Quality Management Plan TemplateQuality management consists of a number of different elements, and this template is intended to provide a framework for identifying and managing each of those elements. The key elements of a quality management plan are:

The quality standard that needs to be met. This is the most important element and establishes what “success” looks like for quality.

How quality will be assured (quality assurance). This is the approach that will be taken during the execution of the project to ensure that achievement of the quality standards is “built in” to the project.

How quality will be ensured (quality control). This is the work that will happen toward the end of the project to measure actual performance of the deliverables against the standard to identify any variances and take corrective action if necessary.

Quality Standards

Quality standards should be defined at the start of the project as measures of success when it comes to project quality. The specifics will vary greatly depending on the specific deliverables of the project – from transaction processing time of a computer system to shearing strength of a machine bolt. However, each standard should contain the elements in the table below.

Definition Description Tolerance Acceptable Failure Rate

Notes

Guidelines:

Definition – The quality standard that is being defined. This needs to be precise enough to allow for measurement to occur, so words like “fast”, “good” and “sufficient” are unacceptable. If compliance cannot be measured, then the definition is not precise enough.

Description – The explanation of any terms used in the definition, any industry standard measures that will be used in determining compliance, etc. This may cover a number of areas but should be viewed as additional guidance to anyone who has to determine whether the defined standard has been met.

Tolerance – Any acceptable variation from the defined standard that can still be considered a “pass”. For example, if a system is supposed to process a transaction in 2 seconds, then is 2.1 seconds acceptable? Or 2.2? 2.3?

Acceptable Failure Rate – The number of sampled elements that must meet the definition for the standard to be considered met. In our system example, if 999 out of 1,000 transactions processed in under 2 seconds. is that sufficient? What about 990? Or 950? 900?

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Notes – Any additional information that may prove valuable in understanding the quality standard. Remember that the standards are defined early in the project, but measurement will occur late so as much information as possible should be provided to minimize the need for interpretation.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is concerned with ensuring that the project is executed in such a way as to try and ensure that the quality standards are met. Later in the project, quality control will be used to find any failures to meet the standard, but it is much cheaper and easier to try and ensure that the work is undertaken in such a way as to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. This may consist of any or all of the following:

Processes and best practices that establish how to go about the work in such a way that common problems are avoided.

Gates and/or reviews that occur at regular intervals to try and capture any potential problems before they become “built in” to the solution.

Policies that must be complied with to try and prevent problems from occurring. These may be departmental, organizational, industry specific, regulatory, etc.

Reporting, approval and/or audit requirements that involve some form of arms-length validation of the work at various stages.

Again, the specifics may vary considerably from one project to the next (a prototype reviewed by peers in one instance, a formal regulatory review in another), but the goal is the same – to establish an overall approach to the project that will help to ensure that the deliverables meet the quality standards immediately.

Assurance Measure Approach Benefits Reference

Guidelines:

Assurance Measure – What will be done to help assure the quality standards are met? This should be a basic explanation that clearly explains the work.

Approach – This field contains more details around the “how” of the application of the assurance measure so that it is clear on the specific steps that will be undertaken. If an assurance measure is a well-established process, then that can be referenced; but if the measure is more custom to this specific initiative, then more details will be required.

Benefits – How will this approach help to ensure that the quality standards are met? This is often ignored, resulting in lots of work being done with little real benefit. This is the most important element of the assurance plan and should be the driver of everything else – i.e., the measure should be tailored to maximize the benefits that can be achieved (partial benefits shouldn’t be accepted because that is all that the measure can deliver).

Reference – Any external references that are relevant to the measure – a regulatory requirement, an organizational policy or process, etc.

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Quality Control

Quality control is concerned with the measurement of actual results in order to validate that the quality standard has been met. It occurs at the end of the project when there are actual deliverables to manage against, but should be planned for during the rest or project planning. Quality control can be a time-consuming process and so must be carefully planned. The planned quality control must also align with the definition, tolerance and acceptable failure rate of the standard – the more lenient the standard and/or the higher the acceptable failure rate, the fewer quality control activities are necessary.

Control Measure Standard(s) Covered Methodology Sample Size

Guidelines

Control Measure – The test that will be conducted to validate whether a standard has been met. This should include a brief description to ensure that the measure is understood.

Standard(s) Covered – The quality standard or standards that are being tested. Ideally, each standard should be measured using multiple control measures; but at a minimum, each quality standard must be tested once.

Methodology – The approach that will be taken to implement the control measure. This may include how deliverables will be selected (random order, first and last, etc.), a description of how the test will be applied, how results will be observed/measured, etc.

Sample Size – The number of items that will be tested. This may be expressed as an absolute number or as a percentage of the total.

Note that a separate template will be required for detailed quality control planning and for capturing the results, and this will be completed as part of detailed quality control planning. This summary is appropriate only for a high-level quality management plan. As the project progresses a link to the detailed plan should be added.

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