Project Assurance

Purpose

To release the Project Board from the burden of project assurance by undertaking the delegated role of inspecting the project.

Benefits

In many instances Project Board members are from a business function and therefore do not necessarily have a Project Management background - the Project Assurance Service is performed by an experienced Project Management consultant, which reduces the effort required for project assurance, whilst increasing the value of the observations and recommendations made.

  • An independent source of information on the state of the project for the Project Board
  • Reduction in the Project Board's workload
  • The Project Assurance Service is performed on a project stage basis, enabling a fixed price to be offered to simplify budgeting if required (poa).

Method

Project management methods consistently recommend that the Project Board satisfy itself that the project is appropriately governed. Additionally, it is consistently stated that the responsibility for Project Assurance rests with the Project Board. However, all methodologies agree that the Project Board may delegate the activity to perform project assurance so long as the delegated authority is external to the project team.

The Project Assurance Service is based on a number of iterations dependent on the size and duration of the project. It is recommended that there is a Project Assurance iteration per stage of the project.

The Project Assurance Service comprises:

  • An initial two-day exercise to meet with the Project Board representative, gather the key project documents, establish the consultant's Terms of Reference and determine the schedule for the quantity of iterations required
  • A number of iterations, each taking four days to complete. This will involve a number of random inspections on a sample of project activities, followed by the production of a report. If several iterations are performed, the consultant will choose different areas of the project to inspect at each iteration, unless there is cause for serious concern where an area is recommended for a follow-up inspection

The inspections include:

  • External Assurance to confirm that the project is following overall and corporate standards
  • Internal Assurance to verify that the project is delivering products/deliverables that meet the agreed Quality Criteria and that all internal project standards are being met
  • Focused Inspection on the request of the Project Board, a specific project area will be inspected

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Deliverables

  • Project Assurance Plan
  • Project Assurance Report(s)

Reporting & Reviewing

The consultant liaises with the Project Manager to arrange the inspections and issue observations and recommendations to the Project Board.

Assumptions

  • The Consultant is given sufficient authority to request and conduct interviews with key project personnel
  • The Consultant has access to all relevant project documents
  • The Consultant investigates as thoroughly as possible within the number of days available (three). If any observations give cause for serious concern, the Consultant will report these to the Project Board immediately. In these circumstances it is likely that the Consultant will recommend a Focused Audit to be performed to determine the root-cause of the issue so that a get-well plan can be formulated

Price

  • Initial definition meeting and first assurance iteration £5,500
  • Subsequent assurance iteration £4,000 per iteration
  • Days are charged at WPM's standard consultancy rates

Acceptance Criteria

  • Reports to be produced to the agreed standard and issued at the intervals detailed in the PID
  • Quality Reviews and Assurance inspections have minimal disruption to the project team's progress

Product Code

CON-007

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