#211 The Power of Communicating Your Management System

A well implemented ISO Management System can improve efficiency, customer satisfaction and drive continual improvement for a business. On the flip side, a poorly implemented Management system will yield little to no results, so what makes the biggest difference between good and bad implementation? 

Communication is the key. If no one knows about your Management System, then how can it benefit the business as a whole?

In this episode Ian Battersby discusses the importance of effective communication of your Management System, why it’s vital to reap the full benefits of ISO Implementation and gives some examples of how you can communicate elements of your Management system to the wider business.

You’ll learn

·      Why do you need to communicate your management system?

·      What do you need to communicate?

·      Why is it important to communicate your Management system?

·      Different ways you can communicate your management system

·      How can you measure effective communication?

 

Resources

·      Isologyhub

·      How can ISO Standards Support ESG Compliance Workshop

 

In this episode, we talk about:

[00:30] Episode Summary – Ian talks discusses elements of communicating a management system including, why you need to communicate and what needs to be communicated, the importance of doing so and how you can go about doing it.

[02:45] Why do you need to communicate your Management System? In every ISO Standard, communication is a requirement. The levels and information specified will vary depending on the Standard, but the principles remain consistent.

Ian cites ISO 9004 as providing further guidance to improve on what’s initially required. In Clause 7.4 it states:

“The effective communication of policies, strategy, relevant objectives is essential to the sustained success of an organisation.”

Going on to state that communication should be “Meaningful, timely and continual” and that there should be some form of feedback within it to be able to address changes in the organisation’s context. So, it’s not just a one time exercise.

It also states that: “communication processes should be both vertical and horizontal and be tailored to the differing needs of its recipients, whether internal or external.” So you also need to consider the external communication needs too.

[04:35] Empowering through communication: ISO 9004 also talks about engaged, empowered and motivated people and their value as a key resource.

These types of people help organisations to create and deliver value, so you should have processes in place for engaging those people, to gather feedback and drive continual improvement.

[05:40] Where is Communication referenced in Standards?: Typically, communication is Clause 7.4 in most ISO Standards. Additionally there are elements of communication included in Clause 7.3. Awareness.

The Awareness clause focuses on employees knowledge of the Management System, and is more focused on internal communications rather than with external interested parties.

[06:25] What should be communicated internally? Under Clause 7.3 Awareness, it requires you to share:

·      Policies

·      Objectives

·      The consequences of non-conformance

Other Standards may have additional communication requirements such as ISO 45001, which also highlights the need to share risks, hazards, incidents and the outcomes of investigations.  

[07:10] Clause 7.4 Communication – This clause is more about determining internal and external communications. This includes considerations for:

·      What communications are relevant?

·      When should they be communicated?

·      Who should they be communicated to?

·      Who should be the one to communicate this information?

Some Standards may also include specifications for communicating legal requirements, such as ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.

[08:20] Nuance in effective communication:  One key element of communication is ensuring that it’s understood and applied by the wider business.

This doesn’t mean that every employee should be able to parrot a specific policy within a business, but rather they should at least know where to find it and understand the implications for them.

[09:40] A link between Communication and Leadership: Leadership plays a key role in communications, and ISO Standards specify that certain elements can’t be delegated to another individual.

Clause 5 Leadership specifically states:

·      They shall promote the use of the process approach and risk-based thinking, not delegating that promotion.

·      They should communicate to the importance of the management system and of conforming to that management system.

·      They should engage directly and support persons to contribute to the effectiveness of the system.

·      They should promote continual improvement.

·      They should support other relevant managers to demonstrate their leadership in their areas of responsibility.

We’ve stressed the importance of Leadership in the success of a Management System in a previous episode, and their support with communication is a big part of that.

[11:20] Communicating Objectives: Clause 6.2 Objectives states that they must be established and communicated. This doesn’t have to be to everyone, so you can be selective and communicate certain objectives relevant to select people.

[11:40] How to effectively communicate your management system  – Management systems can be vast, and it can be tricky to know exactly how much to communicate and to who.

The first tip is to keep it simple. Translate the ‘Standard speak’ into something recognisable for your business, which may not always be easy if you’re familiar with the Standards terminology. However you need to relate these elements to how people in the business work. Try to keep it brief to avoid confusion.

Next, ensure you are assuaging fears. Many are firstly opposed to the introduction of things like Operational Procedures if they’ve not worked with a Management System in place previously. However, all this is in practice is a written format for how they work, it shouldn’t drastically change the way in which they work. Make sure they know this and describe what elements will change i.e. documentation updates.

Lastly, they need awareness of the consequences of non-conformance and the need to look for opportunities to improve.

[15:25] Communicating Policies – This is a part of all ISO Standards, a Policy can’t just be hidden away in a rarely visited folder. A Policy communicates the intent of top management in an organisation, and is something that should be communicated to everyone, which could include external parties.

So, you should try to keep this concise. On one page ideally. As long as you’ve encompassed the vision, values, strategy and top management commitment, and for certain standards a commitment to legal requirements, then you will meet an ISO Standards requirements.

Some businesses like to include links to all their procedures within a policy, which by all means, you can, but don’t expect people to read a 48 page policy and understand it enough to apply to their daily working lives.  

[17:00] How can you communicate your Management System? – One key objective of communication is to ensure people understand and apply what’s being communicated.

To help achieve this, you may want to use multiple methods of communication, including:

·      Feedback options on content i.e. a yes or no check / options to provide feedback

·      Training sessions

·      Intranet page – quick links to relevant content such as policies or audit findings

·      Regular briefings

·      Notice boards

·      Electronic displays

·      Company briefs

·      Team meetings

[20:25] How can you measure effective communication? There’s a lot of ways you can assess this, including:

·      E-mail voting – to clarify when people have read specific documents

·      LMS Systems

·      Through SharePoint systems

·      Conduct surveys

·      During Internal Audits

All of these can be used as methods of feedback where you can identify further opportunities for improvement from various levels of the business.

[21:35] When should you consider external communications? – Clause 4.2 is where you’re required to consider the needs and expectations of interested parties.

When going through an anaylsis of these interested parties, you determine what they expect out of your Management System.

Standards don’t specify the need to write a communication plan, but they do say who’s going to communicate what to whom, including how and when. In combination with that analysis of interested parties, it creates a solid basis for an effective communications plan.

Again, some discretion will be required as not every external party will need to be privy to your internal policies and procedures. Just communicate what’s relevant to them.

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