Q: "ISO 9001:2000 section 5.6.1 requires management review be performed at, 'planned intervals.' It gives no details regarding how frequently we must perform management review. How often should we perform management review, and what should we consider when determining an appropriate frequency?"

Jim Dwigans of Texas QMS, LP: "A Management Review should be performed at the minimum of annually. This is management's way of communication to his staff the company's objectives and goals, improvements (not just system), and also a chance to document other issues that he feels are important to his companies growth. If a company undergoes major changes, I feel that another management review is appropriate before the annual one."

Andy Foss of Foss Quality Services, Inc. (www.fossqs.com): "Most companies have formal meetings monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually. I think that anything less often than quarterly will have little positive effect, as the information will mostly be old news by the time it is reviewed. Realistically, no company can go more than a month without looking at the key indicators of their organization's performance.

I recommend that management review be two levels:
1. A combination of weekly or monthly status reviews to review performance against objectives, as well as customer feedback, and;
2. Quarterly reviews of other aspects of the quality system, such as audits and preventive action.

The combination of these reviews should meet section 5.6 of ISO 9001. Be sure to keep records of both. I also recommend an ongoing action list to provide tracking and continuity between meetings."

Richard B. Stump of Consultants in Quality Inc. (http://hometown.aol.com/stumprb/myhomepage/business.html): "In the beginning, many companies implementing their newly earned ISO 9001 registration typically conduct a management review meeting every quarter or at least every four months. This is due to having many new activities to perform and ensure the QMS is functioning properly. After the first year of registration the companies move to a yearly basis for their management reviews, as they are much more comfortable with their new tasks and can take the longer look at the impact of the results on their company."

Patrick Hughes of Quality Consultant Management Services (www.pathug.com): "This issue involves two factors. First, can the members intelligently discuss things that happened ____ months ago; and secondly, how long can your system remain defective before the Management Review gets around to diagnosing it? Although this varies from company to company, I have found that a year is too long and monthly is too frequent. I advise all clients to conduct a quarterly or semi-annual review. This allows enough time to accumulate some meaningful data to analyze for patterns and trends without overreacting to isolated cases, while happening frequently enough to keep the system 'calibrated'."

Praveen Gupta of Accelper Consulting (www.accelper.com): "Purpose of the management review is to determine effectiveness of quality management system, and identify areas for improvement. The effectiveness is measured in terms of achieving business objectives. Thus, the frequency of management reviews must be linked to business operations review, which is performed every month. Quality is not a once per year activity, instead it is a stateof mind and continual activity. The more management is engaged in the quality management system, the better its performance be.

Thus, the monthly review of QMS can be linked to financial performance, which will be an incentive for senior management to take an active interest.

Art Fitch of Arrow Associates: "At a minimum, the frequency of management review meeings should be dynamic and based on:

1) Maturity of the system
2) Complexity of the system
3) Stability of the system
4) Experience and status of the system
5) Degree of involvement of top managhement in every day operations relating to the system.

Initially deciding that reviews should be always held once per quarter, twice a year, once a month, or once a year, and considering those decisions to be cast in concerete is foolhardy. The best arrangement is to identify how specific topics can be integratated with normal business meetings and reviews and reviewing certain items concurrent wth normal operations reviews. That will keep the Management Review meetings from becoming a boring review of 'old news' of which management will soon (rightfully) tire.

Ron Sedlock of The Quality Catalyst (www.thequalitycatalyst.com): "ISO 9001:2000 requires an effective Quality Management System (QMS). Since management review is key element of your QMS you need to consider what interval would make management review most effective. I recommend to clients they consider a planned 'variable' interval in the beginning. Depending on the results of a management review will often determine when the next management review should take place. In other words, based on how effective your QMS is will increase or decrease the frequency. Eventually, the ideal interval will become evident."

Al Kitlica of Quality Applications, Inc. (www.qualityapplications.com): "There is no set rule or specific required frequency for Management Reviews in ISO 9001:2000. Ultimately, any organization that attempts to become ISO certified or to maintain ISO certification must consider the overall Corrective Action process infrasturcture within their organization. Are there lower level "Corrective Action loops" designed to expediciously and effectively solve problems? Are these effective on an on-going basis? Organizations that clearly have an overall structure to solve problems along with a mature Quality Management System can reduce Management Review frequency,if they so choose.

For most of our clients, we initially recommend that Management Reviews occur once per quarter, again, provided that lower level corrective action loops are in place and functional. Some of these lower level corrective action loops include processes such as: ISO Steering Committee meetings; Quality Meetings; Corrective Action Board meetings (CAB); Material Review Board meetings (MRB); Supplier Review Board meetings (SRB); Customer Service Department activities (complaint resolution); Opportunities For Improvement meetings (OFI's); Process Improvement Team activities; etc.

Cultural aspects for the organization also come into play along with the overall purpose of the Management Review process. Some organizations literally use their Management Review meeting as a "town hall quality meeting". A meeting that summarizes the progress of all corrective and preventive action loops along with objectives and metrics, but most importantly, one that allows dialogue with well-targetted corrective actions stemming from the meeting. In cases like these, it is not likely that the organization will ever reduce its Management Review frequency. This is because the organization has embedded Management Review into the fabric of their culture and their employees have become dependent upon the information disseminated at such meetings. Regardless of how effective lower level corrective action loops may be, the benefits of communicating accross the organization are significant. This is one clear way to ensure "unity of purpose" within the organization.

When employees receive accurate and genuine information about their Quality Management System, a significant "buy-in" occurs. With our clients, we set up a Management Review infrastructure that is comprised of two layers of reviews. First, the top Management Review is conducted for Managers and Supervisors, as appropriate, and second, a synopsis of such reviews is presented at Team Meetings or in a formal shop-level review.

Again, wonderful things can and do occur within organizations that embrace the benefits of a comprehensive Management Review process. Conducting informative Management Reviews is a key Leadership activity for the management of any organization.