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
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March 2016
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