equality and develop the programme.
2. Process.
• Certification. Your organization should follow some quality certification(s) that is presented in your project quality policy statement example. For example, it could be ISO 9001:2010 certification. Your choice will depend on the project nature and the product to be produced. In context of this approach, your effort for project quality policy management should focus on maintaining existing quality management systems and ensuring continued certification.
• Strategic Alignment. Objectives of the project quality planning and management process should be aligned with business objectives of your organization – this will help make your project quality policy statement sample strategically aligned and meeting project goals. Project quality management software will help the organization create dependencies and relations between the objectives.
• Audit. Analysis of quality policy planning and management can be done with help of internal audit. Your organization needs to establish a surveillance process to track all activities associated with quality assurance and control. Results of auditing should be communicated to senor management of the project for further decision making process. Quality management software will you plan for tasks and schedule activities of audits.
3. Performance.
• Performance Reviews. This approach of project quality policy management requires conducing regular reviews of performance to ensure your statement remains effective and meets strategic objectives and needs of your organization.
• KPIs. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be identified and utilized to assess efficiency of project quality management and planning activities. Project quality management software enables project quality benchmarking.
• Excellence Model. Such a model is used to monitor project performance and drive continual improvement of quality policy planning and management across your organization. Project quality management software will help create models of excellence and build charts and diagrams for tracking and monitoring project performance.