Proj. Mgmt - Audit & Quality Check essay.

Project management processes are categorised into 5 process groups of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. An audit process should look at all process groups in a project.

Suppose that you are working as a project management expert in an organisation that delivers projects. You have been tasked to carry out an audit of the projectmanagement processes and practice in your organisation.
Develop a checklist for each process group to be used for the audit of the project management practice in your company.
Develop a template for non-conformance report.
Task: The tools developed in the previous stage are used in an example in this step.

Identify and briefly introduce a sample project. You may use the project presented in your submission for assignment 1.
Suppose the selected project is in progress.
You are required to use the checklist developed for the monitoring and controlling processes for an audit of the relevant project management processes in this group. Present the completed checklist.
Identify at least one non-conformance and complete a non-conformance report using the template developed in the previous step.
Prepare a maximum one page long audit report. The report could have one or two appendices.

Refer to PMBOK edition for the list of project management knowledge areas. Select two knowledge areas other than time, cost and quality. Develop 5 metrics and the associated acceptance criteria for each knowledge area for assessment of the project management process in that area.

Introduction to Project Management Processes

In the competitive business environment, the success of a project is widely depended on the quality management process of the project (Lecoeuvre 2017). By assessing the quality of the project management through a number of practices, the contemporary business organisation can gain substantial advantages (Mir and Pinnington 2014). Over the last decade or so, the importance of project management has become mandatory to complete a successful project. In order to measure the quality of project management process in an organisation, project management team has utilised different types of methods (Görög 2016). In this particular study of literature, four different types of methods have been elaborated i.e. Organisational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3),

Capability Assessment Model, Project Management Office Function Model (PMO), and Project Management Performance Assessment Model (PMPA). Apparently, the methods are inevitable to identify clear project objectives, measurable indicators, data authentication, and timeliness of the project to decide whether the quality of the project is up to the mark (Lecoeuvre 2017). Within the project management practices, the establishment of specific activities can be described as key controls that must be verified and approved by the management. Primarily, these methods are effective to make the life easier for the management to measure the performance and quality of the project procedures (Gomes and Romão 2015).

OPM3 has been widely used by the project managers to assess the common procedures and practices of a project against the best practices of the OPM3. By setting up the comparison with the most comprehensive practices, the quality of the practices and procedures of a project can be improved following the guidelines (Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3®) 2013). Effectively, OPM3 can be applied by any firm irrespective of the size, complexity, and maturity to attain high standards of customer satisfaction, reduction in costs, efficiency, and competitive gain over the competitors (Langston and Ghanbaripour 2016).

PMO function model helps to increase the project management maturity by promoting a number of functions such as governance, performance management, risk management, financial management, quality management, and resource management, etc (Julian 2008). The understanding of each of the functions enables the project manager to align the project practices as per the competency, resources, and financial strengths so that quality of the project management practices will be upheld (Dai and Wells 2004).

Organisational capabilities assessment model is another dynamic set of the model to ensure the quality of project management practices (Maylor 2010). By using the model, collective competencies and capabilities of an organisation can be taken into account before setting up best project management procedures. Precisely, the capability assessment model exploits the organisational resources at the optimal way delivering quality (Wang et al. 2017). Furthermore, Project Management Performance Assessment Model (PMPA) can be used as another method to assess the quality of project management practices (Maylor 2010). The model utilises a number of tools and techniques to set the best project management practices and procedures effective for delivering high quality and satisfaction towards the customers (Qureshi, Warraich and Hijazi 2009).

Methods to Measure Quality of Project Management

Template of Audit Checklist

In order to maintain the quality of the project management process, the checklist of the particulars involving five steps i.e. initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing has been described. By commencing the audit, the auditor must deliver indicative points to verify whether the process rightly involves each of the particulars. Leading to this, the non-conformance report (NCR) has also been addressed at the end of the section.

