One exercise we recommend is to establish objectives that are S.M.A.R.T. and then driving them down through each layer of your organization to the individual employee on the shop floor or office desk.

S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Here’s the scoop:

Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W questions:

Who:	Who is involved?
What:	What do I want to accomplish?
Where:	Identify a location.
When:	Establish a time frame.
Which:	Identify requirements and constraints.
Why:	Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

EXAMPLE: A general goal (Objective) would be On Time Delivery, but a specific goal would say, "To provide 90% OTD…"

Measurable: Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.

When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as:

• How much? How many?
• How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable: When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

Realistic: To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.

A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.

Timely: A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1", then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

T can also stand for Tangible: A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing.

When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

 
Are you creating S.M.A.R.T. goals?

We can help. Check out our course calendar and get smarter today!

Ah, springtime.

For some it’s a trip to the attic to sort out web-ensnarled boxes. For others, it’s a fresh start in the garden. For companies everywhere it’s time to take stock of their objectives – and fine-tune procedures and standards for a more productive and profitable rest of the year.

Spring is a great time to evaluate, monitor and change your management standards and, well, plant the seeds for future success. Fortunately, D’Ardenne Associates has the tools you need to harvest efficiencies. (OK, we promise to stop the corny puns.)

From hot topics such as energy management, aerospace and business continuity to proven courses in environmental management, occupational health and safety and auditing, D’Ardenne Associates has you covered with timely and high-quality courses for any need.

Check out our course calendar and sign up for some seasonal sprucing. But leave the gardening gloves outside the classroom.

We’re also a modest bunch, so for this blog instead of telling you about what we can do for you, some clients have offered to do that for us:

“D´Ardenne Associates instructed and guided us on every aspect of the ISO 9000 certification program. Roy helped us establish documentation, trained our staff and internal auditors, helped us select a registrar, and ensured that we obtained our certification. They did such a great job of establishing our ISO program and training our staff that we rarely receive non-conformances during external audits.”

— Chris Ott, Executive Director of IT and Government Compliance, DALB, Kearneysville, W.V.

And here’s a testimonial for Sue Snyder:

“I enjoyed the AS9100 lead auditor course you taught in Dallas. Something I learned in the course has come to mind nearly every work day since then and I frequently reference the course materials. I have fond memories of that week — I really like your teaching style and appreciated the participation of fellow students. There are so many educational/training requirements that are goofy and it is PAINFUL to sit through them — this course was definitely a diamond in the rough, largely because of you.”

You can read more from our clients here and here.

Financial institutions, manufacturers, emergency service agencies and select others have been addressing this question for decades, but as our world becomes a more volatile place, companies around the globe are wondering: What if?

The business continuity industry is still relatively young. Only a few universities offer degrees in the field, and most professionals have learned business continuity while putting out a fire, debugging a software glitch or getting a colleague out of a sticky situation. As you consider developing a business continuity plan, here are five things you should consider:

1. Find out who’s in charge – and who cares. Who wants this plan? Is your company ticking a box to fulfill a requirement? Are your senior executives invested in the plan? Ultimately, they’re responsible for the company, so they should be invested. Make sure you have their buy-in first.
    
2. Be flexible. “Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower. Those of you who’ve ever planned a surprise birthday party know how tenuous plans can be. Constantly ask yourself: what&nsp;if?
    
3. Make sure the right people are involved. Unless you operate a very small company with one or two simple processes, you’ll need to engage with knowledgeable people throughout the organization.
    
4. Plan for everything, but don’t plan for everything. This may seem obvious, but it is truly impossible to plan for everything. And yet, your companies might just want you to do that. Develop an all-hazards approach to responding to an incident, but also develop a few specific plans for incidents you are likely to face.
    
5. Practice. It isn’t sufficient for a plan to sit dormant on your colleagues’ bookshelves. It needs to be tested; your people need to exercise it. It needs to be internalized so that it serves merely as a reference when the bomb goes off or the power is cut.

Business continuity planning is a multifaceted process. It is not, however, rocket science. Common sense prevails, but different industries face different needs. Heed the advice above and your team will know what to do when the sky is falling.

D’Ardenne Associates offers training and consulting services based on BS25999, the British Standard for business continuity. Chris Turnbull is a certified Business Continuity professional and for six years was the Senior Business Continuity Officer for Global Operations at the World Bank. He has worked with individuals in more than 30 countries to plan for, respond to and recover from business interruptions. He has personally responded to scores of incidents around the globe.

So if you’re thinking “what if?” think of D’Ardenne Associates.

This highly regulated and competitive environment demands uniform standards at all stages of the supply chain. In fact, major aerospace manufacturers and suppliers worldwide require compliance and/or registration to AS9100 as a condition of doing business with them.

The industry certainly takes notice when those standards change. That’s certainly the case with AS9100, which was primarily developed for the aviation, space and defense industry, but can also be used in other businesses to improve quality, schedule and cost performance.

An updated standard – AS9100C – went into effect last year. Among the changes, 9100C:

• Incorporates ISO 9001:2008 changes
• Expands scope to include land- and sea-based systems for defense applications
• Ensures alignment with IAQG strategy (on-time, on-quality performance)
• Adopts new requirements based on stakeholder needs
• Improves existing requirements

One key focus of AS9100C is meeting customer delivery and/or quality indicators. Customer focus is critical to Revision C, and we encourage all AS9100-registered companies to take a hard look at this requirement.

We can help. Our Sue Snyder is gaining a national reputation for AS9100 training and audits, and she’d be happy to help you decipher the changes.

