ISO PRACTICE CERTIFICATION
Edward B. Farkas
.
1 of 17
Abstract
This article presents a Case Study of the process developed to obtain ISO
9001:2000 certification of a professional service. The article describes this from
the initial definition of a Service Management Methodology to the design of an
internal (project) audit program that extracts Best Practices and Lessons
Learned.
Anatomy of an ISO 9001:2000 Certification of a Professional Practice
- Ten steps to get your Professional Service Organization ISO Certified.
This is a case study of how, in the consulting industry, a professional services
organization, specializing in project management, created, deployed and
obtained ISO certification.
The challenge was to develop a product realization methodology for a service
provider and translate that into a group of related processes consistent with a
quality management system. To get an idea as to how difficult this is bear in
mind that, at a high level, project managers typically view their work as the
management of discrete tasks and activities within a project plan. A ‘project’ is
viewed as having specific beginning and end dates. Each project yields a
different set of deliverables. The PM view contrasts strongly with the idea of
repeatable processes. Each project is unique with its own set of assumptions,
dependencies, risks and stakeholders. How do repeatable processes fit into a
group whose ‘product’ is never duplicated? This article hopes to answer that
very question.
Professional service managers implement management solutions for their clients.
The service is known as the Project Management Practice and is responsible for
the development and management of a project plan. While no two project plans
are alike they typically include a project charter, statement of work, organization
breakdown structure, a risk identification and management document, a work
breakdown structure, project schedule and a communications plan. Project
managers are the external customer’s primary point of contact throughout the
entire project life cycle. The life cycle ends when the customer accepts the
deliverable.
To manage an implementation the professional service manager coordinates the
project plan with engineers, programmers, and customers. In some projects the
manager coordinates activities with specialized subcontractors such as
application providers and third party consulting firms.
Edward B. Farkas
.
2 of 17
The Project Management Office (PMO) supports the professional service
managers and technical consultants by providing a project management
methodology, tool suite, quality program, process engineering and training.
The PMO’s guiding principles for the ISO certification were simple.






The project management methodology should be based on the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).
The quality management system must be measurably responsive to
customers.
The quality management system must be measurably responsive to the
experience of the project and program managers in the field.
The project management methodology should be aligned with the
company’s strategic objectives.
The stakeholders should be encouraged to achieve professional
certification.
The project management methodology and associated quality
management system should yield measurable operational efficiencies.
Finally the ISO certification effort would be managed like any other project
employing the same methodology, tools, processes and techniques. This will
demonstrate that the Project Management Office ‘practices what it preaches’ and
concurrently validates the very system seeking certification.
Defining the project life cycle: Step One
Definition of the project life cycle was the starting point. While this may sound
easy it requires complex process mapping with all key stakeholders. We used
standard Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques, beginning with a macro
(entire project life cycle) map and drilling down into discrete phases. The
process maps had swim lanes and a timeline to better identify who did what, and
when.
While mapping the process, as expected, gaps and white spaces became
apparent. Knowing that we eventually would be seeking ISO 9001 certification
special attention was paid to the process inputs and outputs. Additionally,
internal and external measurement points were identified for future use.
Translate the project life cycle into a formal methodology: Step Two
Having identified the project phases in the macro process mapping workshops
we had to drill down to the next level and determine the following.
Edward B. Farkas
.
3 of 17




What activities or milestones determine the beginning and end of each
phase within the project life cycle.
What were the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders for each
phase of the project life cycle effectively creating a roles & responsibilities
matrix.
Which corporate policies or standards were in force and should be viewed
as methodology constraints.
How would process gaps and white spaces identified earlier be addressed.
The inputs above were translated into a methodology document, which defined
how projects were managed in accordance with existing processes. The
methodology document served as a baseline for the mapping of the ‘to be’ macro
process. The output of the preferred process map was documented as the
‘official’ methodology. The ‘official’ methodology was an initial step in further
refining the methodology, as we will see in the next step.
Develop Standards to Provide Consistent Methodology: Step Three
Having defined the project life cycle and the associated roles and responsibilities
the next step was to foster consistency. We, therefore, had to figure out ‘how’
the work should be performed. We also needed to define the minimum
standards that would provide quality as well as consistency.
When developing the standards, called ‘Work Instructions’ we had to find the
balance between the minimum amount of direction and over-standardization.
The design criteria included the following elements.








