The webinar covers: • Principles of auditing • Attributes of effective auditors • Audit aftermath-communicating audit results, ensuring effective closure of non-conformities Presenter: This webinar was presented by Cyrus Karanja, Systems Co-ordinator at Tetra Pak and a well-practiced professional with over 9 years of experience in the areas of Quality, Health, Safety & Environmental Management. Link of the recorded session published on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aUcvt2-x8PM

1. How to be an Effective Auditor

2.  Introduction- 10 minutes
 Principles of auditing- 15 minutes
 The Ideal auditor: Attributes of effective
auditors -10 minutes
 Audit aftermath- communicating audit
results, ensuring effective closure of
non conformities – 5minutes
 Q&A: 10 minutes

3. What is Auditing
Auditing can best be described as gauging
process. It’s the process by which an entity
checks how well it’s processes are conforming to
laid down standards, procedures or guidelines. If
you were to liken the audit process to a traveler on
a journey, it would be the equivalent of that
traveler stopping periodically to query his
compass , maps and itinerary to ascertain if
he/she was still on course to attain the object of
his/her journey.

4. What is Auditing
 According to the ISO 9000 standard, an audit is “A
systematic, independent, and documented process, for
obtaining audit evidence and evaluating it objectively to
determine the extent to which audit criteria are fulfilled.”
 The definition above immediately sets out the key hall marks
of an acceptable or credible audit process namely:-
A) Systematic- it’s systematic meaning it is well planned,
has a clear objective(s) , follows laid down guidelines or
standards.

5. What is Auditing
B) Independent- A credible audit process must
be free from any bias or influence. Independence
ties in directly with the credibility of the audit
result.
C) Documented- an audit process must be
appropriately recorded in a clear, legible,
retrievable format. You can not have audit
evidence sitting in an auditor’s head for instance.

6. What is Auditing
C ) Documentation facilitates easy
communication of audit plans before the audit,
facilitates the audit exercise itself, reporting of the
audit results and the crafting of corrrective and
preventive actions.

7. Why Audit?
Audits are conducted for several reasons. An
audit can aim to:-
 Check for compliance/ conformity or adherence to
set standards, legal requirements, guidelines etc.
 Identify areas of improvement
 Assess progress towards a set goal / objective.
 Foster participation and involvement of people at
the work place.

8. Why Audit?
In short, we can only progress and improve if we
are able to assess at regular periods how we are
performing and in which direction.
A quote attributed to W.E .Deming really sums
up the reason for auditing. He said ‘What
cannot be measured , cannot be managed’
. We all therefore cannot claim to have a viable
management system if we cannot measure it or in
other words ‘audit it’

9. As earlier stated, auditing being systematic is
guided by certain principles and these are set out
below:
1) Planning
For effective outcomes, an audit process must be
well planned. Planning includes:-
 Defining the audit objectives, scope and criteria.
 Allocating resources for the audit (resources
include time, people to audit and finances if need
be and so on)

10. Planning
 Selecting the audit team and communicating to
the auditee
The audit objective is the overall aim of the
audit, are you auditing to evaluate conformity to a
standard, look for areas of improvement, assess
progress against a set criteria. Audit objectives
answer the question ‘ why are we auditing’

11. Planning
Audit scope- refers to the boundaries of the
audit. It is important to very deliberately state the
boundaries or extent of the audit. Audit scope
answers the question ‘where are we auditing’
For instance an audit may focus on ‘customer
complaints handling’ within a large service
organization. Note that scope also includes the time
the audit will take.

12. Planning
Audit criteria- Refers to the standards,
guidelines ,laws ,policies etc, on which the audit is
based. Everyone participating in an audit must be
aware of the yardstick or standard against which
they are being audited or measured. Audit criteria
answers the question ; ‘what are we auditing
against’

13. 2) Independence
A credible audit must be independent and must be
seen to be so by all stakeholders. Audit independence
derives from several factors such as:-
 Impartiality- an auditor cannot audit his or her own
process. The process must be entirely free of bias or
influence and is only guided by the audit objectives,
scope and criteria.
 Objectivity – The audit findings must be based on
facts. Personal opinion should not colour audit findings.

14. 3) Communication
An effective audit process thrives on good
communication. The audit plan, dates, timelines,
objectives, scope and criteria must be communicated in
good time and agreed upon with the auditees.
During the audit proper, effective communication skills
must be applied in order to secure auditee cooperation and
participation. After the audit, the audit outcome must
be effectively communicated to ensure understanding and
ownership of the outcome. Only then will an audit add
value to the organization.

15. 4) Sampling
An audit process is of necessity based on
sampling. Given the constraints of time, scope and
limited resources, an audit cannot interrogate each
and every aspect of an organization. The sampling
principle is therefore applied in coming up with the
best possible choice of areas the auditor will focus
on in order to get as representative a view as
possible of the extent of conformity or performance
of the system against the criteria agreed upon.

16. The success or failure of an audit is to a very large
extent dependent on the auditor. The following are
attributes all auditors must strive to cultivate for
successful and effective auditing.
1) Positive attitude- this cannot be over
emphasized. The auditor must have an attitude and
frame of mind that communicates to the auditee
that :-
 First of all he/she is not there to find fault but rather
to help improve the system/organization

17.  That he/she and the auditee are really on the same
team. An audit is not a contest to see who comes
out tops but rather an exercise to seek out
opportunities for improvement.
2) Good communication skills – the auditor must
strive to cultivate excellent communication skills
including:-
- Being a good listener- you obviously cannot listen
while talking incessantly! Let the auditee talk.

18. 2) Good communication skills
The auditor must be able to create a good climate for
communication by eliminating anything that would
hinder it such as:-
 Location of audit- the place must be conducive for
communication ( not too noisy, too hot/cold). It must
be a place where the auditee is comfortable.
 Cultural considerations- eye contact, hand shake
etc.

19. 2) Good communication skills
 Time keeping- auditor must keep the time agreed.
Consider customary timings( time for prayer, meals
etc)
 Know how to use non-verbal communication- note
that 70 % of communication is non-verbal. Gestures,
facial expressions, Para-language ( grunts, snorts)
communicate a lot- intended and unintended. Use it
to ease communication.

20. 3) Cultural awareness
In a highly globalized world, inter-cultural scenarios
during audits are almost inevitable. The auditor must
be conscious of cultural norms and practices. Issues
to do with mode of dressing, gestures, head
covering e.t.c are hugely important in how people
perceive each other. Dress for the occasion!

21. 4) Good listener
An effective auditor is a good listener. He/she first of all
gives the auditee time to talk and does not judge. He/she
then picks out salient points in the conversation and seeks
clarification where need be.
5) Good interviewer
An effective auditor also knows how to get information by
applying the right interview technique, do not ask direct
questions ( yes/no type) or leading questions, again allow
the interviewee to talk.

22. 5) Good Observer
An effective auditor is also a keen observer.
Remember audit evidence is not gathered only by
interviewing but also through observation.

23. A key point to note is that an audit is only as good as it’s
outcome and by outcome here I mean the observations/
recommendations made, their applicability /practicality and
follow up.
The auditor must strive to give feedback on the audit
findings preferably in a closing meeting.
Give a summary of findings in the general closing meeting
but submit more detailed, actionable reports to the
auditees.
Agree on timelines for closure of any non-conformances
noted.

24. Do a follow-up after the agreed time has lapsed to
check whether the non- conformances have been
closed.
Assess whether actions on the non-conformances
truly address their root causes. Effective actions are
those that address the root cause.

25. QUESTIONS ?