CHANGE!

So out of the gate I’ll say a heart felt sorry, I missed the last scheduled post for ‘What is it about ISO?’ I was on a short holiday organised on the last minute.

A couple of personal stories;

11 years ago I visited Malta and felt that perhaps it could be a place to retire to, but not anymore. Too much building of the concrete block type of accommodation devoid of any character. Nice though the visit was I can’t see me returning again. Change happens I guess.

When I think back to my origin story I’ve experienced a considerable amount of change in my life. I was, I thought destined for a career in the Arts. Lifestyle choices and the consequences of these choices soon dealt a fatal blow to these aspirations. This of course meant I made other choices and I wouldn’t be here now writing this post had I not made those ‘mistakes’. Change happens I guess.

The moral of these stories is that change happens, it’s inevitable and you can choose the posture you want to take toward it. It’s often the case that change isn’t a welcome visitor, not too many of folks like change and so do their uppermost to avoid it and its effects. This is where leadership comes in, and by this I mean personal leadership. Leadership of self. If you want to make the very most of change, then you must embrace change and provide the leadership to yourself that says that change happens and it’s up to you to do your best with what you’re presented with.

The thing about change is it comes with trade-offs usually. There’s an upside and then there’s a downside and it’s these downsides that cause the trouble. It’s not always the case, if it’s cold and someone closes the widow than pretty much everyone gets the upside of being a little warmer. But this is rarely the case. And so it’s up to you as the leader of yourself and possible others to choose to find the upsides for everyone in your community.

How does this tie up with ISO standards?

I’ll go back to my go-to standard, ISO 9001 where in clause 6.3 Planning for Changes the standard provides a handy list of things an organisation should consider when contemplating change. The clause takes you back to clause 4.4 Quality Management System and its Processes. So change is a process and it involves interactions and reference back to the standard.

Things to consider:

a)?????The purpose of the change and their potential consequences – two parts to this point. What’s the change to be made for? And what effects should be considered? So I went to Malta with the intention of seeing if retirement there was a possibility. The change in effect would be a life in a different location but I chose to take it off my list. The consequences of this is I now have a shorter list of possible retirement locations. Not presently a problem, there are others but say it was the only one, what then I wonder?

b)?????The integrity of the QMS – the standard is called a standard and by implication this means there are ‘rules’ to be followed (of course the organisation sets these rules for themselves, but they’re there for all to follow nevertheless). If you’re making a change doe this fit within your rules or do you need to change your rules? And if you do change your rules does your QMS still meet the basic requirements of the ISO standard?

c)??????The availability of resources – resources sounds such a simple concept, but what is the nature of resources I ask? I suggest you split your resources into those that can be replenished and those that are a use once only type. Resources are typically time and money but there are others too, equipment, consumables, knowledge, humans… Care over these that can be used once only I suggest is your priority. So when making a change for example how does the time investment impact elsewhere? Can you honestly afford the time for the changed reality?

d)?????The allocation or reallocation of responsibilities and authorities – phew… I might offer that you revise this to changes in who is assigned to tasks. This in practice is all about your tactical approach to change and the new reality. Do you have the people, competencies and skills required?

Change as does leadership runs through the standard, so it’s an accepted part of a QMS or EMS or OHSMS… Clause 8.2.4 tells you that if you make a change that you need to document this fact and then communicate this to all those who might be affected by the change. Clause 8.5.6 Control of Change also tells you that changes must be documented and then goes on to add that they should be reviewed by the person who authorises the change and then if necessary take further action.

Then we can move onto 9.3.3 Management Review. This whole clause is all about change and leadership which is in effect a euphemism for improvement.

What the standard is saying then is;

Change = Improvement

And so you know where you’re up to you must keep a record of the changes made.

I guess the question is then, who’d have thought that a standard that at first blush would appear to be static in nature could be so much about change?

Send your questions and comments to;

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Philip Dawson MBA, Lead Auditor ISO 9001/14001/45001/27001, L6∑Practitioner