Audit can be agile in these remote times and here's how.
How do you monitor what's happening in your organisation when people are working remotely from home?
Internal audits generally fall into two camps:
- Onsite review of the process
- File audits
Covid-19 has pushed the workforce to work remotely yet we still need to audit our systems, but how when we can't move freely across locations?
Let's rethink the way we audit starting with your audit schedule.
Do you audit by site? This may not be the best way to audit.
Auditing by site, where each site has checklists and develops its own quality plan can mean that you create silos and that great opportunities for efficiency or risks aren't shared across locations leaving some services exposed.
A better way is auditing by program.
One client switched to auditing by program.
The benefits:
We switched to 30-minute group zoom conferences with delegates from the same program. This replaced individual half-day on-site audits. It reduced time and had the added bonus of creating new relationships and collaborations.
They started to see patterns across programs that hadn't been obvious to them before, this reduced siloed systems.
People became more connected with others doing the same work whom they often rarely see. People started reaching out to share ideas and ask for help rather than feeling that they have to keep reinventing the wheel.
More frequent, shorter audits allowed people to raise issues in a more agile way. Risks were identified and shared and people collaborated to find and offer solutions.
How are you planning and conducting audits?
Is it effective?
A good way to measure the effectiveness of your internal audit is by the number of recommendations and non-conformance you get at external audit time.
How are you changing what you do to maintain quality systems in these challenging times?
If you have a quality manager in need of some support or advice or if you are a quality manager, reach out and I can have a chat to get you back on track or help relieve the overwhelm.
Stay well everyone and I'm here to help if you need me. You may call +61 0403 857 054 or send me an email to bek@rebeccabradshaw.com.au.