Project Management & ISO 9000

Success in business relies on many factors. One of the most important is a solid plan that is flexible enough to adapt to changing business needs yet comprehensive in assuring cost control and timely delivery. As PMP certified project managers, Avidaid's staff are able to create such a plan and shepard your project through it.

More and more, companies are moving toward project management to solve large and small problems. We can work with you through the entire project management life cycle and beyond, from inception to delivery. Avidaid provides:

  • PMP certified project managers
  • Identification of stakeholders
  • Feasibility studies
  • Risk assessments
  • Proposal presentations
  • Scope statements
  • Requirements definition
  • Mission statements
  • Project charters
  • Work breakdown structures (WBS)
  • Communication plans
  • Schedules
  • Identification of roles and responsibilities
  • Project monitoring
  • Status reviews
  • Change control

Avidaid can also work with you to examine and analyze your business needs. We work with you to establish processes & procedures that meet your company's goals and create a streamline flow of information to help you understand and control your productivity with input from both management and the shop floor to assure that the overview and the details are accounted for to whatever level you desire. By establishing detailed job descriptions for every position in your organization and creating a relationship network between them, your employees will understand what is expected of them and how they can deliver a world class job that delights the customer.

By introducing a quality management system, you will have the tools to both manage your business today and react quickly to an ever changing marketplace. Quality management breaks open the traditional management style and disseminates decision making throughout the organization, allowing those who know the work best to create job specific processes, thus freeing senior management to concentrate on growing the business.

Avidaid can help you take a further step in becoming ISO 9001:2000 compliant in preparation for registration. Being registered as ISO 9001:2000 compliant tells your customers and vendors that you produce consistent results and that you have taken steps to make certain quality and customer service are your top priorities.

 

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The Project Management Model

Traditionally, companies have used the functional management model to control repeating activities such as accounting, sales, and manufacturing. In this model, there is a president or CEO to whom several vice-presidents report, each of whom has layers of middle managers and supervisors reporting to them with the staff reporting to the supervisors at the bottom of a pyramid Each department acts separately from the others and it is often difficult to get resources to cooperate across division boundaries. A programmer in the IT division does not report to the VP of finance and the two departments might have different goals.

In the project management model, there are still reoccurring tasks such as accounting and human resources, but other tasks are considered independent, unique projects with a beginning, a middle and an end, such as building a new bridge or installing an update to the computer system. The leader of a project is the project manager. He or she is responsible for seeing that the project comes in on time, on budget, and meets the quality standards established. As well, the project manager analyses risks and creates a plan to handle them.

To do this, the project manager draws on people from across the functional organization as well as contractors. Commitments are made by functional managers as to how much time each person will be assigned to the project, allowing the project manager to know exactly who is available and when. All resource of personnel and materials, must be balanced in a project plan that is drawn up and approved before a single nail is driven or line of computer code written.

The project manager uses the plan to monitor progress and make corrections when problems arise. It is also used to prevent the scope of the project from increasing beyond the plan, something that can dramatically increase costs and cause delays. The Project Manager is able to shift people and materials around as needed because the availability of both have been negotiated in the project plan.

The project model vastly increases efficiency and reduces costs.

Demystifying ISO 9001:2000

The ISO 9001:2000 standards are often misunderstood by managers and business owners. Some people think it involves crushing paperwork. Others are afraid they will have to change the way they do business to follow someone else's rules.

Put simply, being compliant with the ISO 9001:2000 standards tells customers and vendors that you have instituted and documented a plan to guarantee consistent quality results and that you follow the plan.

This begins with the creation of the quality plan. It details, in plain language, the processes and procedures that you and your employees follow to deliver a product or service. Management and employees are then trained in the use of the plan and it is put in place. You can contact a registration body such as BSR or QSI to perform an audit that verifies the quality plan meets the minimum standards and that you and your employees are following it. You will then be registered as being ISO 9001:2000 compliant. Potential clients or vendors now know you will deliver a quality product.