Internal Audit Success and Failure Factors Discussion

i am looking into the factors contributing to the successfulness of the internal audits. r there any other factors besides the auditors knowledge, experience, commitment..., mgt support etc. can someone help?

thanks.

[barb butrym]

project mangement skills
communication skills
effective use of quality tools
effective Reportwriting
Positive attitudes (auditor and auditee)
nonevasive techniques
effective teams, consensus
Strong corrective action system and support
Buy in from department managers (get them on the team.....get any naysayer on the team)

Most of those chop up to experience in one way or another, but are key elements for success, and a starting point for building effective auditors

[Hello]

mm.... I have been noticed in my company that most of the internal auditors are not professional enough. Instead of assessing the company's system, they prefered to dig into small tiny mistakes that other departments have done. This thinked that more mistakes found showing that they are more talented. I think the most important criteria for a successful internal audit is the selection of the team members, and provide the refresh training shall be given from time to time to make sure they are not out of their track.

[Randy]

Value added!!

If the internal audit process is not percieved as being value added to the organization by everyone involved all the rest doesn't matter.

It's the perception rather than the reality that will be the deciding factor in success.

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Originally Posted by jean

i am looking into the factors contributing to the successfulness of the internal audits. r there any other factors besides the auditors knowledge, experience, commitment..., mgt support etc. can someone help?

thanks.

I believe in creating a vision about what you want the auditing business to achieve... more or less like a business idea. In order to do that you need to do a bit of structured thinking about your:

• Initial position
• Your assets
• Your objectives
• Your planned actions

I did that in 2000, and it resulted in the appended map (Translated today in great haste). It all worked out rather nicely... Things looked bleak at the start but today we have an oudit system I'm pretty proud of... not to mention a useful one...

/Claes

In the manufacturing world, there can be political/social standards to adhere to when it comes to selecting auditors. But the most successful audit team I ever had was almost entirely floor workers, not management. When management got over the shock of these employees auditing them, they began to realize that their findings were valuable and generating great opportunities for improvement that kept their first-hand knowledge in check with the procedures they were auditing. Qualities that I look for in a candidate are:
Non-biased (won't buy into the run-around)
Honest
Congenial
Detail-Oriented
Non-aggressive (In the sense of knowing how to non-threateningly pose a

question)

Openminded
Willing to change
Good sense of urgency
Self-motivated

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Good point about the floor workers, Helen. It does pay to pick auditors from all over the company. They will offer different perspectives.

/Claes

[Randy]

Originally Posted by Randy

Value added!!

If the internal audit process is not percieved as being value added to the organization by everyone involved all the rest doesn't matter.

It's the perception rather than the reality that will be the deciding factor in success.

My original statement still stands, everything else would/will not occur without it.