How is the Audit Performed?
Now that the board has
decided to conduct an Operational Audit, a meeting will be arranged with
the team. Priorities and scope will be determined as well as the time
frame. The team lead will then send the club management a set-up
package to assist in preparations. The work and information gathering
completed ahead of the visit will be of great assistance saving both
time and money.
Dependent on the extent
of the audit requested, an itinerary will be set for the on-site visit.
The visit will include appointments and some casual “sit down and talk”
or “tell me about what you do and what do you see” impromptu
conversations with key individuals including: the Board, Administrative
staff, Selected Members, Management Team, Stake Holders, & Contractors
and others as necessary. It is hoped that the scheduling of the process
will cause little disruption of normal business processes as these must
be observed as well to give a good view of the operations. The largest
part of the work is done offsite, assembling information, documenting
and writing the report.
Documents, files, and
samples of materials will be requested randomly. The items offered
should be “normal,” not best or worst examples. When possible, it is
great to sit in on meetings, a hiring interview, a prospective candidate
meeting, at the front desk, in a management team meeting, or any other
event that will give perspective and yield information. As the audit
progresses, specifics will be requested including reports. In many
cases, some information, particularly reports can be prepared ahead
which will expedite the process greatly.
In cases, where there is
no preparation or the process requires analysis of the marketplace or
issues beyond club resources, the visit will be set up a bit differently
and may require additional time.
As the team has been a
part of the business community for an extensive time period, every
effort is made to “fit in” without cumbersome processes or language that
may be foreign and cause unnecessary concerns. Anticipate that the
familiarity will often lead to requests for ideas and how to’s that are
given as possible if not distracting to the process to build the
relationship and opportunity to pave the way for smoother implementation
of change. The audit is participatory and quite often will lead to
individuals and organizations discovering and being empowered to take
needed actions even as the audit progresses. These are quite often
simple style or process changes that impact the work flow process
positively. Substantial changes or methods are never offered casually
in the visit but will be made in the final report.
It is very important
that the persons to be interviewed or who will be sharing information
and showing systems be apprised of the process and expectations without
suggestion that they are personally under a microscope. The preparation
outlined in the next section will be important.
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