Questions to help identify your status with respect to a QMS
Note to respondent: Single-word answers such as YES/NO are not valuable on their own. In answering these
questions you should give an explanation of your answer and, in all cases, give examples to illustrate your
response.
Maintain Customer Focus
Who are your customers? Who are your END customers?
Can you list your customers in groups?
What kind of informal discussions on service do you have with your customers? How do you record
what you find out?
Describe your customers’ perception of your service?
How many complaints have you received in the last month, quarter and year? Summarise them.
Have you ever run a “Customer Survey” and, if so, were the results useful?
What is your plan for developing better relationships with your customers?
How do you record what your customers say?
What kind of compliments do you get from your customers? (Positive Feedback)
How often do you write to your customers?
Do you write to customers if they complain? (Negative Feedback)
When do you discuss customer feedback with your colleagues?
Do you look for trends of similar feedback from what your customers say to you?
Do you have a procedure for how you interact with your customers?
Do you have a published customer policy?
How are complaints dealt with?
Do you record and review positive and negative customer feedback?
Do you build customer feedback into your quality improvement plan?
Do you have a defined process for how your customers can give you feedback on the service you
provide?
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How do you determine your customer requirements?
What procedure describes how customer feedback is gathered and presented?
What metrics are in place to measure customer satisfaction?
Demonstrate Leadership
How does your division communicate priorities to you?
Does your division have a published code of ethics?
Does your division have a published statement on quality and the environment?
Is there a Division organisation chart and, if so, is it published? Can you show it to me?
Is it clear what your responsibilities are and who you report to?
Do you have a published job description?
Are department objectives communicated to all staff?
List the top three division objectives in order of priority for this year.
How often are objectives reviewed?
Is progress measured against department objectives?
Do your division’s objectives relate to customer requirements?
Have timelines been set against your division’s objectives?
How often are divisional meetings held? Are records of these meetings kept?
Are there useful exchanges of views at these meetings?
How many meetings have you attended on the strategic development of the division?
How many meetings have you attended where success measures have been discussed?
How important is it to complete all the actions you are assigned at a meeting by the following week?
Do you feel under pressure to complete assigned actions? If so, why?
Does your division have a defined communications process?
How often are management reviews of the QMS conducted?
How does management ensure that communication of quality-related issues is communicated
throughout the division?
Are the requirements for a management review outlined in a procedure?
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Does the management review consider changes that could affect the quality management system?
Does your division have a defined communications process?
Involve All Staff
Is there a clear published process for selecting new employees and promoting existing employees?
Do you have a divisional training programme?
When you joined the division, were you given introductory training about the division?
How was this training done?
How often do you sit with your direct supervisor or line manager and discuss your own training
needs?
Does your department encourage you to develop your skills professionally by providing time and fees
for courses?
How often do you formally record your training and discuss how effective it has been with your line
manager?
Do you have a good work environment?
Is the work environment clean and pleasant to work in?
Are you aware of all the opportunities for promotion within your division and the qualifications required
for such positions?
How do you offer suggestions for improvements to your division?
Are you encouraged to make such suggestions and do you know how they are dealt with?
Have you been involved in any quality-related projects that involved teamwork?
Does your division have a process in place to formally evaluate training undertaken by staff?
What is your role in the Division’s QMS?
Does your division have a defined process for training and development?
Are you aware of the key metrics used in your division to measure business success?
Are you notified of changes to the content of the quality management system?
What committees/teams are you involved in? do you feel you are a valued member? Are your
contributions taken on board?
Are you consulted in relation to changes in your work duties?
Are you ever asked for feedback regarding your work environment?
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If you have an issue at work, are you confident that you can discuss it with your manager?
Emphasise Continual Improvement
Give two examples of efforts you were recently involved in to make the division a better place to work.
Give two examples of efforts you were involved in to make the division’s customers happier.
Are you aware of the measures your division uses to monitor success? Describe two of them and
explain their relevance to the division’s success.
How many continual improvement activities have you recently been involved in?
Have you had any formal training in continual improvement and, if so, was it effective?
Have any of your work colleagues ever carried out an audit in your work area to look for potential
improvements?
Have you ever carried out an audit with one of your colleagues to look for potential systematic
process improvements?
Are records of the continual improvement and audit activities published promptly?
