In the business world, so called “cheat sheets or reference document” are popular in any setting where a quick reference is useful. New employees often make notes on how to perform their job, especially if written instructions aren’t available, supplied instructions are incomplete or complex, or the job training was inadequate. These personal job notes may be also referred to as cheat sheets.

On the surface, use of cheat sheets would seem to be helpful and may even be encouraged. However, these job notes may not accurately describe the tasks, may be in conflict with written instructions, or be unapproved by management. ISO 9001:2000, clause 4.2.3 states that “Documents required by the quality management system shall be controlled.” So, if cheat sheets are needed by employees to carry out their activities, these cheat sheets would be viewed as documents that must be controlled.

To control a document means it must be approved prior to use, updated as necessary and re-approved, and identified with the current revision status. Cheat sheets become authorized documents if they are controlled. If not, auditors will write them up as nonconformities.

Employees do not like their cheat sheets being called nonconformities, especially if the corrective action is to just discard the cheat sheets. The existence of cheat sheets may indicate they are needed, so simply removing them might be a mistake.

Instead, find out why some employees need the cheat sheets/reference document and take the appropriate action, e.g., improve training, provide mentoring, add the cheat sheets as controlled documents, or include the reference information in existing documents.

Audits correctly spot the use of these reference items. Make sure your response supports the employees by providing alternative support.

As auditors, we use checklists to remind us of the audit criteria against which we are to compare the audit evidence. In other words, we compare evidence (statements, observations, documents, and records) to the applicable requirements (customer, organization, standard, and legal).

To guide novice auditors, a typical checklist contains a suggested set of questions to determine if an area is conforming to the requirements. Unfortunately, the auditors often rigidly adhere to the list of questions and are unlikely to develop their own questions based upon the evidence. And, when they hear reasonable answers to the canned questions, they may accept the responses and not recognize nonconforming situations. The typical checklist gives them the questions to ask, but does not provide the expected answers.

If you are an instructor giving an exam, you need the answer key to grade the responses. Likewise, an audit checklist should provide the expected answers to judge conformity. So, rather than listing only questions, we should use audit checklists with no questions, only the requirements and the expected evidence.

Auditors, even new auditors, can develop the basic questions on the fly to ask regarding the applicable requirements. By not providing the questions, each audit is unique and does a better job of sampling the area under audit. Identifying the expected evidence on the checklist helps the auditor decide if the statements made, operations observed, documents reviewed, and records examined are conforming.

As an example of a traditional checklist for the document control process, it would contain a question like, “Are the documents approved before they are issued?” The response might be, “Yes, I receive an email note from the document owner approving the document before I make it available.” That might sound like a reasonable response, especially if the auditee shows you records matching that practice.

However, with the proposed checklist, there would be no questions. Instead, under the Requirement column would be: “Approve documents before they are issued.” Under the Evidence column might be something like: “Document owner and quality manager must sign approval form, DC-01.1.”

Based upon the requirement listed, the auditor might ask, “How are documents approved?” If the same response was received, the auditor would see from the expected evidence that approval from the quality manager was missing and that the required form was not being used.

An audit checklist is a memory aid and confidence builder for an auditor. It helps the auditor stay focused on the audit objectives and scope. It helps ensure the audit criteria have been addressed. And, it is a repository for the auditor notes and becomes a record of the investigated areas.

According to the HR Daily Advisor, a study by Sirota Survey Intelligence shows that the lack of communication is a key reason why initially enthusiastic employees become unmotivated in as little as 6 months after joining their organizations. The survey also shows that a company’s performance at communicating lags far behind any other facet of organizational performance.

Lack of communication is obviously a serious shortcoming. Without communication, teams can’t work together. And, customers are misunderstood. Leaders may try to lead, but without effective communication, employees may not know how to follow.

To improve communication, an article in the HR Daily Advisor suggests these strategies:

Communication begins before conversation. Studies show that 40 percent of what is communicated comes through body language and tone of voice. Both should match the message being delivered. For example, if you say a mistake is not really a big deal, don’t send a different signal by rolling your eyes and wincing.

Communication starts with a name. Nothing establishes rapport better than acknowledging others by their name. But in today’s transient world, names are easy to forget or confuse. Use a memory technique such as connecting the person’s name with someone famous. If you meet George, mentally connect him to George Washington.

