Hey everyone, I gots an audit coming up :eek:
Its going to be done against the 1994 standard. Why? Because its for a government program and they're screwed up and didn't tell they were changing it even the standard has been out of date for a while. :mad:

So, he where all of you Covers come in to play....
What kind of advice can you give to prepare and be ready for whats going to happen? Any special tricks or certain things I should be looking for? Anything to help relax everyone so its not stressful?

Anything would be appreciated, as I have never had an audit done and really have no idea whats going to happen. Thanks in advance for all the help.
:thanx:

Mike

Hi:

One thing I would say is that, assuming that you have been in business for a while, you likely have already been doing many (if not all) of the things in the std. The sticky part about 1994 is the number of "shalls" for documented activities, so make sure these are covered.

That done, my other, main, suggestions, in order:

1. Relax
2. Relax
3. Relax

Sometime during the audit you may draw a blank. Happens to everyone. Just take a deep breath, relax, and make yourself pause and think the situation through.

The auditor(s), after all, are human beings, too!

Good Luck!

Craig

Hey everyone, I gots an audit coming up :eek:
Its going to be done against the 1994 standard. Why? Because its for a government program and they're screwed up and didn't tell they were changing it even the standard has been out of date for a while. :mad:

So, he where all of you Covers come in to play....
What kind of advice can you give to prepare and be ready for whats going to happen? Any special tricks or certain things I should be looking for? Anything to help relax everyone so its not stressful?

Anything would be appreciated, as I have never had an audit done and really have no idea whats going to happen. Thanks in advance for all the help.
:thanx:

Mike
I presume you mean it is an internal audit that you are expected to perform or lead.

There is much material available on how to prepare and perform audits. It does not matter whether or not the objective is for assessing compliance with the 94 or 2000 standard, the sequence of activities is the same, as I have explained in my book "Management Audits" and they are also explained in other publications widely available. What differs is the type of objective evidence you will seek and possibly the sequence in which you will visit the various areas to be audited.

In ensuring the audit is not "stressful" I would advise as follows:

The auditors set the tone for the audit. If they appear stressed or aggressive - the auditees will become the same. If they are relaxed and adopt one of my "Twelve Golden Rules" of auditing - you are there to "find facts, not faults". And another of the rules, that the end result is "to present a true and fair view" of the auditee's organization, system, tasks and controls etc vis-a-vis the standard, the auditee will be more at ease.

I have always emphasised it is not possible to "fail an audit". (Let the auditee know that fact.) What may materialise are facts pointing to opportuinities to improve and to meet the standard's requirements. That is, I always adopt a positive approach when leading or performing audits.

Another of my Golden Rules is "Always be prepared". Thorough preparation is a key. If you show you do not know what you are looking for, have not already reviewed the procedures/ organization charts and other stuff I cite in my book, the auditee will not feel the level of confidence in you that he/ she should. You need to know what you are doing, what you are looking for, the objective evidence you seek from the auditee and show it. Otherwise, the auditee will be unclear. This can lead to fear during the audit both for auditor and auditee. Remember the auditees are the experts on their systems etc. If they start to feel you do not know or understand what they are supposed to do, this can, sometimes, build resentment, as they are probably busy people who neiether want nor enjoy their time wasted by an "ignoramous".


There is much more that could be said but space and time at present precludes advising any more. But, I hope this might get you started. Most of all, do not be rushed into getting this thing done. Good preparation will pay handsomely.

We were all once rookies, so don't get too stressed. I hope you have a copy of the 1994 standard available. That way you can follow along with the auditor, or ask them to cite a specific standard reference, so you can follow along.

Other ideas for preparation for the audit leader (you) (Not in any order):

1. at the start of the audit, ask for an audit program, or an audit schedule. You can send that off to others in the organization, so they know when to expect their area to be audited. I think it is OK to even ask the auditors to prepare one on-site, if they do not show up with one.
2. know where the various types of records are kept. Do you have the corrective action/preventive action records handy? Results of previous internal audits? Management review?
3. sit down with the various managers of departments and ask them if they think the records that their departments keep are properly filled out, filed, etc. Remind them of the importance of this! An auditor will typically choose records from the last 6 months or so, and make sure the records are complete. If a manager tells you that he/she has concerns about a particular area of the company, then you know in advance. That can help during the audit. Then you are more careful when you start showing the auditor around the "problem area".
4. Be sure records of training are up-to-date. Auditors love to ask to see training records on managers, since we often worry so much about the general workforce, and forget to have as extensive of records on the managers.
5. DOCUMENT CONTROL -- this is a biggee. I have seen other posts about this as the #1 item that makes the audit problematic. Take a tour around the work areas -- even the offices -- and look for uncontrolled documents that have something to do with product quality. If you find them, find out why they are posted for use, but not controlled. If possible, remove them from use and get the person a controlled copy. If something is laying around, and no one is using it -- like an outdated user's manual, spec book or the like -- get rid of it!

