ISO-9000 Technical Communicator Opportunities

["Hilary J. Harris" <hilaryh -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

Stephen Schiller wrote:
>Anyone out there writing procedures & policies for
companies striving for ISO-9000 certification?

________Reply________________________________________
Hi, Stephen, (and other T-whirlers)

Yes, think there may be. As the sole contract tw for a
manufacturing firm, I'm wrapping up for their ISO-9001 audit
scheduled this fall. Hope sharing my experiences helps.

Don't know where you're located, but in my area (Raleigh,
NC) it seems that ISO-9000 certification is still in demand
although I'm under the opinion that it's peaked and can be
now located just over the top on the downward side of the
curve (no actual statistics, just personal perception) If
this IS actually true, perhaps it's because many companies
are now certified, or they've decided *not* to be, or
they're pursuing another form of "certification" such as
Baldridge.

Seems some tw's have pursued ISO "lead assessor"
certification. This training is usually available through
sources such as independent training companies, local
colleges and community colleges. Is it worth it? Don't
really know-haven't really looked into any statistics. You
may be able to command more $ with lead assessor
certification-probably depends again on supply and demand,
yes?

My experience with ISO certification preparation includes
two manufacturing firs and one software provider. The latter
was in the beginning stage of process definition.  As the
sole tw for the contract software documentation, I
incorporated ISO-9001 documentation requirements in my work
for them.

The two manufacturing firsm were quite different in terms of
ISO certification preparedness. I was brought in to the
first one during the last six months of preparation.
Basically, for this company it was simply a matter of taking
already documented processes, performing 2 levels of edit
and placing them under ISO-9002 document control. I was
still on board during their certification audit process.
They were awarded certification with a couple minor findings
that required a 3-month follow-up visit.

The 2nd company is another story (still with them until
9/30). This company had *0* processes documented when I
first started (just beginning the ISO effort with little
managment "buy-in" at that time). Creativity was paramount
then. Instead of routine tw activity, be prepared to be a
coach, a psychologist, a facilitator and a graphic artist
[maybe even a con artist at times :)]. Whatever it may take
to get "buy-in" and to get the ball rolling. In my
experience, at times this took what could be called
"creative" writing (fabricating processes), process
brainstorming, rough process mapping (flowcharting) and lots
of interviewing--all to jump-start the thinking process and
spawn ideas. I also found that starting a monthly
company-wide newsletter that included a SHORT piece on each
ISO-9001 section requirement helped (based on the feedback
received). I DO think that this scenario may be atypical for
companies just starting pursuit of ISO certification.

I've worked with this company 14 months now. The
documentation is nearing completion and I can safely say
that management buy-in has MUCH improved (guess that
actually went without saying since it would have to be at
this point!)--shop floor people seem to have a much better
understanding of ISO now and have started to use and "own"
the documentation (you will likely find that the
implementation part of ISO presents one of the biggest
challenges for management-- . . . you can lead the horse to
water, but . . .)

Stephen, hope this helps and good luck!

Any other T-whirlers out there with similar experiences or
comments?  Would like to hear from you through e-mail. :-)

Hilary
e-mail: hilaryh -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com