Quality management approach

The quality management approach defines how quality will be planned, monitored, and controlled throughout the project. It outlines the processes, standards, responsibilities, tools, and techniques that will be used to ensure products are fit for purpose and meet stakeholder expectations.

Lifecycle

This document, along with the other management approach documents, is created during the initiation stage and becomes part of the project initiation documentation. The organisation usually provides a standard template that only requires minor tailoring. It also establishes clear responsibilities for achieving and maintaining the required levels of quality during the project lifecycle.

The quality management approach is developed early in the project and may be refined as quality expectations or processes evolve:

• The project manager creates the quality management approach during the initiating a project process.
• At this point, the project manager will have already defined the project’s scope and quality expectations in the project product description.
• The organisation or programme typically provides a template; the project manager reviews it and adjusts it to fit the project’s specific needs.
• The document may be updated during the project to reflect any agreed changes in how quality will be managed (e.g. due to scope changes, new quality standards, or lessons learned).

Purpose

The quality management approach should answer the following:

• Which quality management system will be followed – the customer’s, supplier’s, or a combination?
• What standards will be applied to products and processes?
• What tools and techniques will be used to support quality planning, control, and assurance?
• How will quality assurance be performed?
• Who is responsible for capturing the customer’s quality expectations and defining acceptance criteria?
• Who is responsible for:
  • Performing quality assurance
  • Approving the quality management approach
  • Confirming acceptance of the final product
• What records are required, and when should quality activities take place?

Source data

The quality management approach is developed using inputs from organisational standards, product expectations, and the project’s team structure:

• A quality management approach template, which should already include key elements such as:
  • Organisational quality standards
  • Configuration management requirements
  • Change control requirements
  • Corporate or programme-level quality strategies
• The project management team structure, to define roles and responsibilities related to quality
• The project product description, which contains the customer’s quality expectations and acceptance criteria
• Supplier and customer quality management systems to ensure alignment and compatibility in quality processes

Quality criteria

The quality management approach should be transparent and aligned with organisational standards and provide adequate control over how quality will be achieved and assured:

• Clearly defines how customer quality expectations will be met and verified.
• Quality responsibilities are assigned, including roles independent of the project manager (e.g. project assurance).
• The approach aligns with the supplier’s and customer’s quality management systems.
• It conforms to the corporate or programme-level quality policies and standards.
• The selected methods for quality assurance are suitable and proportionate to the standards and context of the project.

Tips

Here are some practical reminders to help you tailor a valuable and realistic quality management approach for your project:

• Decide early which quality system will take precedence — the customer’s or the supplier’s.
• Always use the latest approved template for the quality management approach, ideally provided by the programme or customer.
• Review the project product description first, as it defines the customer’s quality expectations and will guide much of the content in the quality management approach.

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Written by Frank Turley.

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