Develop a Quality Management Plan for a project

In contrast to the Quality Improvement Plan, this exercise is intended to provide you with an opportunity to apply your understanding of quality to a project management scenario.

The exercise requires that you develop a quality management plan for a proposed project.

While designed as a group exercise for THREE students, you may undertake the exercise as a group of two or as an individual. Assessment criteria remain the same in all cases.

Group ground rules

Once your group is formed you MUST complete a set of 'Group Ground rules' (students undertaking as an individual are exempt from this). This will form part of your submission and is assessed. The template will be discussed in class.

Selection of Group Topics
Once groups of three have been formed project topics will be selected by each group. Project topics have been posted on Blackboard, under the Assessment Tasks section. There are eight to choose from. If you have a different project (based on public tender documents) that you would like to undertake instead of those provided, then this can be discussed with the lecturer.

Once all students have formed groups and nominated topics (must be complete by end of Week 10), work can commence. Don't forget to post your chosen topic on your group homepage on blackboard.

Scenario

You are part of a medium sized company that is based in Melbourne. The company undertakes work that it wins by responding to publicly listed requests for tender. Your company also has a strong reputation for delivering high quality projects. The CEO who started the company 20 years ago, believes it is the company's key source of business advantage. Quality is therefore at the centre of most project planning processes rather than merely being an afterthought.

A new request for tender (RFT) has just been posted online [your selected project topic] and your CEO has decided to develop a response. A small project team has been assembled to develop a response to the RFT.

Within the project team, your group has been charged with the responsibility of developing a quality plan for the tender. In order to undertake this task you are also going to have to spend some time developing a set of project assumptions around which your plan will revolve.

Your task

Your group's task is to develop a plan that will ensure that the project deliver's a high quality outcome. This quality plan will be submitted with the rest of the tender documents (which you don't have to worry about, because another team is working on these).

You have been provided with RFT documents which explain the project requirements, but you have little additional information. Thankfully, you can contact the client organisation, who will answer clarifying questions via email up to the end of WEEK 12.

Developing project assumptions

A challenge of the exercise will be to develop a set of assumptions about how your company will deliver the proposed project. Although essential to your plan, these assumptions should not become your sole focus. The project team needs you to focus on substantive actions that will ensure a high quality outcome.

It is expected that your assumptions regarding how the project will be delivered will absorb no more than 2 pages of your report. A template for developing assumptions is provided (below).

Referring to the literature

Finally, it is a hallmark of your organisation to present ideas in a clear and well referenced format. Your report will therefore need to incorporate references to substantiate your proposed actions (in Harvard format)

Submission guidance
Project quality management plans can take many different forms. A brief survey online will reveal that there is a wide range of possible approaches. In general, the best quality plans clearly describe what quality means and instil confidence that it will be achieved. Confidence comes from knowing how quality initiatives will impact upon project quality and why those initiatives have been selected. Your reasoning is very important, so make sure you include it.

Suggested approach:
1) Read the tender documentation (don't get bogged down in details that are not relevant)
2) Develop your project assumptions
3) Develop a Project Quality Management Plan outline (review this with the lecturer if you are unsure)
4) Draft your plan (INCLUDING YOUR ASSUMPTIONS TEMPLATE)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2i58x2xaqvlufc/course.zip?dl=0

Attachment:- Ground-Rules-Template.rar