Managing a project in accordance with relevant methodologies and standards, ensures that:

• The risks of outputs failing to meet defined and agreed standards, resulting in project failure are reduced
• Governance and compliance requirements are continually being met   
• The delivery of project outputs can be confirmed by a steering committee as 'fit for purpose'

Good project governance practices include probity and project quality assurance activities.

Project Quality Assurance 

An activity specifically designed to assist steering committee's and project teams to gain comfort over the process undertaken to identify the requirements, audit the results of control measurements and analyse key performance indicators to ensure that appropriate quality standards and procedures are implemented. 

Project quality assurance provides independent real-time assurance to the project director and the steering committee on project activities and processes identified as strategic process risks. The program reports in the first instance to the project director. The project quality assurance methodology incorporates real-time auditing, governance, behavioral auditing and themes as specified by the project director and steering committee. 

Benefits

RSM's project quality assurance services will:

• improve your ability to identify, address and mitigate project risks
• identify risks and issues associated with significant programmes and projects, including review of business acceptance, vision and direction, planning and execution, and monitoring and measurement
• ensure relevant policies, procedures and legislative obligations are being complied with
• assist in identifying and resolving project issues during delivery rather than following completion of the project

Specific Analysis Procedures

Procedures undertaken during a project quality assurance review include:

• reviewing the identified processes and evaluate their effectiveness and sufficiency
• determining how management assure themselves that the procedures and strategies in place are operating as intended
• testing the operation of processes and procedures where appropriate 
• quality assurance assessment over the process and work completed. 

Approach

The following outlines RSM's approach to a Project Quality Assurance Program.

Deliverables

The following are outputs from the quality assurance service:

• Project risk and assurance map - a risk assessment to identify the key potential risk issues that may arise in relation to each project from a Project Quality Assurance Program perspective. These will represent they key project and process risk, the exposure, and the extent to which they will be addressed through the Project Assurance Program, or other means of assurance
• Process flow documentation - clearly documenting and describing key processes using standard graphic symbols to define the current state, allowing for improvements to be identified, and highlight the key controls, and specific procedures, which are undertaken to provide the steering committee with real time comfort over their effective performance
• Regular reporting - all findings are to be formally documented, in a concise and focussed report, and discussed with management throughout the audit to ensure that there are no surprises. Reporting to the steering committee will be in accordance with pre-agreed timeframes