The standards must be consistent with the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK).
The standards should create a model of empowerment. The professional
service managers should have latitude and real decision-making authority.
The standards should facilitate the capturing of key performance
indicators.
The standards should provide for roll-up management reports.
The standards should facilitate enterprise wide reporting and information
sharing.
The standards should be designed to foster quality in a measurable way.
The standards should be developed so that the multiple ISO elements are
addressed.
The standards should be designed so that it is possible to verify and
analyze the results of conformance.
Edward B. Farkas
.
4 of 17
Twenty-five standards covering activities within each phase of the life cycle were
developed.
The Project Management Office (PMO) in concert with the
organization’s management team developed the associated Work Instructions.
The methodology standards were subsequently posted on the PMO Intranet Site
thus making them available to project managers throughout the United States.
The standards we developed are listed below.
Work Instruction
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Standard Name
Project Documentation
Risk Management
Project Schedules
Quality Assurance Reviews
Escalation
Project Tracking
Communications
Infrastructure Support
Customer Acceptance
Transferring Accounts or Projects
Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Document Control Process
ISO Document Review Process
Post Project Reviews
Scope Change Management
Pre-Sales Process
Preventative and Corrective Actions
Tools Development and Review Procedure
Training Procedure
Program Resource Management
Master Records Procedure
Management Review Meetings Procedure
Project and Program Progress Reporting
Engagement Criteria Policy
Practice Opportunities
Standards such as the Quality Assurance Reviews and Post Project Reviews had
the additional benefit of extracting Best Practices and Lessons Learned both of
which were posted on the PMO Intranet site.
Edward B. Farkas
.
5 of 17
Drilling down a bit we can see in the table below the ‘why’ behind the standards.
Standard Name
Standard Objective(s)
Project Documentation
Provide for accessible project documentation, with
a consistent directory structure.
Identify risk issues during the project-planning
phase and determine how they will be managed.
Standardize use of minimum milestones for roll up
reporting. Nationwide use of application.
Consistent ‘look & feel’ for all customers.
Observe results of standards and tools. Verify
standard conformance. Extract best practices and
lessons learned.
Empower project managers and standardize
escalation chain and process.
To facilitate capturing, on an enterprise level,
business metrics.
Define the managers role as ‘Primary Point of
Contact’
Internal corporate process.
Validate that all promised deliverables are
provided to the customer in good working order
and secure customer validation.
Process to foster continuity between staff
regardless of job function.
To measure the effectiveness of the project
management methodology and secure input for
improvements
To comply with basic ISO element.
To provide management buy-in of policies and
procedures. Basic ISO element.
To determine what is working and what requires
improvement.
To standardize change management in a way that
addresses customer expectations, cost and
schedule.
Internal corporate procedure. Initial point when
the project manager evaluates scope documents.
Create a mechanism to address observations
gleaned during the project reviews and audits.
Develop a process that allows for staff input when
developing new tools.
Schedule staff is training prior to promulgating a
new standard, process, policy or tool.
Provide guidelines that empower the project
managers when securing and managing matrix
resources.
Basic ISO element.
Create a mechanism that continually evaluates
the system effectiveness.
To foster consistency and ‘look and feel’ when
reporting project progress to the customer.
Determines which projects will be accepted.
Internal company policy.
Risk Management
Project Schedules
Quality Assurance Reviews
Escalation
Project Tracking
Communications
Infrastructure Support
Acceptance Testing
Transferring Accounts or Projects
Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Document Control Process
ISO Document Review Process
Post Project Reviews
Scope Change Management
Pre-Sales Process
Preventative and Corrective Actions
Tools Development and Review Procedure
Training Procedure
Program Resource Management
Master Records Procedure
Management Review Meetings Procedure
Project and Program Progress Reporting
Engagement Criteria Policy
Practice Opportunities
The professional service managers were used to time compressed
implementations and were initially resistant to standardization. Managers said
that “Process will slow me down”, “I need the flexibility to just get the project
done”. It was only after the project managers experienced reductions in their
individual level of effort, as a result of the standards, that the resistance began
Edward B. Farkas
.
6 of 17
to diminish. As the percentage of projects completed ahead of schedule
increased the comments began to dramatically change “This PMO stuff is
helpful”, “I can’t believe that I would ever ask for more standards but…” and
“This service management handbook is now my key reference!”
A good example of how the PMBOK aligned with our methodology is in the PreSales phase of the project life cycle. The PM knowledge body cautions the
project manager to understand the scope of work and identify risks. The macro
process for this became the Pre-Sales process in Work Instruction 16 (WI-16)
and the micro process for risk identification and management was defined in WI2. Both Work Instructions reference tools that help the project manager’s
evaluation of the project scope and its risks.
Another example of this alignment is that the PMBOK contains literally volumes
of work that discusses schedule development. One method is known as the
Critical Path Method. WI-3 describes the macro process for developing a
schedule and references a group of tools that are inputs into that macro process.
One input for WI-3, for example is the output from WI-2: Risks are identified,
quantified and tasks needed to mitigate the risk become part of the project
schedule.
Develop Tools to Support Standards: Step Four
The PMO defined the methodology based on the preferred macro process
representing the project life cycle. The gaps identified earlier were assessed and
managed at this stage. Developing standards that were consistent with a project
management empowered roles and responsibilities matrix followed. Mechanisms
for internal and external feedback loops were put into place. We were at the
stage where drill downs were needed to the activity level and tools that had the
following objectives.







