Choosing a QMS that’s right for your organisation starts with an understanding of what you need the QMS to do. This can be easily identified by answering two questions.
What problem(s) are you trying to solve?
Jot down the key things that aren’t working well when it comes to managing quality, risk and compliance across the organisation. Some common issues include:
- No control over documents, with multiple versions of policies and procedures saved to different locations on the shared drive, or on team members’ desktops;
- No easy way to track what has to be done, particularly in relation to contracts;
- Onboarding new staff is complex, time-consuming and ineffective;
- Systems for reporting of adverse events are decentralised, making it impossible to use this data to identify improvements;
- Locating the evidence required for external audits is difficult and time consuming.
These are complex processes and, in many instances, the solution requires an organisation-wide approach. Most technology-based platforms used within organisations are designed for individual business areas. For instance, a CMS (client management system), which is used by those who provide front-end services or an FMS (financial management system), which is used by the finance team.
However, choosing an enterprise-wide system requires you to consider what the needs are of all business areas, not just a single team. And because the system is technology-based, there is the added complexity of considering the varying levels of technology literacy across the entire organisation. In introducing an enterprise-wide system, you want to start from the position that no one will be left behind. This includes having access to training and support services throughout your organisation’s QMS journey – not just at the outset.
What management processes are important to your organisation?
Once you’ve narrowed down the options that can solve your core problems, the second question to answer is: ’What management processes are important to your organisation?’. Many Quality Management Systems have the functionality to support key processes relevant to an organisation’s management model. In choosing the right QMS for your organisation, consideration needs to be given to which processes you need, as well as how these processes will be managed by the system. For example, how will the system:
- Support a team culture
- Support managers to manage
- Manage delegation of tasks
- Support accountability and transparency
- Reward staff for reporting and remind them when tasks are overdue
- Monitor performance at an individual, team, program and organisation level
- Analyse and make sense of the data to inform business critical decisions
Finding the right solution that works for your organisation can be a challenge. But having a clear understanding of what problems you need to solve, and how a QMS can support and enhance current management processes, is a great place to start.
Interested in seeing if LogiqcQMS could be the right choice for your organisation? Get in touch to arrange a free demonstration.
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