ISO 9001: How to ensure Long Term Internal Benefits?

[IsoClaire]

That's how 'doing ISO' can be used to ensure long term internal benefits. It becomes (well, should) the documented best practice of the organization at a specific time.

And documentation is the other key!
That's a good example showing documentation is useful.

 

[howste]

Great idea, I will keep that in mind. I will also look up that book.
So, the real key is leadership and involvement of people?
Thank you very much for your input, very interesting.

It's not surprising that leadership and involvement of people are two of the eigth principles that ISO 9001 is based upon...

 

[AndyN]

And while we're on the topic of those management principles, I've found that a key one is using data to make decisions - "management by fact".

It's all too easy to get caught up in the emotions of why something's 'good' or 'bad'. People in an organization have agendas of all kinds and often, their rationale for doing something is based on emotions. Just like the oil companies show tv commercials with sludge being dumped on a car, they are working your emotions, since most people don't have data about the condition of their oil! So, oil companies get you to change your oil every 3,000 miles (well, here in the USA) instead of using data to help make the decision.......

 

[JaneB]

So, the real key is leadership and involvement of people?

As Howste points out, there are 8 principles of quality management that the Standard uses as a foundation (I just referred to 2 of them):

• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Involvement of people at all levels
• A process approach
• Continual improvement
• A systems approach to management
• A factual approach to decision making
• Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

All of them are important (with the possible exception of the last, if procurement/purchasing is not important in your organisation). For example, as Andy has pointed out, a factual approach to decision making is one of the important principles. As a consultant, I remain fascinated at how often, in some organisations I consult to, I find that decisions are made without any real facts/data as the basis! (And after implementing ISO 9001, when the proverbial penny drops, the more intelligent managers are often struck by the same thing).

But the 'principles' (think of them as guiding concepts, if you will) are not the same thing as the actual requirements of the Standard.

Having your system documented is one of the mandatory requirements (must do's) of ISO 9001. In my opinion, it's a requirement because it is a way of acting on some of those principles, and helps achieve the intent.