Tools should be designed so that the work performed is synchronized with
the standards defining the methodology.
Tools should be intuitive and user friendly.
Ideally tools should be developed leveraging the PMO Intranet site thus
facilitating web enablement.
Tools, whenever possible, should have automated features such as eMail
triggers.
Tools should have a ‘professional look and feel’ so they can be used
without modification with customers.
Tools should have, when appropriate, mechanisms for roll-up reporting.
Tools should facilitate documentation and follow up of issues identified in
the project plan.
Edward B. Farkas
.
7 of 17
The Project Management Office proceeded to create, with input from
management and staff, approximately seventy-five tools and templates. The
tools cover key activities within each phase of the project life cycle.
The tools that were developed, many web based, covered the spectrum from
RFP Templates to Post Project Surveys. The tool suite facilitated scope analysis,
risk management, issue monitoring, planning, scheduling, progress reporting,
acceptance testing and the list goes on. The maturity and sheer number of tools
prompted positive comments from the ISO Auditor that conducted the
registration audits in cities around the country.
Staff input was critical to this effort. To promote participation from program and
project managers, in all the sales regions within the United States, the PMO
created a Tools Review Committee (TRC).
The TRC would review, test and
comment on tools prior to full field deployment.
Provide Standards & Tools Training: Step Five
From a Quality Management System (QMS) perspective, within an ISO 9000
series context, confirming that staff are qualified and trained is essential.
This element starts with a clear definition of the organization’s structure, clarity
around roles, responsibilities and job descriptions. Within the QMS the following
elements were addressed.








Creation of a Training & Certification Database. 
Management Interview Guides.
Staff Competency Assessment Tools.
Documented job descriptions.
New Hire Checklist.
Introductory, Intermediate and Advance Training Paths.
Training seminars scheduled to coincide with project reviews across the
country.
A policy, with mechanisms, to confirm that prior to the issuance of a new
standard, policy, procedure or tool staff has been properly trained.
The Project Management Office training included the project management
methodology, tools, the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK),
corporate procedures and policies and the company’s technology products and
services.
Edward B. Farkas
.
8 of 17
Basic PMBOK training was outsourced to PMI Registered Education Providers,
as there was no investment return in developing material already produced by
others.
A Training Schedule for the year was published and copies of the training
material were made available on the PMO Intranet site.
Promulgation, Document & Version Control of Standards & Tools: Step Six
The Program Management Office was charged with confirming that staff be fully
aware and trained on the project management methodology, standards, tools,
processes and policies. As ISO 9001 certification was intended, ISO and Quality
Management System training was included.
Project Management Office staff developed training material to cover the
following areas.





What ISO is
What a Quality Management System is
What the organization’s quality policy is
What the organization’s business objectives are
How our project management methodology synchronize with elements
within the ISO standard
The training program was developed to confirm that all the offices in the United
States were included.
Additionally the training intentionally overlapped
scheduled project reviews and planned ‘mock ISO’ registration audits.
Through the Tools Review Committee we had a way to secure staff input. We
supplemented the Tools Review Committee with a Management Review
Committee that would capture input and analysis from the management team.
Finally an ISO Focus Group was created, which had both management and staff
representation. The latter group was designed to provide a holistic perspective
of the project management methodology and how well it integrated with the
Quality Management System.
Edward B. Farkas
.
9 of 17
Internal Audit Program to Measure Effectiveness: Step Seven
An internal audit program to foster standards conformance is typically part of an
ISO 9000 series Quality Management System. The program developed was
designed with the following objectives.








