Mapping the sequence and interaction of processes

ISO 9001 training is a great starting point for those that do not have a good understanding of the ISO 9001 standard and are looking to implement it within their organization. The standard provides the framework for implementing a quality management system and defines requirements around the plan-do-check-act framework. ISO 9001 is also the basis for many other ISO standards such as ISO 13485 and IATF 16949.

ISO 9001 places responsibility on the leadership to take accountability for the effectiveness of the system. In order to start the system implementation, the standard ask organizations to define the context of the organization. What is context? It is the business environment within which an organization operates and consists of various aspects that may impact the continuity of operations of an organization. ISO 9001 training will provide inputs into how a SWOT analysis or a PESTLE analysis may be use to define the context. The analysis account for the aspects of economic, technological, legal and others that may impact business if not accounted for and acted against. The context also accounts for internal aspects that may pose a risk such as the non-availability of competent personnel or loss of knowledge.

Once the context and needs of the stakeholders are defined the organization needs to clearly state the purpose of their business and how they achieve it. This includes documenting the sequence and interaction of their processes. This is a great exercise for an organization to bring leadership on board as also for leadership to gain clarity on how the business runs. At QMII, this is referred to as the core process. In order to capture this core process, the leadership and executive team must be present. The top management provides the objective of the process or their vision for the business. ISO 9001 training is a great method to introduce leadership to their role in the system and what is expected of them per the standard.

The remaining executive team helps the leadership map out the remaining processes of the system that enable the organization to meet the vision of the leadership. The team must clearly be able to see where interactions take place between the different departments for each key process to achieve its goal and be successful. Once all the key processes are identified they can be mapped in further detail with the help of the process owners. QMII’s ISO 9001 training includes a lecture on developing a process-based management system that covers how to map the core process of your organization.
Once the different departments can see how they contribute as a team to the goals and vision of the organization the quality management system will be better implemented as working in silos has not helped any organization.