Start with small talk. Chatting amiably opens the door to more substantial messages, but, monitor the person’s reaction so you don’t go on too long … and never talk about workplace confidences or gossip.

Tailor conversation to your audience. Talks with a boss, co-worker, or customer require different styles. With bosses, pick the right time and ask honestly for what you need and what they can reasonably deliver. For co-workers, be humble, reliable, and discreet. If customers call with problems, listen, apologize, and offer a solution. And a natural smile, when appropriate, applies in all cases, even on the phone.

Consider your audience when writing. Develop your message for the intended audience and use the appropriate media for communication. Remember that others beyond the intended recipient, and perhaps into the future, may read your written words. Never write what you wouldn’t want to be openly read.

Conduct more effective meetings. Nothing in business seems to irritate people more than useless meetings. So, meet only when necessary, with only the required participants, and always with an agenda. End the meeting by summarizing the decisions and actions. Thank everyone for their involvement. Send them off on a positive note.

The term “quality plan” is only used once in the standard, in a Note associated with clause 7.1, Planning of Product Realization. The Note refers to a quality plan as a document specifying the processes of the quality management system, as well as, the resources to be applied for a specific product, project, or contract.

According to ISO 10005:2005, quality plans provide a means of relating specific requirements of the process, product, project, or contract to work methods and practices that support product realization. The benefits of establishing a quality plan include:

1. Increased confidence that requirements will be met
2. Greater assurance that processes are in control
3. Motivation it can give to those involved
4. Insight into opportunities for improvement

Development of a Quality Plan

Your organization should identify the need for a quality plan. For example, a quality plan may be needed for legal or customer reasons, to organize and manage activities, optimize the use of resources, to monitor or assess compliance, or minimize the risk of not meeting requirements. However, in some cases, an organization with a well established system may be able to meet its needs for quality planning without developing separate quality plans.

After deciding to create a quality plan, it is time to identify its inputs. For example, what are the requirements for the plan, the needs of the people that will use it, the resource requirements, and any risk assessments.

You must determine what is to be covered by the quality plan and what will be addressed by other documents. The scope of the plan will depend on the extent the plan will be supported by a documented quality management system, as well as, the processes and quality characteristics that are unique to the product, project, or contract being addressed. You will need to name someone as the author of the document and responsible for its preparation. Of course, multiple people may be involved in contributing to its content.

Content of a Quality Plan

The quality plan should indicate how the required activities will be carried out, either by including that information, or referring to other documents, for example, documented procedure, project plan, work instruction, checklist, or computer application.

The quality plan should indicate how the required activities will be carried out, either by including that information, or referring to other documents, for example, documented procedure, project plan, work instruction, checklist, or computer application.

A quality plan may include the topics listed below or refer to their coverage in other documents:

• Scope, purpose, and expected outcome
• Inputs and reference documents
• Quality objectives and customer satisfaction issues
• Management responsibilities for activities
• Document and record controls
• Resources for successful execution
• Requirements to be met for product, project, or contract
• Customer communication and records
• Plan for design and development
• Purchasing requirements, methods, and controls
• Production and service inputs, activities, and outputs
• Methods for identification and traceability
• Customer property identification and control
• Product preservation and delivery
• Nonconformity control and limits on rework and repair
• Monitoring and measurement to obtain evidence of conformity
• Audits to monitor conformity and effectiveness

The quality plan may be in presented in one of several different structures. For example, it could be a simple text description, a table, a document matrix, a process map, or a work flow. ISO 10005:2005, Guidelines for Quality Plans, includes examples of quality plans in its Annex A.

Only 9 percent would hire someone who had strong technical expertise but weak interpersonal skills, and 93 percent said technical skills are easier to teach than soft skills.

Soft skills are commonly considered the ability to organize, collaborate, communicate tactfully and to analyze and solve problems. Anila DeHart, human resources manager of employee and career advising for the University of Arizona, said that “soft skills” is a term she has yet to embrace. “We don’t call them soft skills” she said. “They’re critical.”

While many soft skills are intuitive, ways exist to improve or acquire those skills. “Everything is learnable,” DeHart said. “Success depends on how willing (the employee) is to learn these skills. Ownership is equal: Both employee and the employer have to be invested.”

Here is a list of soft skills cited as being most in demand at their companies (multiple responses were allowed).

