| Audits should not be viewed as a time wasting event as it helps you to detect policies, process and procedure flaws as well as identify gaps between “knowing-it” and “doing-it”.
If you perceive audits as taking away your precious time, something is probably wrong in your environment. Policies and processes provide a general framework for people to work in. If you are executing your roles within this framework, you know you are empowered to make decisions and act in the best interest for the organization and team. By not doing what you are suppose to do (as defined in the processes and policies), you will have a hard time trying to explain to the auditors. You will also be busy with retrieving documents and evidences from difference repository. Worse still, you make up evidence or back date documents just to get the auditors off your back. These behaviors are unacceptable and extremely disruptive in any organization. The most likely explanation I can think of for such negative behaviors is the lack of ownership and responsibilities.
As a manager, you must review and keep the policies/processes current. Get your team involved and encourage them to contribute to the policy/process making activities. If the team or any individual does not feel a sense of ownership towards the policies/processes, more effort will be expended to monitor every activities in the organization. This translates to wasted resources and productivity.
When you develop processes, make sure they are auditable. This means at any point in your process, there must be a “control point” where you can acquire evidence and measure performance. Example of evidence includes, a signed checklist, meeting minutes, approved project plan, etc.
Audit is a structured review activity to reassure (that’s quality assurance) us that the process is not broken or flawed. However, audits will not tell you whether the process is optimized to generate the maximum value for the organization. So, don’t get too excited when you pass the audit. There are still work to be done to align the processes with business.
Do not attempt to cover up any shortcoming through out the auditing process. Let all the problems surface up and be presented in the audit report. Use the report as an action plan for continuous improvement.
My experience with building a good operating framework (processes and policies) is that it helps to get my team more focused and creates an environment conducive for delivery of quality work on time.
