Category "Simplify your management system"

Tackling Clause 6.1 in ISO 9001 can be structured by using Ishikawa's fishbone diagram. You can 'reverse engineer' it to create a framework for a simple risk approach. Ishikawa discovered that most non-conformances typically have their 'root cause' in one or ...

Any worthwhile Standard starts with a set of 'Principles'. ISO 31000 is no exception. Let's see if we can tie these Risk Principles into a typical ISO Management System. Value Creation and Protection is at the core of this section ...

You may recognize Deming's 8th 'Point' - Drive Out Fear. There's no better way to get people 'engaged' (ISO 9001, 5.1.1 h) than creating a work environment where people feel listened to and respected for their expertise, no matter how ...

This topic has been batted around for over 30 years, since the first version of ISO 9001 was released. For organizations that like LOTS of documentation these words open up a whole world of possibilities for mountains of documents. The ...

One way to simplify your management system is to reduce the number of super-detailed text-based procedures. Once they are in place, you might be temped to audit simply to see if everyone's following them. This causes two problems. The first ...

...if you choose 'Operator error' as the cause of your latest non-conformance. When Ishikawa introduced the world to his 'Fishbone' for doing root cause analysis, his research showed that employees in organizations make errors, of course, but only about 6% ...

Getting value out of Internal Audits is a constant challenge. Many of our clients found it helpful to change the focus of their audits from 'Are people following procedures?'  to 'Find ways to improve our system'. By getting the focus ...

"People are are most valuable asset" You've heard this a thousand times, maybe more. It's simply not true. People's involvement is our most valuable asset. If we don't tap this vast resource in our organizations, we are missing out on ...

Tip #2 – Make your audits pay: Audit by Objectives Are your Quality Objectives considered when you plan Internal Audits? One of the driving forces in a management system is the need to improve – do it faster, have fewer ...

Tip #1 – Shrink the bureaucracy How many signatures do you require to authorize your controlled documents? A number of organizations we work with have created extra work with little or no added value when they require more than 1 ...