z 3d 2 - quality auditors-skills-attributes
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What are the skills and attributes of a "QUALITY" AUDITOR !TRANSCRIPT
Skills, Qualities & Traits of an
Auditor
Module 1
Strong Business Sense
Eye for detail
Exellent Inter-Personal Skills
Articulate Communicator
Necessary Stature to advise and guide at all levels
Personal Attributes / Traits of a Good Auditor
Follower of Strict discipline
Builder of a Good image for Audit
Effective Internal Consultant
On Values & Effective role of Auditor
Technical Skills
Human Skills
Personal Attributes
Qualities of Character
Skills, Attributes & Qualities
Knowledge of Principles of Auditing, Techniques of Auditing
Auditing in depth
Random Sampling
Statistical Techniques
Flow Charting
O & M Study
Systems Analysis
Technical Skills
Method Study
Work Study
Activity Analysis
Value Engineering
Proficiency in Accounting & Costing Methods
Knowledge of Psychology / Behavioral Sciences
Technical Skills
Knowledge of principles of auditing / techniques
of auditing
Data on finger tips
Good Business knowledge
Software Tools usage
Bench marking knowledge
Internal Auditing – Professional updateness
Knowledge on current business issues
Technical Skills
Tact
Ability to reason and draw logical conclusions from the evidence available
Analytical approach
Capacity to separate key information from the insignificant
Human Skills
Strong business sense
Eye for details
Tolerance & patience
Good Inter-personal skills
Team work clarity
Influencing skills
Positive confrontation
Ability to identify one’s own strengths
Recognition of weaknesses (areas for development)
Personal Attirbutes Traits / Qualities of Internal Auditor
Practical / down to earth personality
Effective communication (oral / written)
Self conviction
Process oriented
Systematic in approach
Perseverance
Ability to involve everyone in the system
Necessary statute to advise and guide people at
all levels
Personal Attirbutes Traits / Qualities of Internal Auditor
Adaptability
Understanding
Determination
Qualities of Character
Key Behaviors
Module 2
Why Quality Auditors need interaction skills?
Key behaviors of a Good Auditor
Exhibit courage & Integrity
High ethical standards in performing responsibilities
Stress a proactive approach Reactive approach - energy drain by constant fire fighting
Aiding auditees in the process of continuous improvements in
systems
Stay in touch - all levels (with Vendors & Customers as well) Level of trust you can develop with people
Best interest of company in mind
You are their ally in creating systems which will help them do
their job better
You are interested in them as people, their jobs & their problems
Key behaviors of a Good Auditor…
Do not fall into the trap of complaining constantly
Constant complaining is a demotivating factor
Take ‘action’ by helping people to see what their options are
Inter-Personal Communication effectiveness
Module 3
“Quality Auditing” - Improving inter-personal communication effectiveness
‘Audit Process’ is an on-going continuous improvement cycle
Shewart’s ‘PDSA’ Cycle Model
- Plan
- Do
- Study
- Act
an effective way to conceptualise the audit interaction process.
Planning -- Proper Audit Planning - Critical to total success of audit
Doing -- Managing the open meetings, observing, conducting actual
audit interviews
Studying -- Feeding back the Audit information to the organisation for
examination & study
Acting -- Taking the audit findings & creating action plans for
improving the systems
Applying NLP (Neuro - Linguistic Programming) to the interactions taking place during audit
Gathering organisational information
The three behavioral components
A -- Auditors’ internal state
B -- Auditors’ language skills
C -- Level of rapport during an audit
Applying NLP (Neuro - Linguistic Programming) to the interactions taking place during audit
A – Auditor’s internal state
Auditor’s internal state / feelings about the audit
Possible past experiences of intense discussions with auditees
Stress associated with the overall audit and a pattern of anxious behavior
give birth to “Audit Phobia”
The word audit can produce neurological effects in people. (Quality audits
can also turn normally happy, well adjusted employees into nervous jittery
people!) - This will create stress for both the auditor & auditee.
