Quality Assurance Program Consistent with the provisions of PMI’s PMBoK, Adaptive Consulting & Training Services's Assurance Program and support for SeaPort-e Task Orders will incorporate a comprehensive quality management approach and will demonstrate the importance we accord to consistently providing quality services and information. The Adaptive Consulting & Training Services quality management approach is based on the industry standard of PMBoK The dominant theme of this standard is to provide specific practices for objectively evaluating processes, work products, and services against generally accepted industry standards. Quality management is integrated into our business processes since it is the effectiveness of the processes and activities that will guarantee the repeatability of the end results achieved. Quality management and continuous business process improvement are the underlying tenets of the quality assurance methodology we employ. Continuous business process improvement is an ongoing effort to improve the subject process with a specific focus on linear, incremental improvement. PMBoK project management generally consists of 5 project phases or processes: Initiating, Planning, Execution, Controlling and Monitoring, and Closing. The activities within each phase are described below.

 

• Initiating. Identifies requirements, needed resources, and risks.

• Planning. Creates planning and requirements documents, including a milestone schedule, resource allocation plan, project planning baseline, risk management plan and risk mitigation strategy. Finalizes and freezes the Project Management Plan and Work Breakdown Structure. Incorporates metrics and performance indicators into the Quality Assurance and Quality Control processes.

• Execution. Coordinates personnel and resources. Integrates and performs activities in accordance with the Project Management Plan. Ensures processes result in deliverables. Implements Quality Assurance and Quality Control processes.

• Controlling/Monitoring. Monitors progress, collects and analyzes metrics in order to review Quality Control against total performance. Conducts internal reviews to perform risk management and identifies developing issues quickly, allowing immediate corrective action and lessons learned. Results of this phase are reported regularly to Executive leadership.

• Closing. Determines the schedule and method for archiving data. Notifies users sufficiently in advance for them to perform necessary close-out activities. Archives all identified data according to the Records Management Plan.

 

Adaptive Consulting & Training Services adheres to a “best practices” approach to Quality Management by developing Task-Order Specific, Quality Assurance Processes that guide the development of deliverables and institute Quality Control activities to verify that products meet standards before delivery. This Process is based on our corporate Quality Assurance Plan which subsequently creates the framework for a Quality Control Plan for each Task Order. This plan establishes:

 

• Assurance - The business process which results in quality deliverables which include checklists, project audits, and methodology and standards. This process is developed by the Project Manager and the Executive leadership within Adaptive Consulting & Training Services with Task Order oversight. Implementation is the responsibility of the PM.

 

• Control (Contractor) - The activities used to verify that deliverables are of acceptable quality and that they are complete, correct, and on-time. The level of verification will depend on the complexity and criticality of the deliverable. At the low end a simple referral to a web-based source on information and at the high end a critical budget justification briefing to Congress or the Executive secretariat. Variables will include who (self, peer, PM, Executive Management) and frequency (random spot check to reviews at multiple levels). In all cases the threshold for acceptance will be error free.

 

• Control (Government) – The government establishes performance control areas such as Quality, Timeliness, Data Management, and Resources. Also established for each are a Standard, a Performance Requirement, the Method of Surveillance, and the contractual penalty for failing to meet the quality threshold.