Audit and Review of Projects Define Audit Objectives:
These would be some of the initial objectives under the audit or review. Identify defined areas for assessment project performance to regulatory compliance to guidelines governing conduct as set by industry standards.
Example: A construction audit might have as audit objectives, to assess adherence to safety requirements and the building codes.
1.Select Audit Team
Form qualified auditors or reviewers specialized in an area related to the project and focus of the audit.
Example: For a software development project, the audit team consists of software engineers, quality assurance, and project managers.
2. Audit Planning
Prepare an audit plan in detail addressing all the elements that constitute scope, objectives, methodology, and timeframe. Establish these criteria and standards which will be used to measure the project’s performance.
Example: An audit plan can be developed for compliance regarding project financial issues besides bearing those set by industry accounting standards.
3. Data Gathering
This includes making project-specific documentation available along with reports and other relevant materials as well as conducting interviews with project team members, stakeholders, and subject matter experts.
Example: For a marketing campaign audit, the results of the search campaign could be collated together with marketing materials while the team members conduct interviews with customers.
4. Audit Execution
Performing the audit according to the established plan. Review project documents, processes, and relevant outcomes against the set criteria to find discrepancies, non-conformance, or places that could be improved.
Example: In health care projects, access logs, policies, and cyber safety reviews enable auditors to investigate the security of patient data by looking at accounts authorized to access them.
5. Reporting and Findings
Following the completion of an audit, prepare a thorough report summarizing the findings against standard deviation areas from the standard or areas of noncompliance. The report should be clear, concise, and actionable.
Example: A manufacturing project audit report might indicate quality control shortcomings while recommending some process optimizations.
6. Communication
Communicate the audit findings to the concerned stakeholders, such as project sponsors, managers, and team members. Discussions would involve results and recommendations plus action plans to address identified issues.
Example: Audit teams following an audit of a research project meet with researchers for discussions concerning discrepancies in data about collection and further suggest corrective action measures.
7. Action Planning
The project team then collaborates with the project team to establish an actionable plan for the audit findings. Define responsibility concerning implementing corrective action and improvement of processes.
Example: Action plans in an infrastructure project may include action plans such as changes to construction plans to keep up with safety standards or the use of more resources for inspections.
8. Follow-Up and Monitoring
Check on the ongoing operations of corrective action and make sure the project teams are working on liquidating the identified issues.
Example: In an IT project, follow-up monitoring could involve detecting whether patches and updates are applied regularly to minimize vulnerabilities.
Advantages of Project Auditing and Reviewing
- Quality Development: It uncovers and corrects defects early for improvement in the overall quality of that project.
- Risk Reduction: It could help the project understand how well able it is to comply with current and prevailing ordinances and industrial standards, thereby reducing possible risks.
- Attractive Value in Work Processes: It could spot breaks from which improvements may accrue into processes hitherto not giving optimum value to the project.
- Binding Stakeholders: With audits and reviews at regular intervals, stakeholders tend to feel little reassurance that the project is going on in right direction and being managed in an efficient and effective manner.
Example
An audit investigates, among other things, a pharmaceutical research project, to assess whether the regulations of clinical trials have been complied with. The auditing team evaluates study protocol and methods of data collection and documentation. A finding made later was in the area of data recording. The recommendations made in the audit report were that the documentation process should be improved, and further training to resforrch personnel should be carried out. The project has implemented these recommendations, and the improvements with aboutliance can now be seen in subsequent audits.
Conclusion
Project audits and reviews are conducted so that the activities can be assessed for performance and compliance while at the same time driving improvements on a continuous basis. The valuable insights, teaching, and guidance to improve project results given by such audits and reviews ensure that confidence among stakeholders is sustained and also that there is effective management of projects.
