In any organization, there is the chance of money going missing between income and outgo. Financial or internal controls are the policies and procedures that minimize this leakage – and protect people handling the money from charges of fraud. Businesses tend to have internal controls because the owner is keeping … Read More
Training picks up where procedures leave off, and they should work together to make sure employees are doing the job the way you want it done. Much training can be done on the job, but sometimes it is worth putting together materials to make the process go more smoothly. Training … Read More
When should you write down how you want things done by employees? When: You keep explaining the same process over and over. A certain process occurs so seldom that everyone forgets how to do it. You want everyone to do things the same way. You want to set a baseline … Read More
Some people seem to think that generating paper is a goal in itself, but the only good reason to write documents is to help you manage your business better. If it doesn’t help, you won’t use it and it will gather dust. So how can documents help? Any time you … Read More
The most difficult part of risk management is figuring out what risks should be managed. Management involvement is important here; in a perfect world, the management team would spend some time brainstorming possible risks, which could then be evaluated and actions taken. The relevant risks to be managed depend a … Read More
One of the major changes in ISO 9001:2015 is the addition of risk-based thinking. Technically it has always been there, but now risk management takes center stage, replacing preventive actions and feeding the corrective action and improvement systems. Done poorly, this is one more piece of paper to gather dust … Read More
One technique that can be used to make board meetings more efficient, especially for boards with a lot of routine matters, is a consent agenda. A consent agenda is a way to corral all the straightforward board approvals into one item that can be voted on quickly: minutes, financial reports, … Read More
Being on a board for a nonprofit can be satisfying and interesting – but drawn-out board meetings that slog through a vague agenda and spend more time on housekeeping details than on ways to improve the organization take the fun out of it. Luckily, there are couple of simple things … Read More
One question that often comes up in audits, whether ISO-9001, AS-9100, or food safety, is whether or not your people are qualified to do their job. How do you know that they are qualified to turn out a quality product every time? How do you know that they know how … Read More
The 2015 revision to ISO-9001 will be published in the fall and will bring more changes than the 2008 revision. Some of the changes are mostly a matter of emphasis; some, like risk management, will require adjustments to quality management systems (QMS). If you are currently ISO certified, ask your … Read More