• Organizational skills: 87 percent
• Verbal communication: 81 percent
• Teamwork and collaboration: 78 percent
• Problem solving: 60 percent
• Tact and diplomacy: 59 percent
• Analytical skills: 45 percent

AS9100 uses ISO 9001:2000 as its foundation, with additional aerospace requirements highlighted in bold, italic type. The ISO 9001 standard is being amended with publication expected in May 2009. This revision is driving an update of AS9100.

According to Buddy Cressionnie in a recent Quality Progress article, the objectives for the AS9100 revision include improving supplier performance and customer satisfaction by:

• Focusing on product quality and on-time delivery,
• Allowing its common interpretation for auditors and organizations, and
• Taking into account newly identified stakeholder requirements.

The first draft of the AS9100 revision is planned for later this year, with publication expected in mid-2009, depending on the release date of the ISO 9001 amendment. The AS9110 (Maintenance Organizations) and AS9120 (Stocklist Distributors) standards are undergoing a similar revision process. Since they use AS9100 as the baseline, they will trail the AS9100 revision by about six months and are expected to be released by the end of 2009.

AS9101 is a checklist that must be completed during other-party audits. It is being revised as a more process-oriented tool and to apply to AS9100, AS9110, and AS9120. The first draft of the revised AS9101 checklist is expected later this year. It will be introduced into the audit process as organizations make the transition to the 2009 versions of AS9100, AS9110, and AS9120.

AS9115 is a new international software quality standard and will be confined to “deliverable” software. It will be framed around the existing Americas standard, AS9006, and will bring in elements of European Technical Report TR9109, ISO 12207, and other standards. It is targeted for release in December 2008.

AS9100 Training
Click on one of the courses below to view its description and calendar.

Understanding and Implementing AS9100
AS9100 Process Based Internal Auditor

“a systematic, independent, and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which audit criteria are fulfilled.”

In other words, an audit is a planned, organized, and documented set of activities performed by impartial and objective auditors. The audit process collects evidence from an area to evaluate conformity to the applicable requirements. Audit evidence is factual, not based on opinion or hearsay.

The sources of audit evidence are:

1. Statements (noted during audit interviews)
2. Observations (made watching the activities)
3. Documents (reviewed before and during the audit)
4. Records (examined to evaluate past conformity)

The primary audit criteria are:

1. Standard (e.g., ISO 9001:2000)
2. Company (organization’s requirements)
3. Customer (as expressed in contracts and orders)
4. Legal (from statutes and regulations)

According to ISO 9001:2000, clause 8.2.2, internal audits must be conducted at planned intervals to determine if the quality management system conforms to planned arrangements, requirements of the standard, and requirements of the organization.

In addition, internal audits must verify that the quality management system has been “effectively” implemented and maintained. The responsibilities and requirements for planning audits, conducting audits, reporting results, and maintaining records must be defined in a documented procedure.

An audit program includes all the activities needed to plan, organize, and conduct the scheduled audits. The audit program must be planned to consider the status and importance of the areas to be audited, as well as, the results of prior audits.

The audit criteria, scope, frequency, and methods must be defined. Auditors must be selected to carry out impartial and objective audits. This doesn’t mean that you must show organizational independence, just that auditors can’t audit their own work. Management must ensure that corrective actions are taken without undue delay to eliminate the detected nonconformities and their causes. Follow-up activities must verify that the actions were implemented and report the results.

ISO 9004:2000, Guidelines for Performance Improvements, clause 8.2.1.3, suggests that an organization:

• Establish effective and efficient internal audits
• Assess strengths and weaknesses of the QMS
• Use as management tool for independent view
• Obtain objective evidence that requirements met
• Ensure improvement actions are taken on results
• Permit changes in emphasis based on evidence
• Develop plans with input from areas to be audited

When reporting the audit results, ISO 9004:2000 suggests you share evidence of excellent performance, provide opportunities for recognition, and motivate people. Remember, these are guidelines, not requirements. A nonconformity report can only be written against a requirement of the standard. However, the absence of a suggested audit practice may identify an opportunity for improvement to include in your audit report.

• the organization’s customer communication channels promote an adequate awareness of the process by which customers can provide feedback
• inputs to the customer feedback process include relevant, representative and reliable data,
• this data is analyzed effectively, and
• the output from this process provides useful information to the management review and other QMS processes, to enhance customer satisfaction and drive continual improvement.

What should be addressed when auditing customer feedback processes?

