Over the last few weeks, the industry of third-party assessing has adopted a process of working from home. I
have been safely working from home, conducting remote audits, for four weeks now. Here are some of my
experiences so far and hopefully some tips for a better workflow!
1. Make use of web meeting applications such as: Teams, Skype, Google Hangouts and Zoom, which I
have found to work effectively. Teams and Hangouts have also been used for screen sharing.
2. Document sharing software such as Dropbox for Business, one-drive and google drive are great for
sending large files.
3. It has not been practical to conduct web meetings for the whole duration of the audit, so making sure
breaks are programmed into the audit has helped. Following the meetings, it is important that I provide
clear audit plans, submitted in a timely manner, with a follow-up call.
4. It may seem obvious but read and digest the guidance being provided by the Certification Bodies,
there are new processes that need to be adopted!
5. Having a dedicated office remote from the rest of the house has been a bonus!
