Project Management Framework
Planning - Quality Assurance Plan
Definition
The Quality Assurance Plan describes the strategy and methods the project will deploy to ensure two things:
- That the project is being managed, developed, and deployed in a sound, reasonable way.
- That the project's deliverables are of acceptable quality before they are delivered to the project's clients.
Why is this important?
Quality doesn't happen by accident. It must be planned so there is agreement about how quality is measured, when quality checks occur and how corrective actions are determined and implemented. The Quality Assurance Plan is a tool that can help the project deliver the highest possible quality result within committed resources, schedule and budget.
Instructions
In conjunction with stakeholders, outline a quality plan that addresses both key project processes and project deliverables. Establish clear criteria for specifically defining quality at each key checkpoint or for each deliverable. Outline roles and responsibilities for the key quality assurance evaluators. Obtain agreement on the points in time that quality reviews will occur and how and to whom findings will be reported.
How to Scale
Each project should have some form of quality assurance plan. Quality Assurance staff should report to other than the project manager. The larger the project, the more formal and comprehensive the plan should be. For large projects, quality assurance must be obtained from external sources. For medium or small projects, quality assurance may be performed internally as long as it is performed by independent staff.
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