Customer feedback is a process. It needs to be audited as a process, not as a “clause of the standard”. An evaluation also needs to be performed on the way in which the process is managed (see ISO 9001:2000 clause 4.1.c), and its ability to provide meaningful information with which to judge the overall effectiveness of the QMS. The way in which the organization obtains this feedback (“the method”) is up to the organization to define.

The auditor needs to be aware of the specific characteristics of the organization’s products that are likely to impact customer satisfaction. Throughout the audit the auditor should be alert for indications that may suggest customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction which could serve as input into the audit of the customer feedback process. Good sources of such information may include, for example:

• Goods returned by the customer;
• Warranty claims;
• Revised invoices;
• Direct observation of, or communication with the customer (for example in a service organization).

These are some issues an auditor should address during an audit of the customer feedback process:

What is the desired output of this process? What information is actually available on customer perceptions? How is this information used by management to drive improvements to the product, processes and the QMS?

· Are all customer categories covered by this information? It is important to remember that the organization may have more than one category of customer. For example, a manufacturer may sell to wholesalers, who then sell to retailers, who in turn sell to the general public. In this case the organization may need to address all three types of customer and they may all have different perceptions. The organization could be satisfying one group and upsetting another.

How is the data collected to feed the process? · There are many ways for an organization to monitor its customers’ perceptions, and the auditor should avoid preconceived ideas about how this should be done. Some examples of techniques the organization can use include:

• face-to-face evaluations
• telephone calls or visits made periodically or after delivery of products and services,
• questionnaires or surveys carried out by the organization itself, or by independent market researchers
• internal enquiries among the organization’s personnel who are in contact with customers,
• customer complaints analysis

Often complaints are the only “spontaneous feedback” received from customers, and these should be analyzed for any trends, key concerns, impacts etc. It must be stressed, however, that customer complaints can not be the only input for monitoring customer perceptions.

How is the data analyzed?

Simply collecting data on customer perceptions is not sufficient – the auditor must follow the process through, to check how the data is analyzed (see ISO 9001:2000 clause 8.4), and what conclusions are made with respect to the effectiveness of the QMS.

Are there any trends? Is the situation stable, improving, or deteriorating? Are customer needs and expectations changing?

How does the information generated by this process feedback into the QMS as a whole?

The auditor should be able to recognize that the output from the customer feedback process forms an important input into other QMS process, such as data analysis, management review and continual improvement processes.

An auditor who strives to add value will try to ensure that the organization recognizes the benefits a sound customer feedback process can bring, and will encourage (but can not require) the organization to think beyond simply “meeting the requirements of the standard”

Fortunately, there is a simpler way of surveying your customers. A measurement tool, called Net Promoter Score (NPS), uses only one question:

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?

A study by Satmetrix Systems, in partnership with Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company, determined this single loyalty question can judge individual customer purchase and referral patterns across seemingly disparate industries. If customers reported they were likely to recommend a particular company to a friend or colleague, then these same customers were also likely to actually repurchase from the company, as well as, generate new business by referring the company by word-of mouth. If customers reported they were not likely to recommend a company, they were also less likely to engage in actual repurchase or referral behaviors.

Ultimate Question
One simple question – Would you recommend us to a friend or colleague? – allows companies to track promoters and detractors and produces a clear measure of an organization’s performance through its customers’ eyes.

Promoters
Promoters are customers who are so enthusiastic about a firm or brand that they not only increase their own purchases, but also refer their colleagues or friends. Promoters are customers with ratings of 9 or 10 and exhibited the highest rates of purchase and referral behaviors.

Passives
Passive customers are those that were somewhat likely to recommend a company, i.e., ratings of 7 or 8, and exhibited moderate rates of purchase and referral behaviors.

Detractors
Detractors are customers who feel so badly treated that they cut back on purchases, switch to the competition, and warn others to stay away from the company. Detractors are customers with ratings of 1 thru 6 and exhibited the lowest rates of purchase and referral behaviors.

Net Promoter Score
In industry after industry, the “Net Promoter Score” – the percentage of Promoters minus the percentage of Detractors – provided the single most reliable indicator of a company’s ability to grow.

Of course, there is more to profitably growing your company than just calculating a score. A successful Net Promoter program includes 5 elements:

1. Metrics proven to link to growth;
2. Leadership practices that instill customer focus, passion, and values;
3. Organizational strategies to ensure adoption;
4. Integration with core business processes, and
5. Operational systems to support the initiative.