The management team
The management team is an important part of an organization. It overviews what is happening in the outside world, analyze challenges, and prioritize based on the organization’s goals and vision.
The management team makes decisions and implements the organization’s goals and strategy. It also plays an essential role in learning and developing the organization and is often expected to innovate and drive results.
The management team’s focus is always on the company’s success, which means that every decision should be based on true and credible information about how the business works.
The management team is responsible to the organization’s board and employees, jointly driving the business in the right direction in relation to the organization’s strategy, policies, risks, and goals. The group is comprised of competent people with different knowledge and experience who work together to develop the business.
Much of the management team’s work involves decision-making, and management team meetings are the most often used tool for this.
Management team meetings should be an effective forum where goals, visions, and follow-ups are made in a structured way.
ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 require management to review the organization’s management system at planned intervals to assess its suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness.
Many organizations choose monthly or quarterly management meetings as a practical rhythm. That is a way of working, not an ISO requirement. The ISO requirement is that top management reviews the management system at planned intervals and has enough input to judge whether it remains suitable, adequate, and effective.
At monthly management team meetings, the management team may focus on the following:
- Events in the outside world, for example, linked to customer industries
- Events within the business, such as registered customer comments and deviations with an impact rating of 3 or higher
- Monthly financial statements
- Action plans linked to the organization’s goals
On the other hand, the management review is a special type of management team meeting that must be held at planned intervals, often at least annually in practice.
The management review should cover the topics that show whether the management system is still suitable, adequate, and effective. Business topics such as budget, product development, and marketing can be included, but they do not replace the standards’ review inputs.
An ISO-aligned agenda should normally cover:
- status of actions from previous management reviews
- changes in internal and external issues that affect the management system
- customer feedback, stakeholder requirements, and relevant compliance obligations
- objectives, measurements, and process performance
- environmental performance and fulfilment of compliance obligations when ISO 14001 is included
- occupational health and safety performance, incidents, risks, and worker participation when ISO 45001 is included
- nonconformities, corrective actions, and improvements
- internal and external audit results
- resources, competence, and need for changes
- risks and opportunities
- decisions about improvement, responsibility, and follow-up
Budget, product development, and long-term plans can follow after that part. Then the meeting works both as a management meeting and as an ISO management review that can be shown during an audit.
It is also important for management to review the organization’s management system at planned intervals to assess its suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness. This is done naturally during management team meetings and especially during the management review.