Project Quality Management: Managing Global Teams Effectively

This report delves into the intricacies of project quality management, particularly within the context of global teams. It emphasizes the importance of establishing a project quality management plan to ensure that project standards are met, stakeholders' expectations are fulfilled, and potential risks are mitigated. The report highlights the significance of cultural awareness and understanding legal issues when managing geographically dispersed teams, as these factors significantly impact project outcomes. It explores how quality management plans facilitate effective communication, define team member roles, and address potential challenges arising from cultural differences and legal compliance. The report also discusses the key components of a quality management plan, including quality objectives, deliverables, standards, and control measures. By addressing these critical aspects, the report provides valuable insights for project managers aiming to successfully navigate the complexities of global projects and deliver high-quality results.

PROJECT QUALITY
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Project quality management is the process of ensuring quality of the project in order to
satisfy needs of sponsors. It includes proper planning, monitoring, controlling and assurance so
that desired quality can be achieved. In the intense competitive environment, it becomes essential
for the manager to manage project well and maintain quality, especially in the complex global
projects or geographical dispersed proposals (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). Current study will
discuss project quality management plan that helps the manager to maintain adequate standard
and control in order to manage global teams in the project. Report will describe cultural
awareness and legal issues that are faced by manager while dealing with global teams in projects.
MAIN BODY
Quality management is the ongoing process that measures the quality and avoids poor
quality output. It ensures that manager has ability to anticipate situation and gaining desired
results. Sphere standard of projects are applied across the world that aims to raise quality and
maintain standards. These standards are same in each country that helps the manager in dealing
with global team members (Harrison and Lock, 2017). Global projects can be defined as the
transnational projects in which various people from different countries work together in order to
complete the project. These global virtual team members are culturally diversified and belong
from different geographical areas. In such condition, it becomes difficult for the project manager
that to make coordination with each team members well and make them understand with their
responsibilities. Binder, (2016) stated that global team have not work together before to this
project thus, they do not know about other team members well. In order to maintain the trust
among all involved person manager enhance communication among them so that they interact
with each other well and perform their work effectively (Managing global projects, 2010).
Project quality plan is considered as set of activities that supports manager in making
effective planning, executing and completing the entire project with desired quality. The main
agenda of quality management plan is to identify standards and expectation of the sponsors so
that activities can be designed accordingly (Heagney, 2016). This helps the person in managing
projects well ad delivering high standards values so that stakeholders can feel satisfied. Project
manager ensure that proper resources get available and people get required training so that they
can perform their work effectively. Project quality management plan involves input that requires
to execute this plan, tools and techniques for performing and ensuring output. In the input phase
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of planning, manager prepare risk register and stakeholder register (Hill, Jones and Schilling,
2014). Both these documents help the manager in identifying expectation of the stakeholders
with the project and required standards. Risk register helps in analysing the potential risk that can
be arisen while working on the international projects. Furthermore, individual has to maintain
documentation, process etc. Once input has been decided, then manager looks at the tools and
techniques that are required to complete the project with desired quality (Boss and Krauss,
2014). In this respect, managers involves bench-marketing criteria, cost benefit analyses so that it
can ensure that project get required quality.
Quality management plan have several key components:
 Quality objective
 Project deliverables and process
 Standards
 Quality control
 Role and responsibility of each team members
 Quality tools
 Quality control and assurance
Quality Management Plans (QMP) plays significant role in managing standards and
controlling. It supports in managing global teams well in the projects (Managing global projects,
2010). By preparing the QMP, manager ensures that what activities and resources are required to
complete the entire global project with required quality, accordingly individual makes
communication with the global team members so that they understand their responsibilities and
perform it well. Newton, (2016) argued that cultural difference create the big difficulty for the
managers in order to control over the projects and manage global team members. As in such
international projects people from different countries are involved. They all have various cultures
and values. Quality management plan is being prepared in a standard template. This set standard
supports the manager in making all stakeholders and team members aware with the objective of
project and what they have to do in the proposal. This helps in minimizing confusion and making
them aware with the standards so that they can perform their work as per these benchmarks
(Managing global projects, 2010).
Complex or large projects requires effective team work and good communication. If
there are team members from one place then it becomes easy to conduct meetings and convey the
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message but in the global projects when staff members from different nations are involved then it
is difficult for the manager to get quick answers and have good interaction. Cultural awareness
plays significant role in this respect (Bourne, 2016). That assists the manager in making proper
communication between these global team members so that no confusion take place and each
person can perform well.
Template of quality management plan is globally accepted thus, whenever project
manager has to deal with global team members, then person can communicate with them through
this quality plan. This makes clear understanding regarding standards, objective, time length,
responsibilities etc. (Muller, 2017). Thus, confusions can get minimized and people can perform
well in the global projects. But there are essential requirements to be aware with the cultural
aspects of global team members. As each person is belonged from different country and have
different beliefs, values, language and cultures. When it comes to execute the project
management plan then manager has to make effective coordination with global team. Ifs person
is unaware with their cultural aspects then individual may get failed to make them understand the
basic requirements carefully. In such condition, project may get failed to achieve its objective.
Thus, it is very important to have cultural awareness for the culturally diversified team members
so that effective interaction can be held (Savolainen and Ahonen, 2015). This helps in making
them understand with their responsibilities and communicating the quality management plan,
standards well. Moreover, it assists in achieving the required standards and maintaining quality
as well.
