Excellence Beyond Compliance

5

Documentation, the Big Picture

Good documentation is at the core of an effective quality management system (QMS); it is a good place to begin.

The actions of people are ultimately what decide whether a QMS accomplishes its goals, and those actions depend upon documentation that is understandable and straightforward. People want to do the right thing, but if they have to struggle to figure out what they are supposed to do, they will lose patience and do whatever seems sensible (which may or may not correspond with the documentation).

An ongoing effort will be needed to keep the number of procedures at a minimum and to ensure that the same subject matter is not addressed by multiple procedures. As problems arise, possibly identified by internal ...