ISO Mistake #14
Not to taking time to fully understand the detail of the standard and the intent of each clause
Today’s ISO standards are significantly more user-friendly than yester years original ISO 9001:1987 version. However, they are still arcane documents full of “legalese”, albeit it slightly less so than 30 odd years ago.
You will need to get under the skin of the relevant standard. To help you do that, there are often sister guidance documents (ISO 9004, ISO 14004, ISO 45002 & ISO 27002) – these all provide useful hints and tech tips and techniques, and are usually slightly more readable than the associated “requirements” ISO standard. However, unless you’re of a strange bent (like us), most people get turned off by both the language and the presentation of this stuff.
You will need to study the document and then create and develop your documentation around, hopefully, how your work works.
We do have a suite of documentation which we can make available to you should you want to take a DIY approach. And regardless of whether you use our documentation to shortcut your implementation or development activities, developing the necessary understanding is likely to take some time to digest and understand. It is only at that point that you can really begin to document your systems and indeed implement the systems to close any gaps.
Solution & resources
Study the following Statius collateral:
- Read “Working on the business” (4 mins).
- Read the Statius “How to” – How to develop management systems that bolster sales & increase margins (20 mins).
- Watch the “ISO in a nutshell” videos (11 x 2-3 mins each).
- Work through the Statius ISO workbooks.
