UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE

Quality that's simple

Hey Reader

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I hate auditing. Or I did.

My thinking was: I already have enough problems, why am I going looking for more?

Not very quality-minded, I know.

Here was my pattern over almost a decade of audits: Audit. Find nonconformances. Issue a corrective action. Assign it to me. Fix it by updating the procedure and training the employees. Then I go back to the normal level of chaos.

What changed? Well…

1. I got into supplier audits,
2. I started helping audit other facilities,
3. I changed companies.

Really, I started learning more about audits.

What happened:

• Improved quality culture (people started doing the right things)
• Better rapport with employees (they’d bring issues to me)
• I learned about the business (how to stamp, forge, paint, machine, and cast parts, which helps me ask better questions when doing corrective actions later)
• Resolved persistent issues (read on for more on this one).

But how did I change this?

1. Learning and growth
2. Socratic auditing
3. Conversational Skills

Learning

I attended several IATF 16949 courses (like 4 in 9 years). To audit well, you must understand the standard and the business completely. This became a key pillar of my team of auditors. We procedurally required auditors to attend continuing education every 3 years. Ideally going back to the intro to the standard course.

Socratic Auditing

I’m making up this title. It’s like the process approach, but instead of just following the process we follow the conversation (and the process).

Ask lots of questions, sometimes leading questions and sometimes inquisitive ones. (Almost) Always open-ended questions (lots of what’s and how’s).

Auditing is first and foremost an exercise in exploration. It’s about being curious and learning how and why things are done. Collect a ton of information and later determine if we meet the standard. (this is why thoroughly knowing the standard is important - it’ll save you time going back to find out more information).

Conversational Skills

An audit gets real weird when it’s a list of unrelated questions. Conversational skills are how you take your audits from check-the-box to value-adding activities. If your audits sound like interrogations, this is where you want to improve.

Mirroring - repeating the last phrase or word back to the auditee. It invites them to explain further. Example:

Auditee: I can’t stand making this part

Auditor: this part? (With an upward inflection in your voice)

Auditee: yes, it’s too big. Sales never bothered to check with us if we could make it (and they go on explaining, and you have an audit lead to follow up with. How does sales determine feasibility? ISO 9001 - 8.2.3.1)

Summarizing - paraphrasing an idea in your own words. Best used to confirm what you heard or what you understood. Especially helpful when there might be a nonconformance. Clearly stating, if I understand this correctly… or if I heard that right…

Tactical Silence - this is the simplest and hardest. Just close your mouth. After you ask a question or mirror something, just let the silence hang. Longer than you’re comfortable. Let the other person fill the void. You’ll learn more, the more they talk, so let them.

(all of these are from the book “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss - it’s an FBI negotiator’s take on how to negotiate better in life. Turns out these skills apply to almost everything quality does.)

Last Thoughts:

Pulling all the above skills takes practice and preparation. You have to know the requirements inside and out, so you can follow the conversation, ask appropriate questions, and steer the conversation toward the next requirement. It’s mental gymnastics at its finest.