Fact Sheet Process
My Director gave us the Fact Sheet process in 2012 and our team has refined it to great success over the years. This is how we reduce management pushback and ensure our recommendations are accepted.
The central idea is that we work to collaborate with management starting in the field work, rather than us issuing a draft report after the field work has been completed. Issues are dealt with quickly, and any management concerns are dealt with straight away. There is time to re-do the fieldwork if necessary.
You should be familiar with the 5Cs (Criteria, Condition, Cause, Consequence, Correction). In the fieldwork you will have Findings where the Condition does not match the Criteria. As soon as you have a Finding, set up the meeting with the auditee.
The Fact Sheet process builds on the 5Cs framework. Auditors can complete the Criteria, Condition, and Consequence before the meeting. It is crucial to work with management during the meeting to establish the Cause, and from the real root cause you can together agree on the best Correction.
The FREE PDF shows an example of the Fact Sheet before and after the meeting. When you take the Audit Findings That Land course, we cover the Fact Sheet process in more detail. This offer includes the 8 minute video that describes how to use the Fact Sheets (chapter 3 of this course).