To Deep Dive or not to Deep Dive? That is the Question.

[Richdewtan]

I have always taken the approach of "Go deeper than what the 3rd party auditor may or may not do." when I perform an internal audit. It has worked and never left me hanging. But what if it creates more work than the organization is ready for. How do I satisfy and ensure we are not only meeting the standard but the intent of the standard as well, without overloading those impacted by the findings?

My initial thought is to identify the critical areas and focus on those for reporting and corrective actions and continuous improvement. Still look into the other areas that fall under the requirements and deal with them informally on the side as it were. Even that seems to go against how it should be done.

Nevertheless, I must find a balance. How?

 

[Randy]

Go deeper, get down into the weeds, the 3rd party guy's at 5,000-10,000 ft you've got to go NOE (Nap Of Earth)....How'd I know? I'm a 3rd party guy. The lower you go the more you can see.

 

[Golfman25]

I have always taken the approach of "Go deeper than what the 3rd party auditor may or may not do." when I perform an internal audit. It has worked and never left me hanging. But what if it creates more work than the organization is ready for. How do I satisfy and ensure we are not only meeting the standard but the intent of the standard as well, without overloading those impacted by the findings?

My initial thought is to identify the critical areas and focus on those for reporting and corrective actions and continuous improvement. Still look into the other areas that fall under the requirements and deal with them informally on the side as it were. Even that seems to go against how it should be done.

Nevertheless, I must find a balance. How?

If you're meeting the standard, why focus on the "intent of the standard?" IMHO, everything after meeting the standard should have a risk/reward business case for it. Some areas you'll do better than the standard requires. In others, min compliance is all that is necessary. Don't make work where there is no value for your organization.

 

[Bev D]

Remember that the standard is a minimum standard. IF you organization is truly committed to quality THEN you should be looking for areas to improve that will have a real affect on quality. I don’t look at it as ‘balance’ so much as prioritizing areas for improvement.