The CQM Construction Quality Team structure and job description changes depending on the role of the construction-related organization. However, the traditional Construction Project Manager, Project Supervisor, Project Engineer is applicable to the CQM Construction Quality Team in addition to a Project Quality Manager presence.
Construction Project Structure
Traditionally, Construction companies were structured as Projectized Structures and as they became larger and busier, they’d form specialized departments and switched the organization structure to a more Functional Organization type. According to PMBoK’s best practices, CQM.US recommends a Balanced Matrix Organization that would act hybrid depending on the situation and need.
CQM.US will perform an assessment of the best suited organizational structure as part of its fact-finding phase, however, the formation of a Project Management Office is a must in the CQM Methodology and Framework.
Quality Team’s RACI Matrix
CQM Construction Quality Team has a clear job description for each player where responsibilities and accountabilities are clearly defined, not overlapped, and would not allow for a gap. However, since a TQM philosophy is applied, everyone is part of the team and ultimately responsible and accountable for the end result.
CQM Methodology recommends Menlo Innovation‘s Founder Rich Sheridan’s Best Practice recommended in the Chief Joy Officer book to have team members pair and shadow each other. The Pairing will help to cover for each other as part of resource management and Shadowing helps in knowledge management and Training better team members that understand each other’s challenges and can support in problem-solving.
All that said, CQM Framework applies the PMBoK ten knowledge areas to its RACI Matrix and assigns the following Responsibilities, Accountability, Consulting and Informed designation in the CQM Construction Team RACI Matrix connected through a Project Management Office setting.
The shadowing and pairing are designated by the color of the main circles as a shadow under each role. The arrows show the flow of information and knowledge management.
If a Quality Manager is not assigned to a job, this is the CQM recommendation to breakdown the Quality Management System (QMS) and divide tasks among the Project Management Team:
- Quality Manual, Managerial tasks by Project Manager as the Accountable (A) with shadowing from the Project Engineer as the Responsible (R) teammate
- Sets the Contractual responsibilities
- Plans & Coordinates Quality Requirements & Expectations
- Defines Processes and Procedures
- Quality Site-Specific Plan, Supervisory tasks by Project Superintendent (A) & Project Manager (R)
- Sets Jobsite Accountability & Responsibilities
- Plans & Coordinates Quality-Related Activities
- Defines Site-specific Workflows and Procedures
- Quality Control Checklists, Documentation by Project Engineer (A) & Project Superintendent (R)
- Continuous QA/QC Inspections, Walkthroughs, Supervisions on a periodical basis
- Report Observations, Quality Incidents, and Non-Conformance
- Follow up on Corrective Actions, Punchlist Items, and Closeout documents
Where (A) is for Accountability and (R) is for Responsibilities, and if a Quality Manager is assigned to the project, he will take on the (R) designated role in the Project Management Team to assist the Accountable party as the responsible teammate to carry out all of the above tasks.
Construction Quality Director
A mature organization with Functional Departments will eventually have multiple Project Quality Managers working on multiple projects. Each Construction Project Quality Manager will be responsible to manage and coordinate the Construction Quality Management activities of one project or program.
CQM Framework recommends that the role and position of a Construction Quality Team within a Functional Organization be defined as the following order: Quality Engineer, Project Quality Manager, and Construction Quality Director.
Understanding the role of a Quality Engineer and Construction Quality Director will help identify and distinguish the fine line of the Project Quality Manager role with its subordinates and supervisor.
CQM.US Business Coach
CQM.US Experts are professionals understand the importance of an organizational structure in success of the CQM Implementation. One of the initial steps in the Construction Quality Management Implementation is to perform an Organizational Project Management Maturity Model assessment and give the Construction Company a Change Management Proposal that would make a recommendation for Organization’s Structure Improvements.
