Build on the right foundation

One of the things that happen when organisation start to build towards implementing their ISO management systems is that they look at the standard and try to figure out where to start. As people tend to do, they move towards the familiar, the bits they believe they know what to do and start there. They implement non-conformance processes, or risk processes or audits and they work back to then plug the gaps left to meet the standard. It's an understandable approach, but it is the wrong way to do it.  

Start at the beginning

When you are developing your system, you do need to start at the beginning of the standard. It will set the tone & direction for everything you do. Each clause of any standard builds on the last one, it uses what you learned while implementing that clause to shape what you do in the next.

An example in most newly structured ISO standards is the Context of the Organisation clause. Companies look at this as just something they must do, a few quick tick boxes that they must tick off to keep the auditor happy.

The context of the organisation clause of any ISO standard however is about understanding who you are as a company, the risk, and opportunities you face, who your market is, who your stake holders are, how big the scope of your system is going to be, the processes involved and who does what in the organisation.

Think about it as understanding who you are as a business, how can you do anything else if you don't know who you are?

Build strong foundations

Consider what would happen in your organisation if you took the time to explain to everyone the items you have outline in your context of the organisation? If you told them about the current strengths and weaknesses of the organisation, of the risks you as a company face who the interested parties are... what are interested parties in the first place! (Hint – anyone who has a stake or an interest in what you do… and that's a big list!). What if, when you inducted people into your organisation you spoke to them about the key business strategies and where they fit into those strategies, and the scope of your systems that they will interact with?

Would people feel like they were starting to know the company? Would they feel aligned to what you were doing? Would it help them understand their part and some of the decisions that are made? Of course, it would! It's a great help to building a real culture.

If your leaders understand the context of the company, the forces acting upon it and inside it, about what is important then are they going to make better decisions that are more aligned to your systems and your business and of course your customers?

When you look at the next clause of the new ISO high level structure it is called Leadership. How can you lead what you don't understand? If you have no context of what you are supported to be leading, can you effectively lead it?

Slow down to build stronger

If you take the time at the start of the process to really understand the context of your organisation and build that foundational knowledge across your teams the subsequent steps of the process are far quicker. People are aligned, they know where you are going. The next step is built using the knowledge that they gained in understanding the context, part of that next step is building your Quality Policy or your Health & Safety or Environmental or Information Security or, well you get the idea. How can you even begin to write a clear policy statement for your organisation if you don't really understand the organisation?

Take people with you

We talk a lot with clients about how they are going to implement as opposed to inflict new standards in their organisation. What are they going to do to help people understand why they need to do what they are being asked to do and the benefits of those? The very best way of doing that is to take people with you as you work through the journey. Starting at the end, then jumping to the middle and eventually back to the start is confusing, start at the start, build the foundation and move through the process in order, you will be very glad you did.