(Spend time understanding how feelings & attitudes influence the total audit interaction)
Applying NLP (Neuro - Linguistic Programming) to the interactions taking place during audit
B -- Auditors’ language skills
must possess excellent language skills - Have a good understanding of how
language affects human behavior
Eg:
“There is nothing to be afraid of during this audit” What sub-conscious mind hears is the last portion of the statement ie., “be afraid during this audit”
Better way is to say,
“During this audit, audit team members will try their hardest to make
the experience a positive one”.
The sub-conscious mind is now ready and willing to make audit process a positive experience.
Applying NLP (Neuro - Linguistic Programming) to the interactions taking place during audit
C -- Level of rapport during an audit
‘Rapport’ is the relationship (built on mutual trust & emotional affinity)
between the auditor & auditee
Comes from respecting another person’s view of the world while still being
true to your own objectives.
then the conversation flows easily & there is a feeling of goodwill & comfort.
Excellent communicators build rapport easily & unconsciously
Inter personal flexibility
Recognising other channels of communication (voice, spoken language,
body language)
Recognising someone’s preferred channels of communication during an
audit puts you in ‘Sync’ – ‘synchronous communication’
Please remember only 7% of the message is communicated through words.
Rest through voice & body language only.
Communication theories
Learning is enhanced when the underlying reasons or ideas behind the
communication strategies are apparent.
We make sense out of the information coming to us by,
- distorting
- generalising (or)
- deleting portions of messages
Distortion:
Happens regularly as we filter communication messages through our
peceptional differences. (Two auditors can hear the same information but
come with totally different ideas about what was said)
Occurs when we make shifts in our perception of the sensory data
also occurs when we try to ‘mind read’ another person’s thoughts / read
between lines
Generalistion
When we draw generalisation, we create conclusions based on two or more
experiences
At worst it is taking one experience and turning it into a life time belief
Statements that include all, every, always, never, everybody, nobody, must,
should not - are examples of generalisations.
(while auditors have to generalise the data they collect, the degree to which
information is generalised is key)
Communication theories…
Deletion
We ‘delete’ information and pay attention to selective aspects of the
communication
We ‘delete’ when we are faced with too much information
We ‘delete’ when are under stress (like being audited / conducting audit)
Communication beliefs
Glue that holds the theory and strategies together is the belief that one has
about human communication
The communication beliefs we hold can influence all aspects of our
behavior
Communication theories…
What are they?
(1) Auditees have positive intentions
Believe that every action taken by someone has an underlying positive
intention (This will make your emotional state more resourceful)
(2) Communication is redundant
If message has to be perceived as truthful - auditors must use all channels of
communication
Being congruent in all channels builds trust into relationship and rapport
at sub-conscious levels of interaction.
What are they?..
(3) Meaning of your communication is the response you get
Effective communicators always have a different communication
strategy to try if the one they are using doesn’t work. (It is called
interpersonal flexibility)
(4) Auditor with the most flexibility will control the interaction
By taking another perceptual position / using a different communication
strategy to appreciate another’s point of view, you become more
emphathetic & gain deeper understanding of the message.
What are they?…
(5) Auditees respond to their map of reality and not to reality itself:
It is how someone views the world - their perception and reaction to the
environment will be different from your own. (There is no such thing as
‘reality’ only ‘perception’)
(6) Leave the auditees in a better state than when you found them
Because of your interaction does he (auditee) feel good?
What are they?…
(7) There is no such thing as ‘failure’, only ‘feedback’
Providing value added information to the organisation is what auditing is
all about.
By taking an interest in improving interpersonal communication skills,
auditors can greatly improve quality of information received during
an audit
Auditors,
Live out the Values of,
Openness Truth Integrity Trust Learning Generosity Commitment Fun Love
”Bring heart & soul to business - Audit”
Please remember,
Getting the best information during an audit is critical to the success of that audit
Marrying the mechanics of auditing to all these techniques creates a dynamic system for gathering good information from the auditees.