Initiating Process Audit Checklist Template

Project Name: _____________ ___ Audit Date(s): _________________________ __ Project Manager: _____ _ Project Auditor: ______________ ______________
Project Management Process: Initiating Indication: 1 = Not Addressed 2 = Adequate 3 = Well Covered
No.	Particulars
1.1	Is the project statement of work received from the project sponsor or initiator?
1.1.1	Does the project idea have been initiated to meet a business need?
1.1.2	Does the project align with the strategic plan of the organisation?
1.1.3	Is the product scope document clearly presented?
1.2	Is the business case created and approved?
1.3	Is an agreement made with the project sponsors? (Memorandum of understanding / Letters of agreement / Service level agreement / written agreement / contract / letter of intent)
1.4	Is the project provided with any sort of organisational processed assets?
1.5	Are the factors related to enterprise environment considered in the project?
2.1	Are the judgements of the experts utilised in assessing the inputs of the project?
2.2	Is the project charter developed using any guide of facilitation technique?
3.1	Is the project charter authorised by client or sponsors?
3.1.1	Does the project charter present all assumptions and constraints of the project?
3.1.2	Does the project charter capture the high level requirements?
4.1	Does the project charter present the list of all stakeholders?
4.2	Is the project based on a contract or a result of procurement activity?
4.2.1	Are the names of the suppliers presented in the stakeholder list?
5.1	Is the stakeholder analysis conducted for the project?
5.2	Are the profile analysis meetings undertaken to identify the primary stakeholders?
6.1	Is a stakeholder register prepared and maintained?

Planning Process Audit Checklist Template

Project Name: _____________ _ Audit Date(s): _______________________ __ Project Manager: Project Auditor: _____________ ______________
Project Management Process: Planning Indication: 1 = Not Addressed 2 = Adequate 3 = Well Covered
No.	Particulars
1.1	Are the high level constraints of the project presented in the charter?
1.2	Are the outputs from other processes been included in the PM plan?
1.3	Are the factors related to enterprise environment considered in developing the PM plan?
1.4	Does the PM plan considers or involves any organisational process assets?
2.1	Are the judgements of the experts used to develop the PM plan?
2.1	Is the project management plan developed using any facilitation techniques such as conflict resolution, brainstorming, and problem solving?
3.1	Does the project management plan include the following items:
3.1.1	· Execution, monitoring and controlling plan
3.1.2	· Change & stakeholder management plan
3.1.3	· Communication management plan
3.1.4	· Schedule management plan
3.1.5	· Configuration management plan
3.1.6	· Cost management plan
3.1.7	· Human resource management plan
3.1.8	· Scope statement and scope management plan
3.1.9	· Quality management plan
3.1.10	· Risk management plan
4.1	Is the scope management plan developed using the approved subsidiary plans for project management?
4.2	Is the project charter considered while developing the scope management plan?
4.3	Are the factors of enterprise environment considered while developing the scope management plan?
4.4	Are the organisational process assets considered while developing the scope management plan?
4.5	Are the judgements of the experts used to develop the project scope plan?
4.6	Is the project scope plan developed using any facilitation techniques such as conflict resolution, brainstorming, and problem solving?
4.7	Is the scope management plan developed on the basis of the requirements of the project?
5.1	Does the scope management plan clearly present the requirements of the project?
5.2	Is the process of collecting resources presented in the requirement management plan?
5.3	Does the stakeholder management plan present the communication requirement to deal with the resource management activities?
5.4	Are the requirements of the project developed using the project charter?
5.5	What sort of techniques and tools have been utilised to collect the requirements? Please mention.
5.6	Is the matrix to trace requirements been created in the PM plan?
6.1	Are the activities for executing, monitoring and controlling process have been developed using the scope management plan?
6.2	Is the project scope statement developed using the project charter?
6.3	Are the organisational process assets considered while developing the scope statement?
6.4	Are the judgements of the experts used to develop the project scope statement?
6.5	Is the product analysis technique used in the project planning?
6.6	Are facilitated workshops conducted to develop project objectives and constraints?
6.7	Does the project scope statement present the primary deliverables, constraints and assumptions?
7.1	Does the Scope management plan guide how to create the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)?
7.2	Are the factors of enterprise environment considered while developing the WBS?
7.3	Is the WBS developed considering the organisational process assets?
7.4	Is the decomposition technique used to create the WBS?
7.5	Are the judgements of the experts used to develop the WBS?
7.6	Is the scope baseline approval available for the project?
8.1	Is the management of the project schedule influenced by the project approval requirement and milestone schedule in the project charter?
8.2	Are the factors of enterprise environment considered while developing the project schedule plan?
8.3	Are the organisational process assets considered while developing the project schedule plan?
8.4	Are the judgements of the experts used to develop the schedule management plan?
9.1	Is the activity list developed for the project?
9.2	Are the features of the activities utilised to develop the project schedule?
9.3	Is the milestone list presented in the project plan?
10.1	Is the lag or lead effectively defined in the activity plan?
10.2	Is a network diagram created in the project plan?
10.3	Is the precedence diagramming technique used to develop the schedule model?
10.4	Is the dependency determination technique used to develop the process of sequencing the activities?
11.1	Is a resource breakdown structure developed for the project?
11.2	Are the activity resource requirements calculated for the task packages?
11.3	Is a resource calendar presented in the project plan?
12.1	Are the judgements of the experts used to estimate the activity duration?
12.2	Are the following technique used to estimate the activity duration:
12.2.1	· Parametric Estimation Technique
12.2.2	· Analogous Estimation Technique
12.2.3	· Three Point Estimation Technique
12.2.4	· Group Decision Making Technique
12.2.4	· Reserve Analysis
13.1	Is a project schedule developed for the project?
13.2	Is the schedule network analysis method used to create the project schedule?
13.3	Is the critical path technique used to create the project schedule?
13.4	Is the critical chain technique used to create the project schedule?
13.5	Is the resource optimisation method used to adjust the project schedule?
13.6	Is the schedule compression method used to adjust the duration of the project schedule?
13.7	Is the schedule baseline developed and approved by the sponsor or client?
14.1	Is the cost baseline presented in the project plan?
14.2	Are the activity cost estimation made for the project?
14.3	Are the supporting documents for estimation of cost presented with the cost forecast?
14.4	Are the funding requirements determined utilising the cost baseline?
14.5	Is any of the project document updated on the basis of budget requirements?
15.1	Does the project management plan present the quality metrics to measure the quality of the project?
15.2	Are the quality checklist developed to measure the performance of the activities?
15.3	Is a project improvement plan developed to improve the project activities?
16.1	Is a risk register developed and maintained for the project?
16.2	Is qualitative risk analysis conducted to identify the risks?
16.3	Is quantitative risk analysis conducted to identify the risks?
16.4	Is a risk mitigation plan developed to eliminate the threats?
17.1	Is a procurement management plan developed for the project?
17.2	Is the procurement statement developed on the basis of the project baseline?
17.3	Does the procurement documents have been created and utilised to request proposal from the suppliers?
17.4	Is the make-or-buy analysis conduct in the project?
17.5	Is a source selection criteria included in the procurement plan?