While you’re at it, make plans to sign up for our AS9100C Lead Auditor class in April. Register here.

ISO 9000, of course, is a well-established international standard for quality management systems for all kinds of companies in nearly every industry. Six Sigma, meanwhile, is a methodology for process improvement made popular by its adaption at global giants like GE and Motorola.

And yet, taken together, these hallmarks of effective management can make quite an impact on a company’s bottom line.

Here’s a great article that explains just this. To quote:

“Six Sigma and ISO 9000 can be highly complementary. Unfortunately, the two concepts often are driven by different project leaders, competing for resources and therefore not delivering the best results. There is, however, a way to combine the power of both concepts to add value to a company.”

One of the major differences between both systems is that ISO 9000 provides a structure of requirements without any tools whereas Six Sigma is a methodology connecting tools and procedures to apply tools.

It’s no longer efficient to have a quality management system and process improvement approach existing side-by-side without any integration. As the authors in the referenced article put it, “Aligning ISO 9000 and Six Sigma can help improve the credibility of the ISO 9000 quality management system and the sustainability of the Six Sigma initiative at the same time. It can save resources and investments; and it enriches the way to manage the business.”

That’s why D’Ardenne Associates is now offering Six Sigma training. Led by associate Becky Kates, we’re now training employees at all levels how to improve productivity and achieve White Belt, Green Belt and Black Belt certification.

So go ahead. Harness the power of both ISO and Six Sigma. Check out our course calendar and register today.

One item on your holiday wish list ought to be elevating your company to world-class standards through ISO certification. Over the past few months we’ve featured a few examples of how having the right processes and procedures in place can boost bottom lines. Here are some highlights:

• Escort Data Loggers, Inc. designs and manufactures the most technically advanced and reliable self-powered data loggers in the world. The company’s products ensure the safe transport of perishable items for the food, life science, medical and other industries. The company became ISO 9001:2008 certified to help it successfully compete in the crowded global marketplace. The result? New clients attracted to its quality-focused, structured operations.

• Adaptive Technologies Inc. is a research and development company that tackles problems associated with noise control, hearing protection and signal processing. The company reduced the number of procedures it had to maintain by a third, reduced the quality manual by almost 70 percent and improved the way the company measures its goals, saving time and money.

• The Virginia Utility Protection Service, known as Miss Utility of Virginia, is a not-for-profit organization created by Virginia’s utilities to protect their underground facilities. VUPS is pursuing ISO certification to provide the structure for world-class continual improvement that will drive efficiencies and provide even better customer service.

Check out their stories here, then make your own resolution to get serious about reaching your fullest potential.

Review our course calendar then contact us today. One less thing to worry about this holiday season.

But standards also apply when protecting your business from risk. The same processes and procedures that support, say, efficient production, apply to developing an effective response to unknowns — the nasty things that can happen to a business, including fire, theft, vandalism, earthquakes, floods, pandemic illnesses and more.

In other words, the kind of stuff that can keep you up at night.

Business continuity planning touches on numerous ISO categories, including aerospace, environmental management, information technology service management and information security. Business continuity also has its own certification, BS 25999.

BS 25999 consists of two parts. The first seeks to establish processes, principles and terminology for business continuity management. The second, “BS 25999-2:2007, specifies requirements for implementing, operating and improving a documented Business Continuity Management System (BCMS), describing only requirements that can be objectively and independently audited.”

In short, incorporating business continuity into your management standards prepares you to better continue operating under adverse conditions. Any event that could impact your company should be considered, such as supply chain interruption, loss of or damage to critical infrastructure (major machinery or computing/network resource) and loss of key personnel.

Learn more about our upcoming BS25999 course, then contact us to learn more about reducing your risks and planning for the worst. The old cliché really is true — hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Where to start? One important step is third-party certification – having an independent expert ensure that your organization is taking the right steps to achieve ISO standards.

There are five basic steps to certification (also known as registration):

• Application
• Initial or preliminary assessment/document review
• Certification assessment
• Certification
• Certification maintenance.

Each step depends on the success of the others. That’s why an independent third party – with expertise in the latest ISO standards and how to achieve them – is a key to your ISO success.

Unlike internal audits, the certification body cannot provide substantive guidance on how to achieve conformity. But this third party should facilitate observations and discussions to guide you through the process.

Consider it a trusted advisor on your road to certification success.

Not sure of your next steps? Take a look at our services, then contact us.

We’ll help you realize the many benefits of ISO registration to help you make the most of management.

That’s why there’s a system designed exclusively for the aerospace industry, AS 9100.

AS 9100 is an international collaborative effort to create a fully robust and standardized quality management system specific to the aerospace industry. The standard is based on key aspects such as airworthiness, safety, reliability and product conformity.

If you’re in the aerospace industry, working in anything from design and manufacturing to maintenance and parts distribution, becoming AS 9100 compliant enables you to:

• Improve your management system processes so you can attain high-level output to meet your customers’ expectations.
• Monitor business processes more efficiently so that management can eliminate inefficiencies, optimize resources and make continual improvements.
• Ensure your products and services have a consistently high level of quality, safety and reliability to minimize costs and grow market share.

We’re thrilled to have on our team Sue Snyder, whose 15 years of extensive experience in aviation includes leadership in development, implementation, maintenance and auditing of business management systems.

Our October course, AS 9100C:Lead Auditor teaches the principles and practices of effective quality management systems for aerospace.

Now’s your chance to lead your company to the same high-level standards as the global aerospace industry.