Internal and External Communication

• How does ISO 9001:2015 define internal and external communication?
• How do companies identify internal and external communication?
• What are some common auditing questions about internal and external communication?

What is Internal and External Communication?

Effective internal communication is integral to the success of an organization’s QMS. Conversely, poor communication is likely to lead to increased nonconformities, mismanaged data, and numerous other inefficiencies. 

ISO Clause 7.3 requirements state that “the organization shall determine the internal and external communications relevant to the quality management system.” Organizations must consider what communication they deem relevant. Workers are expected to be aware of the quality policy, quality objectives, the effectiveness of the QMS, and the implications of non-conformance. Internal and external communication helps spread this awareness. Your organization should be able to supply evidence demonstrating it has identified the necessary internal and external communications required for effective QMS implementation.

How Do I Identify Internal and External Communication?

Internal Communication

Internal communication refers to communication within an organization, among employees. 

Some examples of internal communication include:

• Communication of quality objectives and targets to employees
• Communication that would help employees understand roles and expectations
• Training manuals
• Employee evaluations
• Company emails
• Employee feedback for improvement
• Communication that motivates the workforce
• Communication that raises awareness of potential quality issues among staff
• The reporting of nonconformities to relevant personnel
• The reporting of emergencies or abnormal operations to senior management
• Progress charts posted on walls or bulletin boards
• Company newsletters
• Team briefings
• Staff meetings

External Communication

This refers to communication with anyone relevant to an organization that resides outside of the organization. Examples of communication to consider in this category would be other companies working in the same field and serving an organization (e.g. service contractors, maintenance teams, customers, contractors and board members).

One strategy for organizing communication is to use a communication matrix. It’s likely that organizations use many different kinds of internal and external communication on a regular basis. Creating a communication matrix offers a visual of all communication in the organization so that leaders can identify any gaps in communication or repetitive communication tasks. This can be created in a simple spreadsheet.

Some examples of external communication include:

• Addressing customer complaints
• Collecting customer feedback
• Proactively inviting stakeholder input
• Responding to media inquiries, addressing the media when an incident occurs
• Communicating with lawyers
• Communicating with service contractors
• Communicating with board members
• Communicating with solicitors
• Communicating with insurance companies

Organizations can fill out all of the different communication activities they can think of inside the above matrix. This record will help document their flow of information, how often it takes place, and who sends and receives the communication. When requiring communication procedures, it’s helpful to explain the purpose behind each communication so that staff understands the benefit and how it connects to their jobs.

Common Auditing Questions About Internal and External Communication

Do all of my communications need to be documented?

Even though ISO 900:2015 does not require organizations to document their communication plans or mandate communication matrices, it’s nevertheless wise to keep some kind of documentation, especially if it is complex. If there are several different people communicating to different groups of employees in different ways on different subjects, documenting the correspondence will be helpful both for continuous quality management system improvement and future audits.

What are some things an auditor will look at as evidence of structured internal and external communication?

Auditors may look at a variety of different mediums as evidence of organizational internal communication, including:

• Work areas where top management communications with staff
• Company briefings, staff meetings, or recognition meetings
• Bulletin boards
• Email, intranet, or company websites
• In-house newsletters
• Memos or letters
• Meeting notes
• Training manuals

Below are examples of some evidence auditors will examine when assessing an organization’s external communications:

• Advertising
• Company website
• Press releases
• Interviews with the media
• Flyers, pictures, or other media promoting public events
• Social media
• Speaking engagements
• Customer feedback techniques

In order to assess the effectiveness of an organization’s internal and external communication process, an auditor might interview top management or other employees to better understand their perspective on communication and its effectiveness. Employees also may be interviewed to assess their awareness of quality policy, objectives, and overall QMS effectiveness. Auditors may also evaluate the organizations corrective action plans, feedback mechanisms, and training programs.