One of the most common non-conformities that I see when auditing against the GDP Guidelines (or, in a previous life as an ISO auditor) is the lack of documented management when it comes to change. Of course businesses need to be flexible and move within quickly changing environments, but the success of the change and the benefit of the change is reliant on how well the change was planned, risk assessed and managed. A badly managed or reactionary change could result in negative financial, business or regulatory outcome.
Often, when asking an organisation what they could have done better when implementing a change, the answer is nearly always ‘we would have planned it better’.
So, how could you avoid the pitfalls that can be encountered?
Dos:
- Apply the Plan, Do, Check, Act approach and keep communication open
- Demonstrate Management structure and commitment
- Communicate with all relevant personnel, explain the reason for the change and your expectations, giving clear instructions and dead-lines.
- Ensure that there are sufficient resources available (time & finance)
Don’ts:
- Make changes as a result of snap decision making
- Inconsistent management
- Incomplete or no communication with personnel
- provision of insufficient resources (time & finance)
The outcome of the above four don’ts can be:
- Lack of time for reflection, planning and learning
- Additional pressure with no improvement to the business
- Increasing need to do something else
- Increasing failure and unplanned consequences
Where changes are not planned, the risks presented by the change can outweigh the benefits. The old saying of ‘a stitch in time, saves nine’ is particularly relevant when implementing changes.
If you would like more information or would like to speak to a PCL representative, please contact our office on 01252 302 342.