Any worthwhile Standard starts with a set of ‘Principles’. ISO 31000 is no exception. Let’s see if we can tie these Risk Principles into a typical ISO Management System. Value Creation and Protection is at the core of this section of ISO 31000 and gives it relevance to any business. Without ‘structured risk management’ an […]
ISO 31000 – Your Blueprint for Risk Management! Read More »
The challenge of determining Customer Satisfaction continues. With all the available technology, we haven’t made much headway, really. Requirements = Needs + Expectations Needs are outlined in the ‘contract’ with your clients, and determined in Clause 8.2. But what about ‘expectations’? These are hard to nail down, but at the very least, make sure you’re
ISO 10004 – Customer Satisfaction Read More »
People aren’t you best asset, engaged people who are excited about working in your organization are your best asset. Not only that, celebrating small wins and big wins can help meet some ISO requirements – Leadership (5.1.1 h), Customer focus (5.3), Awareness (7.3) and others. In order to move the needle in this direction, consider
Celebrate Your Way to Success! Read More »
This is a phrase from one of my favourite practitioners, John Seddon. He’s expressed the importance of customer satisfaction in a way that really drives it home for most people. In the 80s I was working for a retail chain as a trainer and noticed that most of the department managers were telling the staff
Customers: People Who Help You Beat Your Competition Read More »
James P. Womack identifies this as a place to improve in Lean Solutions with Daniel Jones. We don’t want to lose customers by keeping them waiting. Consider this: “If we had to pay our customers for the time they wait to get what they want from us, would we find ways to do things better ?”
Don’t Waste My Time! Read More »
You may recognize Deming’s 8th ‘Point’ – Drive Out Fear. There’s no better way to get people ‘engaged’ (ISO 9001, 5.1.1 h) than creating a work environment where people feel listened to and respected for their expertise, no matter how ‘basic’ that expertise is! In this Point, he talks about 4 things to do to
Unleash Potential…Drive Out FEAR! Read More »
This is Deming’s 12th point – another great idea that can improve the work environment in any organization! Start with a few questions and see what emerges… Question: Is management REALLY listening? Or are people feeling like no one’s responding? Management Question: Can people improve their own processes? Question: Can people inspect their own work?
Promote Pride in People Read More »
You’ll notice in ISO 9001:2015 that clause 6.2.2 requires action plans for Quality Objectives. Yikes! Here’s the good news: these plans will help. Design your Action Plans to help you reach your targets – hitting targets will help you improve your Management System. You’ll see that the requirements include: What are we going to do
Four Keys to Action Plans Read More »
The short answer is, of course, “Never!”. Unless we have a proprietary solution to a global problem and no competitors, we always need to be fine tuning our processes to survive in a world of razor thin margins. And we’re not just talking about improving processes to make more profit. If we make the working
When can we stop improving? Read More »
“What’s in it for me?” is a question everybody asks at one time or another. You’d think ‘What goes around comes around’ would be enough to engage and contribute, but not everyone believes in Karma. So if you feel that employee engagement would help your organization (I can guarantee it will!) and you want to
Employee engagement – WIIFM? Read More »
