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Welcome to the Whittington & Associates e-Newsletter! Visit and bookmark our web site today: http://www.WhittingtonAssociates.com This
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Have you been to our web site recently? You will see a totally new look when you go to http://www.WhittingtonAssociates.com. The web site improvements include:
Note:
Our home page has the same address, but other pages have new addresses.
Please replace any bookmarks for these other pages.
The ISO 10015:1999 Guidelines for Training (also ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q10015:2001) can help your organization to: As an example of the guidance, see the summary below for the stage on designing and planning the training. Design and plan the training This stage identifies the actions to address any competency gaps that were identified in prior stage. 1. Training constraint definition The design and planning begins by determining any training constraints, for example:
2. Training methods and selection criteria Training methods will depend on the training objectives, resources, and constraints. These methods may include:
The training plan should address:
Examine carefully any potential internal or external training provider. Review their written information and evaluation reports. Base your selection on how well the provider can respond to your training plan and constraints. Record the selection in an agreement covering ownership, roles, and responsibilities. ISO 10015:1999
is intended to help make training a more efficient and effective investment.
The training process can help your organization improve its capabilities
and meet its quality objectives. The guidelines also emphasize the contribution
of training to continual improvement.
An audit is a systematic, independent, and documented process to obtain objective evidence and determine the extent to which the audit criteria have been met. You obtain this evidence by talking to people, reviewing documents, examining records, and observing operations. This article will focus on interviewing people to gather information and evidence. You begin an interview by putting the person at ease. Don't jump right in with your first question. The person may be nervous about being interviewed. Lower the anxiety level with some brief and friendly opening remarks. Then explain the purpose of your visit. Before moving into the detailed questions on your checklist, ask about the person's job. Bring in your questions as the person describes the activities and responsibilities. Review any documents that may be referenced. Watch the person perform the work, if possible. Examine the records to evaluate process conformity. Analyze any measurements to see if objectives are being met. Determine if the process is effective. Confirm your understanding of the process. Remember, you investigate a claim and accept an admission. If you identify a nonconformity, it isn't kept a secret. You make a tentative conclusion. Gain the person's acknowledgment of the facts. Take good notes for writing the nonconformity report, but do not write it during the interview. Stopping to complete a form may interfere with the flow of information. Since you investigate a claim, you should ask for evidence. You may also need to check responses against other sources. Carefully record the information in your notes. After you finish your questions, give the person an opportunity to discuss other subjects. Don't limit what you learn from the interview. Ask for their view on the quality of the process. There may be remaining issues if you ask about them. Provide an informal
summary of the results at the end of the interview. Give the person some
positive feedback before reviewing any nonconformities. Be sure to thank
everyone for their time and cooperation.
When you conduct interviews during an audit, you are trying to determine if the: 1. Defined system
meets the requirements - an assessment of process definitions and documents
Since interviews are critical for gathering evidence, we need to be careful how we ask our questions. Plan your questions in advance by preparing a checklist for an appropriate sampling of the area being audited. Generate additional questions based upon the responses. Think before you speak. Phrase your questions simply and avoid sounding judgmental. After asking a question, listen for the answer. Don't let your mind race ahead to your next line of questioning. Show interest in the answers and the person. Make sure the person you are speaking to is the right one to answer your questions. Interview the people doing the work, not just the people managing the work. Receive more complete answers by asking open-ended questions:
Keep neutral during the interview. Don't disagree or interrupt. Listen actively to what you are being told. Your next question may come from what you are learning, not from your checklist. Show your interest in what the person is saying. Be prepared to ask simple questions. You aren't the expert. Don't fall into the trap of saying you understand if you really don't understand. Basic flaws in a process may be uncovered with simple questions. Be careful about making assumptions. Don't be afraid to ask blunt questions about quality. Your questions may have danced around the real problem. People may be willing to share their views if only you ask for their opinion. Of course, you will still need to determine the facts of the situation. Avoid any ambiguous or trick questions. Ask one question at a time. Don’t lead the person into assumed answers. Nod your head during the conversation to indicate you are listening. Use silence to possibly gain an expanded answer. Don't misread body
language during the interview. Rapid eye blinking during a response may
indicate a contact lens problem, not an untruthful answer. Be more concerned
with your own body language. Don't let an eye roll, shaking of the head,
or an audible sigh reveal your feelings about the response.
Our August, 2001 newsletter contained an article about preparing an audit checklist. One use of a checklist is as a repository for your notes. You need to be very precise when reporting the audit results. These details come from the notes you record during the audit. Explain to the person being interviewed that you will be taking notes to further your understanding of the process. Otherwise, the person may see you record something and assume you found a nonconformity. People may become reluctant to talk if they see you taking a lot of notes without a prior explanation. Let the person know that if you think there is a discrepancy between the defined process and the practices, you will bring it to his or her attention so it can be fully discussed. The act of taking notes is not an indication of a nonconformity. Take brief notes on what you have read, heard, and seen. Describe the samples taken in regards to people, activities, equipment, products, documents, and records. Jot down the relevant facts for both conforming and nonconforming situations. Capture specific references, for example, serial numbers and revision levels. It is acceptable to include the names and titles of the persons that were interviewed. However, only the person's title should be used in a nonconformity report to keep the focus on the process. A process may not be fully documented. An organization can rely on the competence of the people to follow the defined process. Therefore, you need to take good notes on the "defined" process, because your notes may be the statement of requirements. You also need to record what people are telling you about their practices. These notes may be used as your statement of evidence. For example, a manager may admit that some required records have not been completed. Your nonconformity report would list as evidence that the manager of the area stated these records are not being kept. That is your proof of the nonconformity, not that records could not be found. Some of your notes
will be used immediately for your next line of questioning. A few notes
may be passed to other auditors on the team for their investigation. Other
notes may be saved for follow-up at a later audit. Recognize any conflicting
answers in your notes for further assessment.
Many nonconformity reports are poorly written. Follow these 6 C's for improved statements:
To enroll in any of these public classes, go to the Class Schedule at our web site, or call us at 800-404-7585. The classes taught by Larry Whittington are shown in gold. ISO
9001:2000 Lead Auditor (ANSI/RAB-NAP Accredited) - CEEM, Inc.
ISO
9001:2000 Internal Auditor (ANSI/RAB-NAP Accredited) - CEEM, Inc.
ISO
9001:2000 Auditor Transition (RAB-Approved)
Implementing
ISO 9001:2000 (for New Systems)
ISO
9001:2000 Conversion (for Existing Systems)
Quality
System Documentation (Revised for ISO 9001:2000)
Understanding
ISO 9001:2000 Requirements
To arrange an
economical on-site class, please call us at 800-404-7585.
56th Annual
Quality Conference Quality Expo
Detroit Conference
On Quality In Commercial Aviation 11th Annual
Service Quality Conference 10th National
Quality Education Conference 22nd Southeastern
Quality Conference APICS International
Conference and Exposition 12th International
Conference on Software Quality Customer-Supplier
Division Conference
© 2000-2002 Whittington & Associates, LLC. All rights reserved. You may copy this e-Newsletter provided you copy it completely, do not change it, and include this copyright notice. |
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