Executing Process Audit Checklist Template

Project Name: _____________ _ Audit Date(s): _______________________ __ Project Manager: ____ _ Project Auditor: ____________ ______________
Project Management Process: Executing Indication: 1 = Not Addressed 2 = Adequate 3 = Well Covered
No	Particulars
1.1	Has judgement of the experts been taken into account to direct and lead the project management process?
1.2	Has the team developed management information system for the project?
1.3	Has the team arranged meetings to discuss direction and execution steps?
1.4	Have each of the deliverables been included in the management plan?
1.5	Has the team collected the entire work performance data?
1.6	Have any change requests been considered for the project at the earlier stages?
1.7	Has the requested changes been included in the project management plan?
2.1	Have the team used any quality management tools and techniques? (Provide detail information)
2.2	Have quality audits been performed to decide the fulfilment of project related actions?
2.3	Has the team performed process analysis in the project work?
2.4	Have requests for change been developed and addressed to develop change control procedure?
3.1	Has the project involved any virtual teams?
3.2	Has the staff members been allocated to particular teams?
3.3	Has the resource calendar been included the schedule of each of the project team members?
3.4	Has multi-criteria selection analysis been utilised to assign project teams?
4.1	Have interpersonal skills of team members been developed?
4.2	Has proper training and development been designed to increase skills and competencies among the staffs?
4.3	Has performance assessment been taken into account in the project work?
4.4	Have tactical team building actions been promoted to influence the collaboration of team members?
5.1	Have performance appraisal of project been performed?
5.2	Has any particular conflict management techniques been taken into consideration in the project work?
6.1	Has effective communication strategy and process been followed as per the communication planning?
6.2	Has the initial planning been updated following the current performance?
7.1	Have any bidder conferences been arranged in the project work?
7.2	Have the project used proposal evaluation technique to identify the seller?
7.3	Has the contract between purchaser and seller been performed?
8.1	Has the team developed any issue log to increase stakeholder engagement?

Closing Process Audit Checklist Template

Project Name: _____________ _ Audit Date(s): _______________________ __ Project Manager: ____ _ Project Auditor: _____________ _____________ _
Project Management Process: Closing Indication: 1 = Not Addressed 2 = Adequate 3 = Well Covered
No.	Particulars
1.1	Has the expert judgement been consulted at the time of project closure?
1.2	Have the team completed the entire closure documents related to the project?
2.1	Has the team considered any procurement auditing according to the process management planning?
2.2	Has the documentation been safely recorded?
2.3	Have all process been closed and signed off by the two parties to end the agreement in a formal way?

