iso 9001 2015 | management reviews | the five rules to business excellence

Management Reviews:

ISO-ClauseOR

Executive Claws?

ISO 9001 2015

THE FIVE RULES TO BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

Introduction - Preamble

0

This tutorial is directed at two main groups:

[A] Those companies that are considering certification to the new standard ISO 9001:

2015

This group has never been certified before, and thus the Management Review

requirements are “brand new”

[B] Those companies that

have been certified to ISO 9001: 2008. This group will be familiar with the basic

concepts of “Management Review”

The objective of this tutorial is to offer insight as

to how to get the most value out of

Management Reviews

The insights offered here are a combination of

“direct” ISO9001 requirements and personal

observations

This requirement was found under clause 5.6 of ISO9001: 2008, and is now found under clause 9.3 of

ISO 9001: 2015

It is our contention that much value can be derived

from “Management Review”

activities

Hence this tutorial

If you have to have a management review, it’s too late!

1

The first rule is that management reviews must

flow naturally from our organizational culture

Management Reviews should be part of our

organizational PROCESS ENGINE

In the same way that we love to say that quality

must be “built in” when we tend to speak of products,

Management reviews should be “built in” when it

comes to our complete QMS

Certainly, we cannot accept that a management review

takes place due to yet another crisis that has

occurred.

LET’S RECAP:

In the “OLD” ISO9001:2008 standard there is a note

referring to the inclusion of “management activities” as

part of the organization’s processes.

Since there are numerous “management activities” that take place even on a

DAILY BASIS,

We can then see that Management activities

should take place continuously and should be

pro-active, not re-active.

In an ideal world, management activities

would then be mostly pro-active and often scheduled

before they take place.

*We could consider that many such pro-active

activities would dove-tail in with the “risk-based” approach of the new

standard [2015]*

Since it is then usual to conduct management activities continuously,

such activity would then “naturally” flow in to

higher level management reviews.

Any such management activity that takes place should then serve as a

“mirror” of organizational activities.

Again, in an ideal world there should be no

surprises.

While I personally recommend that some of

my clients schedule “annual” reviews,

this serves as a “continuous mirror” and not a stand-alone

activity

The actual process-flow and sequence and interaction of such management activities will differ from company to

company.

To illustrate, the following example is included:

WeeklyMarketingMeetings

WeeklySales

Meetings

WeeklyProductionMeetings

InternalAudit

Process

ANNUALMANAGEMENT

REVIEW

QuarterlyMeetings

Key Account

Meetings

CorrectiveActionProcessMonthly

Meetings

The process-flow illustrates how such management

activities or “reviews” can take place within an

organization

Such reviews and activities are clearly planned for and

built in.

It should also be clear that Management Review

requirements as outlined in the new clause 9.3 are

distributed amongst the processes as illustrated in

the diagram

We could therefore say that management review requirements are fulfilled across various processes,

different activities and are distributed-over-time.

Such reviews and activities are clearly planned for and

built in.

By the time we conduct the “annual review” as in the example, substantial data and performance statistics

would be available

Under such circumstances, it is likely that numerous reports and systems can

then be referred to.

In our “modern” and enlightened world we

could expect that partakers of the review would extract

or view the related data and records from a cloud-

based scenario.

Clearly, planning and infrastructure for such a

“cloud” would have taken place.

By the time we access this cloud in the “annual

review” this activity should act as a mirror and there should be no surprises.

In the same way that we love to say that we cannot prepare for an audit, we cannot prepare for the management review.

Business as usual!

2

The second rule is that we do not adjust or

“panel-beat” our activities, processes or system to suit

“ISO”.

Such approaches are archaic and are down-right

false.Little value can be derived

from such an approach.

Our organization should preserve its own culture, within the context of the

market sector that it serves.

To use an example- there is no need to follow ISO9001 clause numbering

in any way.

It is also not necessary to use ISO 9001 terminology.

Some years ago I audited a company that was in the process of applying for ISO9001 certification.

The auditors on my team were quite bewildered

because of the uniqueness of the system.

The “QMS” was entirely process based, and

consisted of an end-to-end IT infrastructure.

This was extremely advanced for that time period, and one

of the few systems I came across that was completely

“autonomous”.

No consideration was given to the “ISO realm” at all:

There were no clauses, no numberings and absolutely nothing that was typical of

“QMS” systems of that time.

To make a long story short, I gave my team members

this instruction: “no requirement, no non-

conformance”

In other words, unless they could prove that

somewhere in the system there was a non-

conformance,

then the status would be that of “conformance”.

The auditors had much discussion as to:

what constituted “contract review”,

what constituted “process control”,

what constituted “corrective action”.

Especially so since no such terminology was available, and very few “documented

procedures”

In the end, only two minor non-conformances were

raised.

The bottom line is that our “QMS” should allow the faultless and continuous

rollout of our mission, strategy and values

The evidence of the achievement of this lies in the successful attainment

of our targets, goals & kpi’s

Add to this the attainment of a unique brand identity,

and I believe that the “ISO requirements” would

be inherently found distributed across our

processes and activities.

In summary, the focus of management activities

should be the continuous strengthening of our

business mission, strategy and values

Manage Change

3

The third rule is that the management of our organization need to

manage change.

More specifically, the impacts of disruption need

to be minimized

Possibly the biggest risk to the failure of mission and strategy achievement is

inadequate preparedness for managing change.

In today’s rapidly moving world, we need to establish

the agility needed to react to the constant bombardment of

daily challenges.

