Our internal review procedures facilitate high quality standards
Each project is managed by a senior associate within the company who possesses technical credentials and experience within the discipline of the services or deliverables that are being provided to the customer. Detailed project plans are defined at the beginning of the project in order to analyze/clarify requirements and specify/outline the resources, activities, and timeline for the solution. A project management professional will review and approve the initial project plans. Internal weekly reports track progress and provided early identification of problem areas – facilitating timely problem resolution and reducing project risk. Additionally, in-process reviews provide detailed accountability for performance and progress at designated interim points in the project schedule.
Catalyst Solutions employs an industry-standard documentation development life cycle to achieve the successful completion of tasks and project deliverables. The proposed life cycle consists of the following four phases:
* Information Planning—Perform preliminary information gathering, identify documentation scope and objectives, develop a documentation plan, and identify key personnel responsible for providing, reviewing, and approving document content.
* Content Specification—Analyze and define the document audiences, develop detailed document outlines, establish page counts and revise the documentation plan accordingly, and design document standards, templates and formats.
* Development—Develop document content, facilitate document reviews and revisions, and manage ongoing documentation issues.
* Production—Produce final documents as defined in the Documentation Plan, create and maintain a central library for project documentation.
The structured approach of the Document Development Life Cycle helps to ensure that business/project needs are clearly defined at the outset and remain visible throughout the document development process. Using a phased approach provides a mechanism for checking quality, accuracy, and focus and making corrections and adjustments at many points throughout the development process—not just at the end of the project. The life cycle dramatically increases the opportunity for success by delivering targeted, custom documentation that truly serves the long-term business needs of the users.
We supervise and review projects as part of quality control
Each project within the company is assigned a project manager who is a senior associate within the company and responsible for the quality and overall performance of the project.
We ensure acceptable subcontractor performance when using subcontractors
Subcontractors are only used when necessary to supplement the core capabilities of the Catalyst Team. Their performance and deliverables are subject to the quality review of the designated project manager (Senior Associate), and where applicable, the document development lifecycle will be used.
We proactively handle potential problem areas
Catalyst Solutions recognizes that the number one source of poor program performance and poor customer satisfaction is a poorly documented requirement. The Catalyst team seeks to eliminate potential problems early by reviewing requirements in detail with the customer in order to clarify and firmly define the performance and deliverable requirements. Where customer expectations clearly exceed the scope of the contract, early identification allows time for a proper contracting solution. Scope management remains central to avoiding conflict and failure throughout the entire project.
Catalyst Solutions also employs a deliberate stakeholder management plan in order to proactively inform key personnel of project activities and decision points. This includes generating input and buy-in from stakeholders to avoid opposition and conflict late in the project. A positive approach toward stakeholders also makes an investment in positive working relationships and pre-empts potential personality conflicts.
When performance problems do arise within the scope of the contract, Catalyst’s approach is to define a cost-effective solution, assemble any additional resources or staff, and perform to completion. .
We ensure quality performance while meeting urgent requirements
Catalyst always seeks to establish contracts and initiate projects with realistic resources for satisfying the full requirement on schedule. Where urgent requirements are concerned, there is a requirement that must be met within a reduced timeframe without diminishing quality. The potential need for additional resources must be evaluated and factored in. This assumes that “urgent” implies a requirement to achieve the same project objective but within a shorter time frame. Specific solutions for accelerating schedule/performance include the identification and exploitation of parallel development opportunities and “crashing” the schedule by adding resources to reduce the critical path of the project.
We apply best practices and principles to strategically manage and complete multiple projects for multiple agencies simultaneously
The Catalyst Solutions team applies professional rigor to conduct requirements analysis, scope definition, resource analysis, and scheduling. The successful performance of multiple projects for multiple customers is something that the company accomplishes through the use of designated project managers (one for each project) and a supporting matrix staffing strategy – which augments the core project team with shared specialty skills, as required. Project managers monitor relevant performance metrics to track/report progress and quality.
Quality Assurance Program