Does your division formally record improvement action items?
Does your division have a continuous improvement action plan?
Does your division have a defined process for audits / self-assessment?
Does you division have an audit / self-assessment schedule?
Has the division analysed appropriate data to determine the suitability and effectiveness of the quality
management system?
Are corrective actions recorded?
How is progress on corrective actions reviewed?
Are preventive actions recorded? If yes, are the reviewed for effectiveness?
Does your department have a quality policy? If yes, does this policy have a commitment to continuous
improvement?
Do your quality objectives include a commitment to continuous improvement?
Does your division have a defined process for continuous improvement?
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Use a Defined Process Approach to Services Provided
What services does your division provide?
Does your division plan how it will provide its services?
Does your division set quality objectives whenever it provides a service?
Does your division define requirements for each service?
Do you identify the processes that are needed whenever you provide a service?
Do you identify the documents that you will need to use whenever you plan to provide a service?
Do you identify the records that you will need to use and keep whenever you provide a service?
Do you identify the records that you will need to use to prove that your services meet requirements?
Have you asked your customers if the processes you use to implement a service are user-friendly for
them?
How do you verify that what you “think” is happening actually is happening?
How does your division identify customers' service-oriented requirements and obligations?
How do you identify your customers' service requirements?
How do you identify your customers' delivery and post-service requirements?
Have you published your support processes?
How does your division review service requirements before it agrees to supply services to customers?
Are you key business processes defined as part of your quality management system?
Does your quality manual / staff handbook include a description of the sequence and interaction of
your key business processes?
Does your division have a procedure for control of documentation and web content?
Does your division have a defined procedure for purchasing and supplier management?
Are processes that are shared across divisions (or under the control of other divisions) clearly outlined
and linked to your division’s QMS?
Has any process been impacted recently by a change in personnel or staff absence?
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Use a Systematic Approach to Management
Can you show a picture/diagram of how all your processes within the division interact with each other
to be effective?
How many support processes do you have?
How does management plan for each process?
Are resources sufficient for supporting the services provided?
Is cover available for staff on holiday or absent through illness?
How often is the processes diagram reviewed?
How do you feed stakeholder requirements into your service processes?
Can you show me your service and ancillary processes?
Do all staff in your division have access to your business processes?
How are processes updated?
Is there a documentation control process to ensure version control of your processes?
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Use Facts and Analyse Data in All Decision-Making
Have clear division business risks been established? Does your division have a risk register?
Are there records for each service provided?
Are the records analysed to allow factual decisions to be made regarding performance?
Do you think or feel that the division is doing well?
Do you know that the division is doing well?
Are there regular planning meetings in the division?
Are you allowed to get on with your work as you see fit?
If you encounter a problem, how do you solve it?
Are there records of problems kept by the division?
How does the division make sure that the same problem does not happen more than once?
Are your customers aware of how you decide on priorities for them?
What are your key metrics for measuring business performance?
Do you analyse trend data with a view to improving the service you provide?
Are your customers aware of your key metrics for business performance?
Are key business metrics / trends published?
Do you have a defined management review process?
Are records kept of management meetings?
Are all staff aware of what is discussed at management meetings?
What data is analysed to determine the effectiveness of you quality management system?
What data is analysed to ensure continual improvement?
How do you prioritise activities?
Do you generate any quality-related reports within the division?
Are there any outstanding action items as a result of customer surveys?
How do you know if the data you are measuring is giving you the desired results?
What surveys have you recently conducted? What actions were recorded from the survey outcomes?
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Develop Mutually Beneficial Supplier, Partner and Community Relationships
Do you contract out any of your services?
If the contractor causes a problem, who has to solve it?
How do you select contractors or suppliers?
How often do you meet and discuss performance with your suppliers and contractors?
How do you evaluate the performance of suppliers and contractors?
Do you have records of the performance of suppliers and of meetings held with them?
What benefits are you giving to your suppliers’ and contractors’ businesses?
How do you think your suppliers and contractors view you?
Do you think that your division is seen by others as good to work with?
What plans do you already have to improve your performance as a partner?
How often do you communicate with the campus community?
What areas of discussion would you have with the campus community?
How do you keep the campus community informed of the services you provide?
What (if any) dealings do you have with the local community?
What plans are in place to develop relationships with the local community?
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