While I could bet that almost everyone has heard about ISO systems (the most famous being ISO 9001), I would certainly win a second bet that those same people do not know how these systems can benefit their companies beyond the certification -and they can!
Many businesses operate in fields that require specific certifications, such as ISO 27001 for information security or ISO 14001 for environmental management. Besides meeting legal (or market) requirements, this is an excellent opportunity for those organizations to rethink how they operate, how they control their processes, and how standardized they are. As I described here, many companies lack the opportunity, capacity, or organization to analyze their flows and their work.
One of the main benefits that is shared when people discuss meditation is that you can use the meditation moment to think inwards and understand yourself. Maybe there are thoughts you’re having that should not be there. Perhaps you’re feeling pain somewhere that you had never noticed. Until you take the moment to pause and think about yourself, you might never notice those, and this is what the implementation of a quality management system can become: the meditation time of an organization.
When an organization decides to run such a project, the first thing to do is understand its goal -why do we want to implement a quality management system? Regulatory demand? Market differentiation? An arbitrary executive decision? The answer to this question greatly influences how the project should be planned and executed, besides the overall motivation of the people involved. What’s your reason?
Second, it’s essential to understand what that system requires, especially when a certification is the goal at the end of the process. Does it need new process manuals? Specific treatment of byproducts? Minimum standards for client service? How frequent are the mandatory reviews? These pieces of information will hugely influence the planning of the resources and the evaluation of the viability of that new project. The end goal and what’s expected will also play a massive role in the tasks and assignments.
Once the goal and the requirements are correctly listed, the organization’s current situation must be assessed, and this is when the meditation comparison can be applied -what habits does the team present that are not desirable? What are our pain points? In which parts are we not so efficient (or not efficient at all)? Where is the organization presenting the highest number of mistakes and non-conformities? Also, which solutions were tried in the past, and which worked and which didn’t? This “organizational meditation” is crucial at any moment of a business’s lifespan, but is vital in quality management systems’ implementation projects.
And when both the system’s requirements and the business’s current situation are known, the team involved has mapped the starting point and the project’s end goal, making the plan and execution much more accurate. Then, the workflows will be reviewed, created, and/or documented, the control processes will be defined, and the analyzed metrics should be listed alongside their collection methods and acceptable ranges. It’s not uncommon, especially when companies hire external consulting professionals, that procedures and processes designed for other organizations are also used on that project. It’s imperative, however, that the team uses a methodology and workflows that are tailored specifically to that organization. Existing team members might have practical ideas on how to improve or standardize processes, and that’s extremely valuable to any company -listen to them!
The training portion should receive special attention, too, as it represents bringing the defined methodology to life and will also play a significant role in addressing employees’ concerns. Take the time to understand their perspective, explain the importance of the new standards, and how everybody’s help is needed. Lastly, the implementation team should ensure the documented processes are being executed as planned and that all involved teams meet expectations. This follow-up process needs to be maintained and enforced from that moment on, and should be the main asset for that organization to keep the new system in place.
Besides that initial cycle, each periodic review of the system standards is a new opportunity to check what’s being done and what can be improved. Just like meditation is a continuous exercise for those who have adopted it, implementing a quality management system is an excellent opportunity to have frequent opportunities to rethink and improve an organization’s operations.
Do you want to learn how to implement a quality management system and help your business in Oxford County, or any other part of Southern Ontario? Talk to us!