Getting More Out of Your Internal Audits (Part III of III)

By: Donna Jarvie

In this third and final chapter of our investigation of development and improvement of internal audit programmes, we will examine the third of the ‘top three’ skills that can contribute to an improved perception of the need for, and support of, the value achieved by internal audit activities: Effective Note-Taking.

One of the most difficult skills to develop as a new auditor is the ability to take notes, and not just notes, but effective notes.  New auditors are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that is presented to them during an audit.  Let’s face it – the visual, auditory and documented evidence being presented is just plain tough to sort through.  Yet, as auditors, we need to document evidence to support our audit findings and conclusions (hence the definition of an audit:  a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which the audit criteria are fulfilled (ISO 19011:2002, clause 3.1)).  So, again the question is posed – where do we go from here?

Although note-taking is discussed during initial auditor training programs, the importance of it is not adequately emphasized, nor is it given sufficient attention during a typical two-day course.  By example, most two-day training sessions present and discuss the need for and use of a checklist, however there is very little emphasis on WHAT is to be recorded in the “evidence” or “comments” columns.  Some auditors walk away with the perception that they need to record everything that anyone and everyone says; others perceive that they only need to record evidence related to any documentation/records they review.  Still others believe that if conformity is in place, there is no need to record anything other than “Conforms” or “OK” (by the way, this is a pet peeve of many external auditors as it proves difficult for us to evaluate the effectiveness of the internal audit programme).

In addition, how many of us are adequately trained for note-taking in our daily lives and/or how frequently are we provided with an opportunity to practice this skill?  Just think about it for a minute, how easy is it to recruit someone to take the minutes of a meeting?  Think back to any of your experience in attending elementary school, post-secondary education, night school or adult-learning programs – were you ever taught how to take effective notes to assist in your learning & comprehension?  Most of us developed our own style and maintained these habits, right or wrong.

In this workshop, we began by establishing that before we can begin to learn HOW to take notes, we need to identify the purpose, the WHY of our note-taking activity.  Is it for comprehension?  Is it for future reference?  Is it for communication to others?  Is it to confirm that we have covered certain topics?  To confirm that we interviewed certain people?  To demonstrate that we gathered evidence of activities completed? To present to management in a report form? To provide for future analysis and actions? For auditors, note-taking serves all of the purposes listed above, which is why it takes real discipline to develop and adopt the skill.

So, now that we’ve established the purpose of our notes, what’s next?

Again, we needed to take a few steps backward in order to move forward.  We needed to re-examine our planning activities and establish a checklist that would trigger note-taking in the first place. Therefore, we re-examined the purpose of the checklist along with the risks of poorly developed checklists and the potential for misuse of a checklist.  Once we had an effective method in place for developing the checklist, and sufficient information on the checklist against which to compare our audit findings, we could then focus on taking notes during the audit.

We then examined some “Note-taking hints” to help individuals develop their own comfort level with note-taking, recognizing that there will always be some variation between auditors and their own comfort zone with a variety of techniques.  In addition to these hints, we also examined specific “Note-taking Strategies” to use in filtering, classifying and organizing the evidence being presented during an audit, which assists in developing more consistency between auditors and their audit findings.  This is necessary, both as an auditor skill, but also from a reproducibility aspect, particularly when multiple auditors are collating their audit findings for presentation following the completion of an audit.

Organizing the information also means potentially adopting a specific, recognized Note-taking technique.  We examined some widely accepted techniques, some of which are recommended for note-taking during attendance at courses, but which have great relevance for auditing as well.  Another possibility is for the organization to develop a “note-taking friendly” checklist – in other words, a checklist which is designed to prompt note-taking at certain points in the interview.  This requires some up-front investment of time from the audit programme management; however it will pay off in spades down the road.

Once a strategy is identified, we then need to re-visit the last session, Questioning Techniques.  From our last article, we discussed the following:

“It means that planning has taken into account where the interview will take place (shop floor or office?), with whom (what type of personality am I dealing with?), when (is a specific time of day more convenient?), how will I conduct the interview (observation, records, what type of questions?), etc.  It also means taking into account the ‘process approach’ that was described in Part I. Auditors also need to PLAN their overall approach to the audit to ensure they are exploring the various factors that control or influence the effectiveness of the process they are assigned to audit.  All of this establishes a purpose for the interview and assists the auditor in knowing what they need to walk away in terms of audit evidence.

The idea is to get the auditee doing all of the talking and, therefore, the auditor is free to observe such things as body language, work environment conditions and make notes as the interview progresses.”

In other words, effective note-taking works hand in hand with effective questions.  The better the auditor’s questioning techniques, the more time they will have to make notes of what they have seen and heard throughout the interview.

Once all of our interviews are complete, we need to use the notes we have taken as auditors and convert them into audit findings, including statements of nonconformity.  Every audit finding, positive or negative, needs to be based on evidence; therefore, it should be tied to some notes from the checklist.  Audit findings also must be linked to a specific requirement from the audit criteria (e.g. the standard being used and/or the organization’s own QMS/EMS/OHS documentation).

Our last point of discussion in the workshop was to take audit notes and convert them into audit reports, which included an examination of the ‘should’ requirements for the content of an audit report from ISO 19011:2002.  This included a discussion of the more relevant points from ISO 19011 for internal audit reports (versus 3rd party audit reports) as well as an examination/recognition of the influence of writing style on reactions to reports.  It is important to remember the audience of the report – for example, is it necessary to include an “Executive Summary” section before the details are provided?  Or is the audience prepared to read and respond to each and every one of the findings included in the report?

When delivered together, these three skills development workshops can provide organizations with the ability to demonstrate one aspect of “continual improvement of the effectiveness of the QMS”, as well as better evidence to support the “competence of personnel performing work affecting product quality”. Furthermore, completing these workshops can result in increased interest and confidence for auditors when proceeding with internal audits. This can be extremely valuable to organizations, since a confident employee is a productive employee, regardless of position.

We began this series of articles as a result of a client triggering a need for additional development of their internal audit team’s skills & abilities to conduct internal audits that generate ‘real’ findings.  In the meantime, I’ve had feedback from other organizations who have received the articles, confirming that we’re on the right track, and that they are in need of this type of support as well.  My own ‘odyssey’ with auditor development began some time ago, while working for one of the world’s largest registrars, and it continues today, searching for ways to ‘add more value’ to the organizations I visit, both from an auditing and consulting point of view.  After all, that should be the point of management system registration, not only meeting the requirements, but adding value to the organization’s overall performance.