Anticipating & Preventing Problems
Module 4
Anticipating & Preventing Problems(Dispel negative perception)
Levels
Board of Directors
Executive Management
Issues
Establishing & maintaining effective communications
Understanding their requirements / expectations
(Communicate regarding how your goals support them)
True support for audit essential at this level
Visible demonstration of their support essential
Need for expanding audit scope may be resisted
at this level
Dispelling negative attitudes most critical
Levels
Middle Management / Supervisory Management
Issues
Presents hardest challenge in overcoming negative
attitudes They may not see the big picture as clearly as Executive Management They see problems in their own areas and identify with those affected by them Resistance to change Fear of critique Adequate communication from Executive Management normally absent (Educate them on purpose, goals & potential benefits of your audit)
Anticipating & Preventing Problems(Dispel negative perception)
LevelsIdeas of developing a co-operative relationship
Issues Audit Manager to communicate with Functional Manager to help identify potential areas of concern in terms of quality
Action on areas of concern promptly
Acknowledge that corrective action is under way
Allow middle manager to look good for having
independently acted to improve quality
Allow them to evaluate your performance and
professionalism and to make recommendations for
further audits (They will know that this is an
interactive process)
Anticipating & Preventing Problems(Dispel negative perception)
Levels
Line personnel
Issues
May view audit as a performance appraisal
Take the help of Supervisory personnel to dispel
this notion
Tell them that it is the ‘system’ which is being
evaluated and not the personal performance
Anticipating & Preventing Problems(Dispel negative perception)
Levels
Audit Team Members
Issues
Jobs being assigned (purely clerical tasks which
require no judgement on their part may not enthuse
them)
Everybody to participate in the actual auditing
function
Demoralised if their recommendations are not
valued / acted upon
Perception that there is no potential for growth /
career path (Professional development support)
Audit – a good training ground
Anticipating & Preventing Problems(Dispel negative perception)
LevelsAudit Team Members
Issues Problems with low level, poorly qualified,
inefficient people being dumped into audit
(This undermines the value that audit brings to the
organisation and lowers morale amongst other staff)
Anticipating & Preventing Problems(Dispel negative perception)
Develop good relationships at all levels
Make audit report a constructive management tool
Be proactive
Effective Customer Reach
Module 5
Are you effective in reaching your target customers?
A comparison with Business Divisions
Effective Business Customer reach
I. Product
What customer wantsSpecification,Size,
Quality,Acceptance
Zero manufacturing defects
Product fitness
After sales serviceFrequency of after sales service calls, Addressing, customer complaints etc.
How does the Internal Audit’s focus compare with these parameters?
Agreed scope of review, areas covered, usefulness
of audit findings, quantification of benefits etc.
Zero defect in terms of statement of facts, statistics presented etc.,
Effective follow up audits, written feed back from
auditees on audit quality, properly addressing all
audit shortfalls
Are you effective in reaching your target customers?
A comparison with Business DivisionsEffective Business
Customer reach
II. Marketing Efforts in marketing your products
Advertisements, Exhibitions,
Demos, (visibility to the
product)
Market spread/ penetration
New market areas
Bench marking with competitors
Value addition, competitive edge
How does the Internal Audit’s focus compare with these parameters?
Presentations on Audit, Manuals, Effective use of Communication Meetings, Stalls / Exhibits / Displays, Demos of ‘Audit Tools’, Internal Seminars / Workshops to share audit experiences Intranet sites etc.
Identification of new audit customers - Group Companies, outside organisation (TNEB – Energy Audits)
Global best practices, IA standards
Are you effective in reaching your target customers?
A comparison with Business Divisions
Effective Business Customer reach
III. Sales Delivery
Order to delivery – Cycle time monitoring
Distribution Management
Warehousing, Transit time,
delivery with nil damages etc.
How does the Internal Audit’s focus compare with these parameters?
Report releasing cycle time
Draft report preparation / discussion time, final report releasing, mode of sending reports – ensuring safe receipt of reports by the auditees, obtaining confirmation etc.
Are you effective in reaching your target customers?
A comparison with Business Divisions
Effective Business Customer reach
IV. New Products
R & D work, New product launches
V. Competitive pricing
How does the Internal Audit’s focus compare with these parameters?
Innovation in identifying new areas of audit (eg. Steam, Power, Compressed Air, SHE, etc) Awareness creation meetings to introduce new areas of audit
Cost of operations - Internal Audit, Audit Cost to Businesses – competitiveness (Eg. TNEB – Statutory Energy Audits – External vs Internal)
Thank You