To do this subject justice is beyond the scope of this article, but the following

elements should be considered:

Change in market sectorIT changesLegislative changesProject changesNew appointments of executive staffContractual changes and amendmentsSCM and logistics changes

A key consideration is that management should

establish a culture where targets and kpi’s are

achieved, irrespective of the demands of change.

*Organizations should also integrate change elements into their risk management

program*

A robust change management approach will free top

management to review organizational processes

without hindrance

Processes First

4

The fourth rule is to always have a “processes first”

approach to our QMS and management review

activities.

We will high-light only one specific sub-clause of

management review here:

9.3.1 process performance

Over the years, it has become apparent that many

organizations have had inappropriate responses to

this sub-clause.

Organizations should allow this requirement to reflect

the processes of their QMS.

The following diagram is used to illustrate:

Marketing Sales Purchasing Quality Function

InternalAudits

Corrective Action

ANNUALMANAGEMENT

REVIEW

Human Resources

Production

FinanceTraining

Based on the above diagram,

content should relate to marketing, sales,

purchasing, production, human resources, training, finances & quality function.

Since the core requirement of the standard is to:

identify processes, determine their sequence

and interaction and control these processes

[Refer to4.4 Quality management and its processes a) – h) ]

Then process performance should cover the processes needed by our organization

to achieve a defect-free product and service

As illustrated previously, in reality, management

reviews consist of continuous monitoring of

our processes.

Continuous monitoring of processes should include comparison of outputs

with inputs –

– deviations should result in appropriate

management intervention.

It should be noted that records relating to process

performance should be continuously available –

– such records should be appended to management

review minutes.[By means of hardcopy or

hyperlinks]

Such records could include information relating to

process results, such as:

Percentage of tenders converted into awards, supplier performance,

production targets, competency levels,

turnover results and so on.

Also view the following extraction from my

presentation“The Five Things You Must

Do To Have A Bona Fide Quality Management System That Works”

You may of course download that

presentation here:

[click image below in Slide Show view]

A continuous focus on the process-approach and the management thereof will result in predictable and

sustainable performance.

In today’s world we can expect that appropriate IT and cloud-based scenarios

would provide real-time evidence of actual

performance.

The management review of this sub-clause will go a

long way towards world-class status

To put it another way:

Make sure that processes perform and intervene

timeously when the outcomes are not as

desired

Promote A Leadership Culture

5

Rule number five is about leadership:

For the last 15 years there has been a lot of

speculation about the subject of leadership, as far as ISO 9001 is concerned.

Direct requirements for leadership have been

sorely lacking –

some speculated that to comply with ISO 9001 MBA qualifications would be the

order of the day.

While that may be a bit of a stretch, the new 2015

revision has come up short on clear leadership

requirements-

In other words, for the purposes of this tutorial, I do not intend to re-hash “old” requirements here.

Such requirements are now re-grouped under a section

called “Leadership” (?!)

In order for management reviews to be successful,

our leadership requirements must be

clear.

Leadership requirements should link strongly to our organization’s brand and

identity.

Technically, we could refer to the scope of services offered, which should of course be documented-

How our organization differentiates its delivery of

services is central to the success of management

reviews-

After all, top management needs a clear view of the

customer experience cycle-

And this cycle needs to be bench-marked against similar offerings in the

market-

This is where differentiation should be measured and reviewed.

Another element of leadership should include our strategy and direction

What is important is that the strategy and direction should lead the market-

not the other way around.

Although fundamental market requirements

should be extracted, true success will come from

pioneering efforts.

Although the customer should tell us what he

wants, it often happens that customers say:

“You should tell us what the spec should be- after

all, you are supposed to be the experts”

This scenario often happens during execution

of projects-

In such cases, an initial specification may be given by the customer, but the

expectations are that finer details would be fed back-

Certain changes or amendments suggested would

then be immensely appreciated-especially if cost

implications are minimal-

A customer for life?

Other leadership elements that lead to excellence

could include a world-class human resources process

The success of such an approach has been demonstrated by

organizations such as General Electric

The introduction of a robust and transparent

approach was implemented by

Jack Welch

This led to enormous gains and success during the

ensuing years – the rest is history!

Human resources processes also demand continuous management reviews -

- This may take the form of performance reviews, appraisals, feedback sessions and so on

There are other elements that constitute true

leadership in an organization- beyond the

scope of this tutorial.

It behooves a world-class organization today to be up

to speed with the most effective leadership

techniques-

The chosen techniques should be ingrained within our organization’s culture and clearly communicated

and deployed.

Successful management reviews pre-supposes that these leadership elements

have been continuously applied-

Leading to successful achievement of strategy

and direction- -

And this is what the results of management reviews

should confirm.

Summary – Finishing Off

S

Over the years, there has been somewhat of a war raging within the ISO9001

realm.

In some circles it is still debated whether there are

tangible benefits to implementing an ISO9001

system.

But we must remember, ISO9001 is the

“system behind the system”

There are now over one million formal

certifications- this is positive evidence of real

value!

Based on a modest estimate of $1 000 000

turnover per company, this represents a world-wide

turnover of about$ 1 000 000 000 000!

This tutorial has covered only one main aspect, that of management reviews.

It is our contention that the 5 areas covered here will

go a long way to ensure the success of an organization.

To all top management and leaders out there:

You have a choice:

Management activities can be seen as a blasé, mundane activity

OR . . .

You can be part of the world-class pioneers that lead the

market. You have the authority – manage, review,

cut through the BS –

Use – Your – Claws!

M a k i n g I S O S y s t e m s W o r k

D o u b l e Y o u r C l i e n t s

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