Quality Management Approach

Quality management refers to the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a project to ensure that standards of quality are being met and to prevent and reduce issues that might compromise project performance or interfere with task order requirements. DAI maintains a robust, quality management program to evaluate performance at strategic intervals to ensure work products are completed within agreed upon time, scope and budget parameters. We stress quality control and risk identification, mitigation, oversight and reporting throughout all phases of a project’s lifecycle.

An essential first step in every DAI engagement involves employing comprehensive, reliable and validated project planning methodologies that successfully guide project execution and controls, including:

  • Defining roles and responsibilities of key internal and external project staff
  • Developing an activities list and a work-breakdown structure (WBS)
  • Documenting agreement on project scope, milestones and staffing
  • Defining planning assumptions, risks and constraints, as well as change control processes
  • Facilitating communication among internal and external project staff

With the WBS as its centerpiece, a project plan is developed to include possible risks and pre-conceived mitigation strategies. A risk register will be kept up-to-date throughout the project lifecycle to monitor and correct situations before they become problems. DAI employs internal project controls to vet the impact of any change in methodology, requirements or circumstances occurring within project parameters.

The table below provides an overview of common quality management standards that we employ to ensure maximum productivity and effective performance. We typically develop and apply more specific approaches based on the type of project and set of deliverables, including developing a customized quality management plan that addresses standards for quality planning, quality assurance and quality control, along with the specific resources, processes and procedures that will be used to maintain quality assurance and quality control. Where and when appropriate, DAI will also refer to client-preferred quality management standards to ensure compliance with established quality benchmarks.

Performance Goal

Quality Management Techniques

Budget and Cost Control

  • Project Manager submits monthly budget reports to DAI’s finance office; financial data is entered into the corporate cost control system.

  • Monthly reports are generated for each task, with costs broken down into direct labor, travel, and other related charges; this allows us to closely monitor and keep costs down, which aligns with our corporate philosophy to try to produce more with less.

Risk Mitigation

  • Risk Planning – Our risk planning is composed of two components: mitigation and contingency planning. It involves assigning responsibility for risk actions, developing mitigation and/or contingency plans, developing measurements and creating action plans to respond to each risk.

  • Risk Identification – Consists of determining which risks (internal and/or external) might affect the project and documenting the characteristics of each risk. Risk identification is not a one-time event; rather, it is performed on a regular basis throughout the task/period of performance.

  • Risk Assessment and Analysis – When DAI does a risk assessment and analysis, it involves evaluating risk and risk interactions to assess the complete range of possible project outcomes. We actively identify which risks warrant a response. For example, risks such as increased costs of equipment and labor, unexpected changes in technology and modified policies can affect the project direction, scope and/or schedules.

  • Risk Handling – The implementation of risk mitigation and risk contingency plans developed in the previous steps describe how we will handle risk. Risk tracking and control will follow the progress of the risk and its probability, as well as the status of any mitigating strategies that have been executed. When changes occur, the basic cycle of identify, analyze and respond will be repeated.

Customer Relationship Management and Project Performance

  • DAI will coordinate with client representatives to establish quality objectives, including the scope and frequency of quality assessments and reporting policies.

  • DAI team members will schedule recurring and ad hoc team meetings, as necessary, to maintain constant communication and collaboration with client representatives, discuss project priorities, monitor scope, schedule and resource needs and ensure delivery on outcomes, not just outputs.

  • The DAI Program Manager and a designated editor assigned to the contract will perform an extensive quality control (editorial and technical) review of all deliverables prior to client delivery and at other strategic intervals to ensure work quality and adherence to scope and established benchmarks.

Subcontractor Management

  • DAI will request monthly status reports from all subcontractors that provide budgeted costs and incurred costs (monthly and cumulative) and technical accomplishments.

  • DAI will review invoices on at least a monthly basis to ensure that compensation matches performance and accomplishments.

  • The DAI Program Manager and a designated editor assigned to the contract will perform an extensive quality control (editorial and technical) review of all deliverables prior to client delivery to ensure work quality and adherence to scope and established benchmarks.