ISO9001 in 2021 Week by Week - Week 22 – 7.4 Communication

This is a 52 week discussion of ISO9001:2015. Each week, we discuss a specific clause of the ISO9001:2015 standard in detail and look for ways to trim the fat. (As a member of TAG/TC176, the committee responsible for review and revision of ISO9001, (possible revision in 2023), I’ll keep you posted on what I learn all year!)

(It is strongly recommended that you purchase a copy of ISO9001:2015  for reference).  And, be sure to do your homework!

7.4 Communication

From the iconic movie “Cool Hand Luke”, we all know the unforgettable quote, “What we have here is a failure to communicate!”.

Communication is perhaps the absolute bedrock of every organization.  Poor communication leads to chaos, poor performance, poor morale and other bad things.  Good communication can foster a sense of community, teamwork and a clear sense of purpose and direction.  A whole bunch of just plain old communication, measured only by quantity, is something else altogether.

There are myriad ways to communicate – directly by speaking, through written correspondence, through graphics/photos/videos and also in more subtle ways like “by example”.  We’ve all been told, “do as I say, not as I do”.  Hmmm, I guess that’s the gist of communication in a nutshell.

We all understand the importance of good communication.  Most of us continue to work on it.  Few of us every really master the art.  But, because it is universally recognized as important, ISO9001 has taken it on as a requirement.  What is an organization expected to do?  The standard reads like this:

“The organization shall determine the internal and external communications relevant to the quality management system including:

a)  on what it will communicate;

b)  when to communicate;

c)  with whom to communicate;

d)  how to communicate.”

We must decide what, when, with whom and how we will communicate both internally and externally.  This is expected to be a deliberate decision we make and stick to long term.  How many companies have actually distilled their approach to communication to this fine a point?  I know it makes my head hurt to try to think about.  Isn’t that, after all, the problem?  That we typically do not have such an approach?  That much communication is an afterthought or is done as a correction because rumors and misinformation have circulated in absence of well thought communication to keep our organization informed?

The standard does help by keeping the scope at “relevant to the quality management system”.  So, what does this mean?  I guess it means that if we are to be compliant as an organization, we must all understand our part of the quality management and others’ parts as well.  And we must recognize what the quality system is, when to communicate about it, with whom, and we must have a plan for how we will communicate.  That’s going to be a tough one for the One Man quality systems out there on the shoulders of the lone management representative.  This communication requirement, however cheesy, is as simple as it comes.  And something I think we can all continue to work on.

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

What is the current state of your organization’s communication?  Think about its strengths and weaknesses.  How do those strengths and weaknesses apply to the quality system?  Are a) through d) above addressed or thought of?  Does your organization have a plan for communicating or cascading key information about the quality system through the organization?  How?  What changes, if any, should be made to your quality system to improve communication?

A best practice I’ve seen companies use is to start with management review.  A good, comprehensive management review contains metrics, performance data, issues, opportunities, action items, etc.  Choose some key metrics to communicate throughout the organization to key everyone abreast on the quality system and how it’s going.  What are the key quality objectives?  How are we doing?  What actions are being taken?  Are there any key changes coming up?  This is the kind of information everyone should be kept up to date on.  What are your thoughts?

Watch this 3-minute video about another great resource to accompany this series.   Get the self-directed, on demand, online learning series  ISO9001 in Plain English, today and you'll get:

• A clear understanding of the requirements of ISO9001:2015
• Proven tips to build a robust quality system that's easy to use
• Ways to reduce documentation and paperwork (yes, really!!)

Each video is about 15 minutes and targets a specific element of ISO9001, (with over 6 hours of total content!).  We translate all the gobbledegoop into Plain English you can understand and leverage the requirements to get maximum VALUE from your quality efforts. 

For a deeper dive into the process side of your quality system, get Tribal Knowledge - The Practical Use of ISO, Lean and Six Sigma Together, a simple guide to UNITE ISO9001, lean and Six Sigma to create a robust quality system with better results.  Read what ASQ American Society for Quality – Quality Progress Magazine  had to say about it. 

We look forward to continuing this YEAR LONG journey with you.  SUBSCRIBE today and the series will come to you weekly to get you off to a great start and your quality system reinvigorated. 

And join me on my journey to always keep improving!