I'm in the process of implementing ISO 9001:2000 and want to send out via email and company bulletin boards a short snipet of info on ISO each week over the next few months as we work towards implementation.

My thought is that most people can "choke" down a minute worth of info on ISO twice a week and over the course of several weeks all of these "bites" will add up to a healthy meal of ISO which should help in the education process.

So what I'm wondering has anyone done this already so that I could use what you've done with perhaps a little bit of altering? I don't suspect anyone has done this before and have already penciled a brief plan on what I am going to cover, but I figured there's no harm in asking any way.

First of all I would avoid the ISO link and terminology to a good extent. Think and communicate of it as a quality management system rather than an ISO system. Use language folks can identify with (e.g., defective material or bad stuff instead of nonconforming material, unless you use that terminology already.

Then pick pieces that people in the organization can identify with and communicate them first, one at a time, such as:

- understanding what the customer wants/needs (7.2)
- having controlled drawings/specs that communicate these needs (4.2.3)
- making sure people know what they're responsible for (5.5.1)
- ensuring that people have the knowledge/skills/experience/training required to do the job (6.2)
- having suppliers who can meet your needs (7.4)
- etc.

First of all I would avoid the ISO link and terminology to a good extent. Think and communicate of it as a quality management system rather than an ISO system. Use language folks can identify with (e.g., defective material or bad stuff instead of nonconforming material, unless you use that terminology already................

Welcome Scott,

Good advice from Duke. A lot of people at the operations level have ISO phobia because this and that friend had bad stories to tell about it.

Use the common sense and/or good business practice approach to get their agreement on main issues. After you achieved the buying in, then only sell them the concept of the need for a system to manage all these good practices - which is ISO 9001.

Hello Scott! Welcome to the Cove!:bigwave:

Now, I guess I should start by saying that many here have been around quality for a long, long, time. And sometimes the mere mention of slogans, banners, etc. are met with less than total enthusiam. However, many of those initiatives were poorly conceived, ill prepared, did not have any thought in them, and most importantly, did not have management support. So, given that you came here and asked is a good starting point!:yes:

E-mail does provide a powerful opportunity to send an instant message to lots of people. Here are some questions rolling around in my head:

1. Does your e-mail groups have plenty of sub-groups? Saying, the nuggets of information which was in your title will probably be relevant for a few people. Can you send them to just those groups?

2. If it's a group e-mail, you'll have about five seconds to capture their attention to read it. Otherwise, they may quickly lose interest and delete it. Spend some time on a hook at the beginning (five-ten words). Then, two paragraphs is about all you will be able to keep them. I would not send it High urgency; just regular notification.

3. If you send it to all, make sure it is supposed to go to all. "XYZ will arrive on-site Feb 14-21 for annual ISO audit." Anything with more detail should go to the specific groups (if you can). Also, I would not send anything that you should be training or documenting training on.

The more I think about it, the more I like the thought of "one minute" pieces, once a week, over a month. E-mail may can accomplish that for you, as long as you make it relevant for the audience, and interesting.

Hey welcome:bigwave: And I guess I'll give you a Randy welcome at that...Please don't base your opinion of the Cove on my directness, but you did ask a question and I don't soft-soap.

In the long (or maybe even the short) run you're shooting yourself in the foot or "A" as the case may be, as long as you communicate "our special way". Doing what you are thinking about keeps perpetuating the concept of "regular day-to-day management vs special ISO management". When you do this you start losing the whole point that your QMS isn't a special way, but in fact it is the only way. You want your ISO 9001 based QMS to become transparent, not held under the spotlight. Additionally, you can communicate until you're blue in the face and your fanny falls off and people will still only really pay attention to whatever is relevant to them, all the rest is "gee-whiz and who-cares".

Find a way to make what you want to say in a "user friendly" fashion.