Evaluate projects in real time to determine the effectiveness of the
methodology.
Observe tool use in action to identify areas for improvement.
Validate the accuracy of the key performance indicators rolled up from
individual projects and programs.
Conformance with the standards within the Quality Management System.
Proactively gauge the health of active projects.
Observe the presence of performance trends that may point to root cause
issues in how the work was being performed nationwide.
In some case the project review became a de facto coaching or training
session.
Develop an objective, verifiable, audit protocol and check list.
To maintain audit objectivity the PMO Internal Auditors selected had substantial
experience managing projects and, additionally, were trained to obtain ISO Lead
Auditor certification. With time the PMO found that the project management
community was, in fact, in conformance with the standards. Better yet, the
program and project managers, though initially resistant to the effort, were
personally experiencing the value of the system and turned into corporate
advocates.
Preventative & Corrective Actions to Improve Effectiveness: Step Eight
The PMO quickly realized that the sheer number of feedback loops required the
development of a formal process that would output preventative and corrective
actions.
Feedback, observations and findings may be generated from, and directed to
multiple sources. This may be graphically represented.
Edward B. Farkas
.
10 of 17
High Level Process Map
INPUTS
OUTPUTS
OUTPUTS
cSat Survey
QAR
Schedule
Tools
Review
Comm.
Registrar
Individual
Fol. Up
ISO Focus
Group
Manager
Notif.
Mgmt.
Review
Internal Audit
Output
Cust.
Complaint
No
Yes
Employee
Feedback
Tools
Review
Comm.
PMO
Notice
Form
completed
QAR Audit
Form
Acronyms
cSat: Customer Satisfaction Survey
P/C: Preventative & Corrective
QAR: Quality Assurance Review-of a project
QMS: Quality Management System
ISO Focus
Group
QARinternal
audit
program
Mgmt.
Reviews
P/C
Action
Log
Mgmt.
Feedback
Close Out
QMS
PMO
Feedback, observations, suggestions and findings were tracked in a database.
The database was structured to facilitate data analysis and trending. For
example we could track issues by specific standard.
Staff & Management Review: Step Nine:
An ISO management team was created. The team included top management
from geographic regions throughout the United States. The team included
Regional Directors, the Director of the PMO, the Program Manager for Quality
who served as our ISO Management Representative and the senior Director of
the entire department. The management team was convened, on a regular basis,
to assess the proposed standards, project management methodology, analysis of
the key performance indicators and the results of the preventative and corrective
actions process. In some cases proposed complex tools were brought to the
management team as well. The latter was based on the estimated level of effort
required for use. If the level of effort was ‘significant’ the tool, in addition to the
Tools Review Committee, would be brought to the attention of the management
team.
Edward B. Farkas
.
11 of 17
The ISO certification project team created an ISO Focus Group composed of line
staff from all the geographic regions in the United States. The Focus Group
became a critical feedback mechanism receiving input from the field.
The process was designed so that prior to Management Review Committee
meetings, staff feedback was solicited from either the ISO Focus Group or the
Tools Review Committee. In this way the PMO would be aware of staff concerns
and issues prior to management intervention.
The entire Project Management Office prepared for these sessions to assure that
staff issues for the following functions were included.






Training and Professional Development
Project Management Methodology Definition and Improvement
Process and Tools Development
Business Analysis and Metrics
PMO Intranet (internal project management web site)
Quality Assurance
The meetings were documented, and resulting action items were reported on at
each subsequent meeting.
Quality Manual: Quality Management System: Step Ten
The PMO has a web site that project and program managers all over the United
States access. The web site contained version controlled copies of the standards
upon which the project management methodology was based. Tools, ‘Best
Practices’ and ‘Lessons Learned’ were posted as well.
The site also included enterprise wide mechanisms for project and time tracking
and recording.
The PMO still needed to document how the specific elements of the methodology
and management system correlated to the ISO elements required for
certification. This resulted in the creation of a Quality Manual.
The Quality Manual began by defining the project management organization, its
quality policy and objectives, and methodically correlated virtually every
standard, process and tool to specific ISO elements. Additionally the Quality
Manual explained the relationship between ISO elements and methodology
standards.
Edward B. Farkas
.
12 of 17
The Certification Process
The Project Management Office began with developing a formal Project Charter
and secured executive sponsorship. The Project Charter was the starting point
for the development of a Work Breakdown Structure. Risk issues and how they
would be managed – associated tasks were included in the project schedulewere identified. Project Team Member roles were defined. A schedule was
developed. The ISO team met each week using the schedule (Actual versus
Baseline) as a de facto agenda.
The milestones required for certification by an ISO Registrar were as follows.












