Conducting the audit: opening meeting, interviewing, sampling and evidence gathering
Opening meeting
The opening meeting confirms the plan, scope, criteria and schedule, introduces the team, explains methods and sampling, sets communication channels, covers confidentiality, health and safety, and makes clear that findings are reviewed as the audit proceeds and confirmed at the closing meeting. It is a short, professional exchange - not a place to begin auditing in detail.
Evidence gathering
Collect evidence by interview, observation and examination of records, then verify it by triangulation: if the same fact is supported by what people say, what you see and what the records show, it is solid. If the three disagree, keep digging.
Interviewing technique: open questions to open a topic (what happens, how do you know), closed questions to confirm, no leading questions. Listen actively, take dated notes of who said what and where the record was seen, and always confirm your understanding of an apparent issue with the process owner before writing it up.
Sampling is unavoidable: choose representative, risk-based samples, explain the sampling approach, and state clearly that an audit samples rather than exhaustively verifies.
Traps
- Prescribing solutions - that is consultancy and a threat to impartiality; describing an observation is acceptable.
- Accepting hearsay or "we always do it that way" without verification.
- Arguing with the auditee; or hiding findings until the closing meeting.
- Mechanically working through every clause instead of following the trail.
Rule of thumb: never record a finding you cannot trace to evidence you personally verified, and never let a checklist stop you following a trail.