3 TIPS FOR CONDUCTING AN EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT REVIEWS
Management Review refers to structured meeting involving top management of an organization with the goal of reviewing and evaluating the effectiveness of the Management System, helping you to determine its continued suitability and adequacy. This meeting holds at regular intervals throughout the year. They are part of the requirement of running an ISO certified Management System.
The following are three (3) key steps required for the effectiveness of management reviews:
o Involvement of Top Management
o Speak in their terms
o Distribute responsibility
Involvement of Top Management
The top management comprising of the chief operating officer (COO), chief executive officer (CEO), managing director, general manager and chief financial officer etc, are all concerned about the financial status of the organization. They believe that the operational and financial performance of the organization is vital for its overall success.
In the same way, the quality management system needs to be taken, in which all members of the top management believe that quality is an integral part of organizational success. This belief system will drive the involvement of all members of the top management which is actually necessary to accelerate improved business processes.
Top management should be helped to understand that quality is an essential element in the organization’s overall success. They need to understand that all employees, including functional managers, supervisors and other member of the organization have a vital role in the success of quality management systems. They need to believe that quality should be taken as a critical business activity. Management reviews are very essential to meet the goals of an organization and the top management needs to show ownership and engagement in the system to make it effective.
Speak in their terms
Haven seen the need for the involvement of the top management in management reviews, how can you ensure that they are enthusiastically involved?
One key way is to speak in their terms - in business linguistics. That means helping them to see convincingly, that an ineffective management system can result to increase in the cost of running the business and an effective quality management system can help improve internal processes that can result in profitability of the business.
You should ponder over the key impacts quality management systems have had on to the organization outside audits, inspections, and system certificates placed on the wall. Quality managers and coordinators must speak in the language the top management understands, just like the finance and accounting managers when discussing the company’s monetary achievements.
They need to be enabled to see how the organization’s economic activities are affected by the effectiveness of its management systems. The management review is a vital way for validating the business value that quality management systems have on the organization.
For example, has it helped to improve the company’s market share? And, in what way has it done so? This attribution follows the cause-and-effect principle.
Distribute the Responsibility
Quality is not just the concern of the quality manager but every individual member of organization – from the top management to the shop floor engineer. Although, the quality manager or QMS coordinator is responsible for coordination of the whole routine operation of the quality management system, all executives, members and their teams are also liable for system to be operational. As the saying goes that “Quality is every one’s responsibility”.
In view to this, quality managers must endeavor to allocate responsibilities to the appropriate department heads or managers, that way responsibility can be shared.
