An Audit is a review by an independent person who has the authority to demand information. Because a Project Auditor is not deeply involved in the project, there is a good chance that shortcomings will be spotted that would otherwise be overlooked. This is really powerful way of checking that everything has been attended to.
An audit can be used in many project situations to give added certainty and to minimise problems. Examples of when project audits can be used include:
- Quality: This is a classic application area for audits in projects. It can be really difficult to find all faults in your own work as we tend to filter them out. The auditor brings independence.
- Safety: This has similar benefits to the Quality Audit, except that failure to identify safety faults can result in personal harm. Without an audit, dangerous situations may never be identified until it is too late.
- Risk: Project Management is Risk Management! Risk Audits are a simple way of increasing the predictability of project results. They can be used to evaluate and help manage technical risks, business risks, financial risks, security risks and so on.
- Procurement is the purchase of external services or products to implement a project. Successful procurement depends on transparent processes, competent negotiations, attention to detail and integrity. As well as delivery of the goods or services, good procurement practice is fair to all parties and sets the ground for working together again on future projects.
Please share you experience of audits in projects with us.