I can not overemphasize the importance of the advice you got so far. It might sound trivial and chances are, at this time, you might disagree. Referring to an "ISO-program", ISO Manual, ISO procedures, ISO audit, ISO flowchart, ISO this and ISO that is the surefire way of creating your own worst enemy, post certification.

Naturally, most organizations see the path leading to certification to ISO 9001 as a program, project, etc. With the end goal of attaining certification. But trust me. After being in this business for almost 20 years now, one of the things I am tired and sick of hearing from organizations that have been certified for a number of years is: how can I revitalize my ISO program? How can I make senior management pay attention again to my ISO system?....Those are fundamentally wrong questions. There is no ISO program or ISO system, if you are doing the right thing. You have a qQuality management system.

If, in the pre-certification stage, you sow the seed of ISO this and ISO that, after certification, you will have an ISO nightmare by creating ISOlation.

The message you need to send is this:

We have a business to run and grow. To make the business successful, we need an effective Quality system supporting it. We are in the process of adequating our Quality system to the requirements of ISO 9001. We plan on having our Quality system certified to ISO 9001 by an independent body to demonstrate to our customers the existence of our Quality system.

The snippets of information are a good idea, but drop the emphasis on ISO. Just a suggestion from someone that, like many others, has seen the damage of poor choices in the pre-certification stages.

Sow the right seeds. Good luck.

The best way is to have the "top dog" live it, breath it, operate by it.

Back in 95 I did the same thing as you are proposing. But keep it just like you said in your title...a "snippet".

"a brief quotable passage"

I'm in the process of implementing ISO 9001:2000 and want to send out via email and company bulletin boards a short snipet of info on ISO each week over the next few months as we work towards implementation.

My thought is that most people can "choke" down a minute worth of info on ISO twice a week and over the course of several weeks all of these "bites" will add up to a healthy meal of ISO which should help in the education process.

So what I'm wondering has anyone done this already so that I could use what you've done with perhaps a little bit of altering? I don't suspect anyone has done this before and have already penciled a brief plan on what I am going to cover, but I figured there's no harm in asking any way.

Hello Scott,

Here is a simple employee Quality Management System (QMS) awareness process:

Select websites with good information about quality and QMS.
Send an email containing one link on a weekly basis to all employees, management included (company and/or home email address).
Include some specific questions about a QMS learning point.
Send next email + link and one specific question about the previous week's submission. Ask employees to submit an answer to the "question of the week."
Select the winner, award a simple but meaningful prize, and announce.
Repeat.

Stijloor.

Scott,

All good advice so far. I would add:

Tie your snippets to employees' self interest. Everybody listens to station WIIFM (What's In It For Me.)

Think about how the Qquality system contributes to company viability, job security, increased money in the pot for salary & benefits, less stress, etc.

Think about how improvements would contribute even more.

Of course, if the Qquality system isn't doing any of these things, then there's some work to do before you can really engage peoples' interest.

There is no ISO program or ISO system, if you are doing the right thing. You have a qQuality management system.

Fixed it for ya :D.

Great advice so far. I always tell people to forget about ISO 9001. They need to ask themselves how things effects the customer, and if it makes business sense to do it in the way they do. Quality Smuality :biglaugh:.

Scott,

All good advice so far. I would add:

Tie your snippets to employees' self interest. Everybody listens to station WIIFM (What's In It For Me.)

Think about how the Qquality system contributes to company viability, job security, increased money in the pot for salary & benefits, less stress, etc.

Think about how improvements would contribute even more.

Of course, if the Qquality system isn't doing any of these things, then there's some work to do before you can really engage peoples' interest.


Greet advice from Cliff!!!! I like the term What's In It For Me. That's sort of nail it. You have to know your audience. It's going to take quite a work. Putting together the ISO documentation it's probably the easiest part, but getting the people to participate it's probably the hardest part. And, try to stay away from too much fancy ISO lingo. Keep it simple to them. When you send the message, try to make it where they can relate to.

If you are a member of ASQ, they have some good advice from time to time in their website. http://www.asq.org

Good Luck!!! :)