Issue 107 – Can working remotely affect your Quality system?
ISO 9001:2015…
Can working remotely affect your Quality system?
I appreciate receiving emails with questions and/or comments from readers of this Newsletter… please continue to do so since it provides me with direction on where to aim the content of these publications. In my last Newsletter (ISO 9001:2015 Newsletter Issue 106) we discussed the topic of “Who’s interested in the QMS?”, and now in this Newsletter we will discuss “Can working remotely affect your Quality system?”.
The ISO 9001:2015 Element numbering…
Element 4 – Context of the organization
Element 5 – Leadership
Element 6 – Planning
Element 7 – Support
Element 8 – Operation
Element 9 – Performance evaluation
Element 10 – Improvement
Can working remotely affect your Quality system?… A year has gone by since I last discussed this topic and today we continue to learn how to navigate in this “new normal” (which is a contradiction in words, yet we are). Is working remotely here to stay? Based on my experiences with my Clients, it appears this shift in how/where we work will carry-on in some form… likely evolving into a hybrid approach such as splitting the time each week between the office and at home. So what does that mean for your Quality Management System (QMS)? I believe the hardest part is now behind us because over the past year and a half we’ve managed to figure out how to maintain the QMS with little to no people onsite. With the slow return of people back into the facility/office, those people looking after the QMS can now start to repair, or re-design, those processes that broke down during this period.
This situation may represent a unique opportunity to challenge old habits when it comes to maintaining your QMS. What I mean by that is sometimes we simply continue to “operate” our QMS the same old way because it’s just easier and appears to be less work (and feels less risky). The changes in how your business functions in this new normal has highlighted that some things we used to do, just didn’t happen for the past 18 months, and our QMS didn’t suddenly collapse. For example, many hard copy documents disappeared because we were not physically in the office to print them, nor to file them… yet the business carried on. Like I said above, this may be a great opportunity to streamline your QMS, so take a hard look at those things you used to do because you thought you had to… and then try to get back to basics on what “system” you really need to “manage” the “Quality” of the products and services you sell!
Be sure to watch for our next Newsletter issue where I will be answering some of the questions that I get from Readers of my Newsletters about how to implement the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 in a specific and practical way, that will also help improve business performance…
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Need Help?
ISO 9001:2015 Internal Audit Outsourcing (we can do it for you OR with you!)
For cost effectiveness, the Internal Audit function can be outsourced to an external experienced auditor on a periodic basis. This will provide an independent and objective assessment to management, of where process issues may exist, along with identifying opportunities for improvement. It will also provide the evidence needed to satisfy the Internal Audit requirements in the ISO Standards. We have used two different approaches with this service: a) We conduct the entire audit ourselves, or b) We act as the lead auditor, and along with your Team of internal auditors, we complete the entire audit together. This latter approach allows your people to receive guidance and direction from an experienced lead auditor while at the same time maintaining significant involvement in the internal audit process.
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Internal Process Auditor Training for ISO 9001:2015
The two (2) day Internal Process Auditing for ISO 9001:2015 Training Session is focused on a process approach to auditing with the objective being not only to assess conformance of the quality management system, but also to uncover process improvements during an audit. This goes hand in hand with the process auditing requirements found within ISO 19011 and the process approach covered in ISO 9001:2015, which promotes continual process improvement throughout this Standard. An enhanced checklist is developed, and there will be workshops throughout, to reinforce learning, as well as a live, practice audit. If you are looking to meet the ISO 9001:2015 internal audit requirements and to “raise the bar” for your internal audit program then this is the course you should consider.
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Until next time…
Tim Renaud
Helping Business Professionals Reduce Risk and Remove Waste!