1. ECOTEC Research & Consulting Managing Quality in EU Programmes James Rampton

2. Overview Consider how ISO 9001 has been introduced to the management of EU programmes as part of a wider organisational commitment to quality assurance Offer advice on introducing simple and robust administrative procedures

3. Introduction to ECOTEC Employer of +250 people Provides research, consulting and programme management services for public clients Manages EU programmes (EQUAL, Grundtvig, Leonardo, Objective 3) Offices in Belgium, Spain, Turkey and UK Challenge to manage quality across wide range of services and locations Accreditation for ISO 9001 (2006) Renewal of ISO 9001 (2007)

4. Background: What is ISO? International Organisation for Standardisation Network of national standards institutes, co-ordinated in Geneva Set up originally to facilitate the unification of industrial standards internationally Now very wide reaching – encourages improved quality across business, government and wider society and environment ISO 9001 - the standard for an organisations internal quality management

5. Why ISO 9001? –Meet development and growth strategy –Improve quality –Promote client-orientated thinking –Consistency in management system –Control over delivery –Meet training and development needs –Improved work practices –ISO9001 (or similar) increasingly a requirement in public procurement –Clients more sophisticated/demanding

6. The process Preparation Application Internal audit External audit Registration and certificate Ongoing surveillance Continuous improvement

7. How? Board commitment from the outset Director responsible for Quality Quality Champion to project manage Quality Management Team Communication strategy to gain support from staff External Consultancy support

8. Benefits Identifies and spreads good practice across different programmes and services Consistent approach across all services Helps win new work / new clients Consistency in processes Clarity of staff roles and responsibilities Boost to morale in achieving standard Encourages staff to think about work processes and how to improve.

9. More benefits Positive feedback from clients Positive feedback from recipients of ESF Positive feedback from staff on completion of tasks Quality Management Team reviews and improves systems Staff development and appraisal system revised Database of information on partners/sub-contractors Asset management database More accurate business management information

10. Conclusions: What to do Treat it as an investment priority Choose an appropriate standard, valued by customers Identify the right person to drive it forward Appoint an expert to interpret ISO 9001 Gain accreditation quickly then keep improving If current systems are compliant set short timescale If not, take time to refine/develop systems Help staff to understand the system Seek to change behaviour Gain accreditation but then continue to improve

11. Conclusions: What not to do Dont change existing systems if they are already compliant Dont be over ambitious – get a good system not a perfect system Dont develop an overly complex system – simple is good! Dont introduce unnecessary bureaucracy Dont lose momentum once certification gained - the standard can be withdrawn.

12. THANKYOU james.rampton@ecotec.com