“So, you think when I have this conversation about their mistakes, they are ignoring me because I lecture them?” Daniele asked.
“No, they are not ignoring you. They are ignoring your entire control system. Your control system is finding the mistakes, but the mistakes are continuing. Is the purpose of your control system to find mistakes or to find the causes for the mistakes and repair the cause?”
“I know. But I have to find the mistakes. And I have a great audit team. They are very thorough. I don’t know what I would do without them. They keep us in compliance,” Daniele stated flatly.
“How does your production team feel about your audit team?”
Daniele visibly changed, sat back and pulled away from her desk. “Well, they are not supposed to like the audit team. I don’t run a popularity contest around here. There is some friction, but I think it is good friction. My production team knows if they make a mistake, my audit team will find it. I think there is respect in that way.”
“Daniele, here are some things I know based on what you describe.
- There are mistakes in your files that your audit team is NOT finding, that will put you out of compliance with the Feds.
- Your production team has no respect for your audit team and is ignoring the results of your audits.
- Some mistakes are being found, but the causes of the mistakes are not being identified.
- Your situation is getting worse.
Hi Tom,
From the short narrative, I had a hard time following your conclusions. It seems these problems could be related to a lack of senior management support, poor line management, a poor performance measurement system, mistrust or a lack of respect between production and audit units, a weak system to remedy deficiencies and/or all of the above. Are we looking at a complete system breakdown in this case?
My particular interest is management efficiency.
Hi, Craig,
Yes, I believe your sense of a complete system breakdown is pretty close to the truth in this situation. Remember that I have changed the names to protect the guilty. Next week, we will work toward a solution. -Tom Foster
I go back to an earlier question “What does Daniele do after she assigns the work”?