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This guide walks you through what a management review is, its importance, its key inputs and outputs, the overall process, and some frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Published 24 Nov 2022 | By Tiffany Argent, Patricia Guevara
A management review is a regular evaluation of the performance of management systems based on their purpose and goal, as well as whether they are producing desirable results aligned with the organization’s needs. Often, an organization’s top management conducts management reviews to continuously improve processes and standards toward proactively addressing concerns and issues.
While management review meetings aren’t part of the requirements of running a management system certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), companies’ top management teams still have to conduct management reviews. This is because they are an essential component of completing and following the compliance requirements in the management system performance evaluation set out by the certification standard.
Commonly, a management review is used to assess an organization’s Quality Management System (QMS). This is in preparation for when a company or business applies for and maintains compliance with an ISO certification, specifically the QMS standard called ISO 9001. In fact, Clause 9 of the ISO 9001 standard outlines the requirements for a management review, especially its necessary inputs and outputs.
Apart from the quality management review, other management systems that also require conducting management reviews are the following:
It’s also worth noting that management reviews play a significant role in an organization’s collective efforts toward continuous improvement. Reviewing the standards and guidelines set out in the management system helps leaders and point persons address areas to be corrected or improved so they can be aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives.
A management review, being part of the requirements of an ISO-certified management system, has specific inputs and outputs that must be taken into account by the top management. The inputs are key elements in such a way that these serve as the basis for the review to be conducted. The outputs, on the other hand, are the items or steps to be taken as a follow-up from the management review.
In detail, the following are the specific inputs and outputs of a management review:
Management Review Process
Conducting management reviews can become time-consuming and seemingly complicated. Without an established process and guidelines to help make it practical, the results may fail to satisfy the management system’s goals and objectives.
That said, it’s crucial to understand and implement the overall management review procedure, which involves 3 critical stages:
Establish a clear agenda for the review to be conducted. It’s also best to set out a feasible schedule and make sure to let everyone required to attend the meeting know the specifics of the review.
Preparation is key in ensuring that such reviews are going to be practical and well-thought-out. During the first stage, gather insights and data that represent actual results of how your organization’s management systems are performing. Depending on the format that’ll best demonstrate and summarize such data, collect reports from respective departments or point persons to prepare for presentation during the review meeting. These can then serve as guiding documents for discussion and evaluation.
Some guide questions to ask while collating insights and data include the following:
As a requirement of an ISO-certified management system, the discussions, evaluations, and results from management reviews must be well-documented. This is where the management review outputs come into play. The most common ones include the minutes of the review meeting, the recommended next steps, and key resource needs to carry out the goals and objectives of the improvement plan.
The plan must now include the following and more, depending on the discussion:
Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.
Using a management review template also helps guide the management team and other leaders on how to conduct a management review meeting. The template form can make the process of documenting the minutes of the review meeting more efficient while recording the discussion points and analysis results during the review proper. To help you better visualize what it looks like, here’s an example that you can use in SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor):
Management Review Template | SafetyCulture
Reviewing the performance of management systems doesn’t stop at documenting the required inputs and outputs. It’s also important to set up a process of monitoring, reporting, and following up on the status and progress of the action plan.
As a management best practice, make sure to establish a culture of accountability and ownership so that each aspect of the improvement actions needing to be implemented are continuously being worked on and monitored. With this, having Objective Key Results (OKRs) in place can help in objectively measuring the success of every action item. Lastly, ensure that there’s an agreed-upon schedule of the succeeding reviews and/or follow-up review meetings to be conducted.
Internal audits are often conducted by qualified or certified internal auditors with the purpose of assessing if the organization’s current processes and practices are aligned with the fulfillment of the ISO standard’s requirements. Management reviews, on the other hand, are held by the top management to gauge how well the management system is performing based on the desired results of the objectives.
Both offer the chance for organizations to explore the performance of their current management systems, pinpoint areas for improvement, and proactively address issues for continuous improvement.
An organization’s systems and processes are required to be reviewed by top management, including business leaders, and quality managers. Hence, they must be present during the regularly conducted reviews. Also, depending on the type of management system being reviewed, other members of the organization can attend to align the objectives and goals better.
As part of an organization’s efforts toward continuous improvement, being able to evaluate and enhance the way its management systems work should be a regular component of the business’s overall strategies. Hence, management reviews are encouraged to be conducted at planned intervals: quarterly, bi-annually, or annually.
A management review meeting (MRM) is a formal session with the main purpose of discussing and recording the evaluation results of reviewing an organization’s management system. Even if it isn’t required in earning an ISO certification from a third party, an MRM is a key component of helping top management teams efficiently document the inputs and outputs from the review.
SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is a mobile-first operations platform that empowers companies, businesses, management leaders, and quality managers to ensure more efficient and practical management reviews by leveraging powerful features such as the following:
Tiffany Argent
Tiffany is the Head of Customer QSHE Services at SafetyCulture, a chartered member of IOSH and an IOSH mentor with 17 years of health and safety management experience in freight forwarding, warehouse operations, science and manufacturing.
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