6. Last comment: the auditor will appreciate your candor throughout the audit. If you know something needs improvement, and you can tell that the auditor has also seen this, agree with him. It's OK for you to talk about ideas you have for making the improvement. I have had auditors actually change a finding to an observation when they heard that we already knew about the weakness int he system and were working on improving it. (especially if you can show them a corrective action that has been issued and is in the process of being answered!).

Good luck. You didn't say when the audit was planned. Hopefully you have a week or so before it happens.

--Jodi, aka qualitygoddess

Ya, the audit is next week, but I have been trying to get prepared for it for a while. Its just as it gets closer, I feel that I know less and less. Hopefully it'll go all good. Thanks for the advice. After the audit I'll post how the audit went.

Wish me luck!

Mike

Ya, the audit is next week, but I have been trying to get prepared for it for a while. Its just as it gets closer, I feel that I know less and less. Hopefully it'll go all good. Thanks for the advice. After the audit I'll post how the audit went.

Wish me luck!

Mike

One further thought. Your original post inferred you have never done an audit before. If this is so, advise your management that while you will do the best you can, you really need training. After all, if your company is subsequently audited it is probable it may be asked to show some training or qualifications for you - the auditor - if your audit results are to have any weight with them. And, your management must realize in doing the best you can, you must not be held responsible if the audit is subsequently proved to have been ineffective at determining compliance or lack thereof with the standard.

Not knowing how big is your firm, if there any "seasoned" auditors on staff that can be a part of your team, try to get them assigned to the audit. Learn from what they do but remember not to assume any particular level of comepetence on their part. It is sometimes the case that the poor "rookie" will learn good habits as well as bad from "experienced" auditors.

If your firm is serious about moving ahead with its internal audit program it will want to invest in your training and development. It might even engage the services of an outside auditor to lead this audit, though time is now probably too short for an outsider to effectively prepare for the event. If, of course, your firm wants to do it on the cheap and merely wants a document on file to "pass" a future extrinsic audit (i.e. one done by the government customer), that may signal a fundamental lack of commitment to a quality program. You have some thinking to do, if that is the case, for many here in the Cove will tell you such situations mean you are on a "hiding to nothing" in the firm.

Some managers conveniently forget how they placed a "rookie" in a difficult situation without training or effective support, when subsequent problems arise. They might point fingers or play the balme game. Hence, the advice offered.

I got a review back from the guy who's going to be doing our audit, and the QA Manual and procedures all work!! :biglaugh:

Now, I just have to convince him when he comes next week that we actually do all that stuff :D

As happy as I am, I don't know why I was worried about it. Its becuase of all the information that I read here that I knew (mostly) what I was doing. Cheers to all of you who contribute and helped me! :applause:

We had our audit yesterday...bu here's the thing that I found out. It was a 'product specific audit' so our whole QMS really wasn't audited. It was more that we made our product right and followed procedures just for that.

But the auditor suggested we get ISO certified, just to have some sort of edge on the competitors. So now I have to re-write the Manual to the new standard and such. Its kinda confusing as the wording I have in the manual and the wording of the standard are different. If I need help I'll ask everyone here.

So if anyone has any starting tips for writing the manual or getting the ISO 9k:2k set up, please feel free to add them here, or start in a new thread. Thanks for all the help thats been posted on this site. It helped me pass the aduit.

Mike :agree1:

We had our audit yesterday...bu here's the thing that I found out. It was a 'product specific audit' so our whole QMS really wasn't audited. It was more that we made our product right and followed procedures just for that.

But the auditor suggested we get ISO certified, just to have some sort of edge on the competitors. So now I have to re-write the Manual to the new standard and such. Its kinda confusing as the wording I have in the manual and the wording of the standard are different. If I need help I'll ask everyone here.

So if anyone has any starting tips for writing the manual or getting the ISO 9k:2k set up, please feel free to add them here, or start in a new thread. Thanks for all the help thats been posted on this site. It helped me pass the aduit.

Mike :agree1: Mike:
Congratulations!:applause:

The wording doesn't have to be the same as long as the intent is there. Search the cove for a GAP Analysis checklist and use it to evaluate your manual. As you go through the checklist it will become evident where your holes are. You may want to post your manual or sections of it for comment as you proceed.