Newsletter December 2006

The Quality Plan for Projects – an important part of AdManus-Quality-Management

At some point, every Quality Management (QM) faces the same dilemma: on the one hand, QM’s objective is to motivate all of those concerned to not simply practice quality, but to also document it. Only then is it possible to conduct an independent inspection. On the other hand this often creates pressures, which, particularly when time is scarce, lead to half-hearted and belated compliance with QM-requirements. A practicable compromise is what is needed: obligation to document, yes of course, but “as little as possible and as much as necessary”.

The AdManus-QM-Plans represent just such a compromise: a clearly laid-out EXCEL table is filled out by the consultant in charge at the beginning and at the end of each project; longer projects may require interim updates. Important key data concerning the project, such as schedules, budgets and contacts are recorded together with self-control among consultants, in accordance with the four-eye-principle: mutual control for larger projects, coding-reviews and peer-inspections.

First and foremost, this table is intended as a reminder for the consultant in charge: Have I considered all of the relevant aspects? Have I included all of the colleagues affected? Have I taken all precautions necessary for achieving exceptional quality? The QM-Plan is therefore primarily to be used as a practical support: before I “dive head first” into the job at hand, I can take the time to check whether I have not left out anything. During the course of the project, I return to this plan approximately twice a year, in order to verify whether everything still meets my quality standards. And after the project’s completion, it serves to evaluate and to properly document the experiences made, as a resource of knowledge for future projects.

As individual insights alone do not suffice to keep any QM functioning, an audit is conducted once a year, during which five random samples are taken from the QM-plans and are discussed in depth. This does not only serve as a control measure, but also helps to spread knowledge. It also serves to root these plans more firmly in the minds of the consultants in question.
When all is said and done, the best QM-system is one that is scarcely noticed. We are convinced that we are on our way to “inconspicuousness” with our AdManus-QM-System, and we hope to be able to share the successes of our continual self-control with our clients.

Martin Esch

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