Clarification regarding types of processes

[sms4u]

Hello Cove members

I am new to QMS. I have couple of questions in my mind.

1. Mine is Engineering consulting firm which have many processes. My doubt is do we have to consider all the processes at the time of Internal Auditing and while preparing Quality manual.


2. I read in one of the forum that we have key processes, support processes and management processes. While describing this processes HR was mentioned as support process. I just want to know that without human resource we cannot run any organization, so how can HR be Support process.

In advance I would like to thank all for their valuable answers...

Thanks...

 

[Peter Fraser]

1. You don't need a quality manual(!)

2. HR is a function or department, not a process. A "process" is activities, triggered by something, which are intended to achieve an objective - such as "Recruitment" or "Staff Appraisal". Some of these activities are required to ensure that you have the resources you need to provide what the customer wants.

and 2(.5) ... Don't worry about trying to find "buckets" to put groups of processes into. Categorise your processes in the best way for your own users to find the process descriptions they need.

 

[sms4u]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Still it is lil bit unclear to me that do we have to consider all the processes in QMS. for instance we have a process of escorting a new employee from airport and we have the process of taking signature on undertaking from new employees.

So like that we have many processes, so shall we have to consider all small and big processes while implementing QMS

 

[Peter Fraser]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Still it is lil bit unclear to me that do we have to consider all the processes in QMS. for instance we have a process of escorting a new employee from airport and we have the process of taking signature on undertaking from new employees.

So like that we have many processes, so shall we have to consider all small and big processes while implementing QMS

To me, each of those is a specific step in another process - they don't sound like "processes" in their own right. Is the process you need to define: "Taking on a New Member of Staff"?

 

[howste]

Hello Cove members

I am new to QMS. I have couple of questions in my mind.

1. Mine is Engineering consulting firm which have many processes. My doubt is do we have to consider all the processes at the time of Internal Auditing and while preparing Quality manual.


2. I read in one of the forum that we have key processes, support processes and management processes. While describing this processes HR was mentioned as support process. I just want to know that without human resource we cannot run any organization, so how can HR be Support process.

In advance I would like to thank all for their valuable answers...

Thanks...

Think about the reasons why ISO 9001 requires us to define the processes. I think of the "eating an elephant" analogy. It's difficult to eat an elephant in one bite, so I'll cut it up into smaller pieces in order to better manage it. It's the same thing with a business. A business is difficult to manage as a single entity. To make it easier to manage, I'll break it up into smaller processes and that work together to achieve the business objectives.

A process is defined in ISO 9000:2015 as a "set of interrelated or interacting activities that use inputs to deliver an intended result." How the organization chooses to define its processes is up to the organization. If you choose to define the intended result very narrowly such as "hire a competent staff member" then just the on-boarding activities would be a process. If you choose to define the intended result as "maintain a competent staff" then all of the HR-related functions could be included in one process.

For quality management system definition purposes I prefer to keep the process definitions at a higher level with processes that are a manageable size, but not too small or we'll be overwhelmed with the number of processes and their interactions.

In answer to your second question, some processes (such as HR) are critical to the success of all processes. That's why they're called support processes. it doesn't mean that they aren't important, they are there to support the whole organization like a foundation supports a building.

Here's an example document showing an organization's defined processes and their interactions: http://elsmar.com/Forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10655

Each of these processes should be further defined in terms of intended results (outputs) and metrics, inputs, resources, controls, and employee competencies. I generally use a turtle diagram for this.