Newton, (2016) stated that while managing the global projects' and working with the
international team members, it is essential for the manager that follow all legal aspects properly.
Before involving these global team members in the proposal, they have to complete all legal
documentation so that no further complications get arisen. Legal issues impact on the entire
project and its quality to great extent. It is very important that manager critically examine global
business environment for applicable geographical regions so that project can be managed well.
Project quality management plan helps the manager in ensuring the ways through which manager
can manage global team well in the global projects (Managing global projects, 2010). QMP
ensures conducting regular meetings, ensuring all legal documentations, web meetings, so that
quality of the project can be measured and individual can make effective control over working of
global virtual team. Quality management plan ensure that what kind of quality is required in this
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project and what are the main benchmarks so that project manager can manage global projects
well (Project Quality Management, 2017).
Quality management plan explains deliverable quality standards, satisfaction level,
process quality standards, stakeholder’s expectations and quality assurance activities. Project
deliverables and process is used in the quality management plan that helps in reviewing quality
of the global projects so that required quality can be maintained (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). It
assists in making effective control over the quality standards so that desired results can come out.
Deliverable quality standards are the essential measures that support in determining success of
the project. These deliverables assist the project manager in identifying necessary activities so
that overall goal of the project can be achieved. Customer satisfaction is another major
component that define desired output. If project manager consider the factors that can satisfy
consumers of the project then it helps the manager in evaluating the success of the project and
measure it against the criteria. Quality management plan ensure quality standards (Binder, 2016).
This planning supports in reviewing the current process and making necessary changes in the
plan so that overall quality of the project can be maintained. This plan assist project manager in
making global team aware with the necessary standards so that they work accordingly. With the
assistance of stakeholder expectation in the quality management plan manager ensure the needs
of stakeholder and examine the effectiveness of entire process. That is the tool which assists
manager in making effective control over activities and verifying the out of deliverables against
standards (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014).
Whenever manager has to deal with global team then, this quality management plan helps
the person in ensuring the standard that is requited and guiding the team members well.
Involving people in the project is the very important task, project manager has to ensure that
manager recruit skilled people in the project those who have necessary skills to complete the
project in effective manner (Muller, 2017). Quality management plan assists in identifying skills
required in the person so that right people can get involved from different geographical locations.
This assist in making effective coordination with all team members in a standard language so
that confusion can be minimized. Project quality plan is able to achieve standards and making
control over global teams.
QMP is able to monitor quality system and checking entire projects well. Project
manager has responsibility to make effective coordination with all team members. For that, it is
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very important to have good knowledge about culture of virtual team members and legal issues
that can arise while working on global projects (Harrison and Lock, 2017). It helps the people in
designing activities properly and managing all task well. Quality circles encourage the global
team members to provide their suggestions in order to complete the project as per the standards.
This assist in developing communication among all team members and manager become able to
minimize the communication gap.
If the manager is well aware with cultural and legal issues in the global team then it will
help in educating people and making effective planning so that quality of the project can remain
maintain throughout the project (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014). Quality management plan
helps in analysing issues that can arise in the proposal and recognizing resources so that legal
issues can be minimized and project can be completed on time with desired quality. One of the
major issue that is faced by project manager is that staff members has no knowledge about the
requirement of the project and scope. But through quality management plan manager can
analyses skill gap and can ensure that individual provide proper training to staff members by
considering their cultural aspects so that people can raise their skills and can perform well in the
project (Savolainen and Ahonen, 2015). That helps manager in completing project with desires
quality and maintaining the standards. Sometimes, due to cultural difference and legal issues,
global team members face difficulty in working in the proposal. If manager has adequate
knowledge about the cultural values and believes of individuals, he can design activities in such
manner so that issues can be minimised and entire project can achieve their quality (Bourne,
2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that global projects are the large proposal in
which managers involve team members from different locations. All these people have never
worked together. In such condition, it becomes difficult to make coordination among them and
gain desired results. Quality management plan supports the manager in measuring the quality
that is required in the project and identifying skills required for the same. Moreover, it guides in
designing activities well so that quality can be maintained and expected results can come out.
Cultural awareness and having knowledge of legal issues are the ways through which manager
can enhance coordination and can manage the global team well.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Binder, J., 2016. Global project management: communication, collaboration and management
across borders. Routledge.
Boss, S. and Krauss, J., 2014. Reinventing project-based learning: Your field guide to real-world
projects in the digital age. International Society for Technology in Education.
Bourne, L., 2016. Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational
implementation. CRC Press.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt
Assn.
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R. and Schilling, M. A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an
integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H. R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Muller, R., 2017. Project governance. Routledge.
Newton, R., 2016. Project management step by step: how to plan and manage a highly
successful project. Pearson UK.
Savolainen, P. and Ahonen, J. J., 2015. Knowledge lost: Challenges in changing project manager
between sales and implementation in software projects. International Journal of Project
Management. 33(1). pp.92-102.
Online:
Managing global projects. 2010. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/managing-global-projects-structured-approach-
better-performance-2422>.
Project Quality Management. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.classtoolkit.org/sites/default/files/documents/PM4DEV_Project_Quality_Ma
nagement.pdf>.
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