How to conduct a management review

As part of the paperwork for ISO 9001 certification businesses must complete management reviews at least once per year. Management reviews involve reviewing comments, making improvements, keeping track of corrective actions, ensuring that changes are monitored, reported, and evaluated, and assessing the overall performance of the quality management system. Management reviews should include a member of the top management team that is happy to act as the management system lead.

Why are management reviews important?

Here we explore why management reviews are important and why businesses should perform them:

It gives businesses the opportunity to assess the performance of their quality management system.
It determines whether there is need for improvement and/or change and provides the opportunity to make suggestions for improvement.
It determines whether the business objectives and policies are appropriate.

We recommend that all our client complete at least one management review annually to assess the quality management system’s ongoing suitability, sufficiency, and effectiveness.

As part of our post certification support, we assist and perform management reviews for our clients. These are carried out approximately 2 months ahead of client surveillances by actual auditors who have skill sets of the standards clients have attained.

The management review process serves as a framework for identifying and allocating the resources required to set up and maintain the quality management system, enhance its performance over time, and better satisfy customer needs.

At the review meeting, top management can decide what adjustments, if any, are required to ensure the management system will continue to function effectively by taking into account each element of the system.

Setting and achieving quality objectives

Another part of our post certification support, is working with clients to develop SMART quality objectives and a professional risk matrix that aligns to those objectives.

The progress towards the quality objectives set throughout the review period is thoroughly evaluated as part of our process. Achieved objectives can either be closed out to free resources for improvement in other areas or upgraded to a higher performance level.

When objectives are not met on schedule, a review is conducted to investigate the situation and find out what went wrong. In order to accomplish the quality policy or other organisational goals or aspirations, it may be necessary to set new targets in areas where performance or the quality system needs to be improved. We can support with this process and show clients how to make a record of objectives not achieved and steps taken for the following operational period.

All details are recorded in management meeting review notes under the relevant section of the agenda.

The management review agenda

A management review meeting agenda should include:

Risk and opportunities.
External supplier performance.
Customer satisfaction level.
Changes affecting the system.
The audit results.

The ISO 9001:2015 Clause 9.3.2 subparagraphs offer a model for a standing agenda for management reviews that should be modified to fit the quality management system; these are described in more detail below. To enable management to complete this evaluation effectively, the management review process must make sure that the essential data is gathered in advance.

In order to assess any observable trends or patterns that could possibly result in a nonconformity happening, the analysis and evaluation results (Clause 9.1.3) should be made accessible to top management for their examination. Compliant also provides an audit proof nonconformity log that records any non-conformities, opportunities for improvement, notes with actions from internal audits and or issues arising from customers or suppliers.

Considerations for the agenda items include effectiveness, efficiency, conformance, feasibility assessments, customer satisfaction, performance against maintenance objectives, warranty performance, examination of customer scorecards, and the identification of potential failures through risk analysis. Clients who partner with Compliant and opt for post certification support will be guided through this list during their management reviews.

We recommend that a monitoring system be put in place with parameters that prompt management review actions to ensure they are completed.

Example template of a management review

Agenda	Outcomes
Follow up actions from previous management review
Evaluation of compliance with legal and other requirements
Results of participation and consultation
Quality management system performance and objectives progress
Review feedback / problems / complaints which affect the Quality management system both internal and external
Incident investigation, status of preventive and corrective action.
Internal Audit results
Changes that could affect the Quality management system
Recommendations for improvements to the Quality management system
Any other business

Getting started with Compliant

As part of our management review process, we walk clients through each of the steps above and can supply proven templates if required to ensure audit success. Show your commitment to quality management, the environment or occupational health & safety performance with a UKAS certified ISO certification from Compliant.