2. B: Template of Non-Conformance Report

A Non-Conformance Report (NCR) is used to document the detailed analysis of a non-conformance that has been identified while auditing the quality and other processes of the project management. The template for non-conformance report has been presented herein below:

The Grand Avenue Bridge Project is a significant infrastructural development initiative for the Colorado Department of Transport and the City Council of Glenwood Springs. The contract has been allocated to a joint venture of RL Wadsworth and Granite, the two most experienced construction companies of the region. The primary aim of the project is to develop a new bridge and deconstruct the old infrastructure of 64 years in order to maintain the safety of the traffic that passes through the bridge. It is expected that the project would cost around $235 million and a span of 30 months will be required for the entire project to be completed. Currently, the project is under progress, which makes it important for the project team to conduct an audit of monitoring and controlling process. The audit report of the project for the monitoring and controlling process has been presented herein below:

Audit Report

Organisation: Glenwood Springs City Council and Colorado Department of Transport
Project: Grand Avenue Bridge Project
Audit Number: GABP-M&C-1017
Area (s) Audited: Monitoring and Controlling
Report Reference: AS/NS ISO 19011:2014, AS/NS ISO 9001:2016, PMBOK Guide fifth edition & GABP Project Management Plan
Date: XX-XX-2017
Distribution: Project Manager, RL Wadsworth and Granite Joint Venture, and Internal Document Control

Content of the Report

Introduction
Findings and Observation
Recommendations
Non-conformance report and Audit checklist

Introduction

The primary objective of the audit report is to assess and evaluate the adequacy of the RL Wadsworth and Granite’s monitoring and controlling process of the Grand Avenue Bridge Project Management Plan. Furthermore, the report aims to verify the fulfilment of the project’s objectives and client’s requirements.

Audit Findings

2.1 Strengths

On the basis of the audit of the monitoring and controlling process and the interviews of the staffs, it can be seen that the project has been developed through a strong and committed team. The project team properly understand the assurance they have made to the Glenwood Springs City Council and Colorado Department of Transport to provide a better transportation infrastructure to the internal and external stakeholders.

2.2 Findings

During the process of auditing, one primary non-conformance was detected regarding the lack of frequently conducting the risk assessment according to the plan.

Objective Evidence: The risk assessment was not conducted frequently as per the plan.

Response due: October 30^th, 2017

Implementation due: November 30^th, 2017

Recommendations

On the basis of the non-conformance found by the auditing process, it is requested to conduct the risk assessment frequently and a proper schedule for the risk assessment must be maintained during the course of the project. The audit checklist has been presented in Appendix 1 and non-conformance report in appendix 2 for further references.

Dai, Christine Xiaoyi, and William G Wells. 2004. "An Exploration Of Project Management Office Features And Their Relationship To Project Performance". International Journal Of Project Management 22 (7): 523-532.

Gomes, Jorge, and Mário Romão. 2015. "Enhancing Organisational Maturity With Benefits Management". International Journal Of Information Technology Project Management 6 (4): 34-47.

Görög, Mihály. 2016. "A Broader Approach To Organisational Project Management Maturity Assessment". International Journal Of Project Management 34 (8): 1658-1669.

Julian, Jerry. 2008. "How Project Management Office Leaders Facilitate Cross-Project Learning And Continuous Improvement". Project Management Journal 39 (3): 43-58.

Langston, Craig, and Amir Naser Ghanbaripour. 2016. "A Management Maturity Model (MMM) For Project-Based Organisational Performance Assessment". Construction Economics And Building 16 (4): 68.

Lecoeuvre, Laurence. 2017. "The Performance Of Projects And Project Management. Sustainable Delivery In Project Intensive Companies". Project Manager (IL), no. 31: 44-46.

Maylor, Harvey. 2010. Project Management. 3rd ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Mir, Farzana Asad, and Ashly H. Pinnington. 2014. "Exploring The Value Of Project Management: Linking Project Management Performance And Project Success". International Journal Of Project Management 32 (2): 202-217.

Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3®). 2013. 3rd ed. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.

Qureshi, Tahir Masood, Aamir Shahzad Warraich, and Syed Tahir Hijazi. 2009. "Significance Of Project Management Performance Assessment (PMPA) Model". International Journal Of Project Management 27 (4): 378-388.

Snijders, Paul, Thomas Wuttke, Anton Zandhuis, and Steve Newton. 2013. PMBOK Guide. 3rd ed. Zaltbommel: Van Haren Publishing.

Wang, Xinzhi, Vijayan Sugumaran, Hui Zhang, and Zheng Xu. 2017. "A Capability Assessment Model For Emergency Management Organizations". Information Systems Frontiers.

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