Review of Quality Manual (QM) and Quality Management System
documents.
Incorporation of QM review comments.
Re-submission of QM and QMS documentation.
ISO Awareness & System Training.
Mock ISO Audits.
ISO Assessment Audit by Registrar.
Management of comments generated during the Assessment Audit.
ISO Registration Audit.
Management of non-conformities observed during ISO Registration Audit.
Furnish evidence that Registration Audit findings have been addressed.
Registrar’s Auditor submits certification recommendation, with associated
checklists and documentation to Registrar’s internal review committee.
Registrar determines that ISO Certification is warranted.
What made this interesting was that the Quality Management System was based
on the project management methodology requiring the project team to explain
and demonstrate how the project management methodology was, in fact,
consistent with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) as stated
in the quality system documentation. Further the PMO had to demonstrate and
furnish evidence of the correlations between the methodology and the associated
ISO elements.
The scope of our ISO9001: 2000 certification was “Project and Program
Management of the delivery and acceptance of the company’s products and
services to customers.”
To secure ISO certification we had
only aligned with the PMBOK
developed repeatable processes
deliverables. The PMO was able
to demonstrate that our methodology was not
but also had to furnish evidence that we
that were used to deliver one of a kind
to bridge the apparent conflict between the
Edward B. Farkas
.
13 of 17
performance of unique tasks and activities with a repeatable process driven
methodology.
The secret to our success resided in the understanding that the ‘activities’
performed by the project manager were actually undocumented processes.
Escalating an issue within internal management is a good example. The ‘activity’
of escalating an issue could be documented as a process. In this case the
process was synchronized to mesh with corporate policies for an escalation.
The PMO was gratified by the unexpected positive observations the process
yielded. The integration of the PMBOK with ISO was virtually seamless.
The good will generated by the internal and external marketing served to
position the Project Management Office as an internal change agent focused on
customer satisfaction.
Author Biography & Byline
Edward B. Farkas has worked as a Program and Project Manager since 1987 in
both the public and private sectors. During his career he has managed over five
billion dollars of aviation, construction and IT projects in the United States,
China, England, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Colombia. Mr. Farkas in addition to
his project management certification is a certified ISO Lead Auditor.
1. Author contact information: Edward B. Farkas
Managing Director
Project Management Practice
ETR Technology Center
180 Oser Avenue
Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 952-1300
ebfarkas@etrtechcenter.com
Edward B. Farkas
.
14 of 17
Overview Illustration 1
The Ten Steps For ISO Certification. We begin with the building blocks
on the bottom, left to right, and incrementally add the additional
building blocks until we have developed the Quality Manual.
Quality Manual:
Quality Management
System
Preventative &
Corrective Actions to
Improve Effectiveness
Provide
Standards &
Tools
Training
Define Macro
Process:
Project Life
Cycle
Promulgation, Document &
Version Control of
Standards & Tools
Internal Audit
Program to Measure
Effectiveness
Develop Standards
to Ensure
Consistent
Methodology
Translate
Life Cycle
into
Methodology
Edward B. Farkas
.
Staff &
Management
Review
15 of 17
Develop Tools
to Support
Standards
Overview Illustration 2
A holistic view of the Quality Management System. The elements
shown below are all inputs to the quality system.
Edward B. Farkas
.
16 of 17
Inputs:
• Define Project Life Cycle
• Develop Methodology
• Develop Standards to Help
Provide Consistent Methodology
Outputs:
• Comprehensive Project
Genuity Project
Management Handbook
• Methodology Standards
• Documented Version Control
Process
Methodology
PM PPM
Genuity’s
Quality
Management
System
Outputs:
• Methodology Standards
• Tools & Templates to Support
Standards
• Nat’l Training Program on Tools,
Methodology, & Standards
Tools &
Processes
Continuous
Improvement
Measure
Monitor
Staff & Mgmnt
Reviews
• ISO Focus Group
• Tools Review
Committee
• Mgmnt Review
Committee
• Internal Audit
Program
• Customer Satisfaction Surveys
• Key Performance
Indicators
Improve
• Preventative
& Corrective
Actions
• Customer Satisfaction Survey
Results Analysis
• KPI Analysis
Process Illustration 3 A Systems View of the Inputs and Outputs
Edward B. Farkas
.
17 of 17