Benefits of Virtual Internal Audits
When people think about virtual audits, the truth is that most of them think and consider the disadvantages of it and there is no space to mention the benefits. You might be thinking that the “only” benefit from this option to conduct your internal audits is that you and every member of the team can stay home and relax. However, this is only half-true and several other benefits appear when you start researching a bit more about Virtual Internal Audits and how you can conduct them.
But before that, are you aware of the benefits of on-site internal audits? If you are, you will notice that most of them can be considered to be part of the virtual ones, except the fact that you won’t be able to discuss the issues or problems with your team right next to you. Now, is this last part really a disadvantage or a problem when it comes to virtual ones?
When companies and particulars ask us about the pros and this “problem” in particular, in reality, we don’t consider it to be an issue. There is no need to conduct a meeting every day or every hour when in your office or company.
Actually, we consider this to be a distraction for your duties and it makes the task of conducting and planning the audit program more difficult. Let’s be honest, there are many distractions in an office and you tend to chat or have conversations with your co-workers.
Also, every noise can be a problem when you are trying to read all the documentation that needs to be reviewed during the audit.
Now, companies can differ with us when it comes to admitting that giving their auditors and experts the chance to conduct the audit virtually is an advantage.
After all, it is considered to be more distracting the fact of staying at home or in a different place. When we rather think that being in a better and more relaxing environment can be more suitable for such an extensive and tedious job.
Should you conduct Virtual Internal Audits?
This is a question you need to answer yourself if you want to find more benefits from it. It sounds a bit confusing and weird since many companies determine if they want this option or not based on the benefits of it. But some elements and aspects depend on your needs and what is the best option for your company in particular.
You also need to consider the current situation of the country—and world—. Due to this pandemic, many companies continue operating remotely and try to conduct every operation and activity with the technology available. Virtual Internal Audits started to be ten times more popular and necessary for the same reason, and mostly because they need to be conducted more often than what most companies believe.
This takes us to another benefit: you can keep your social distance. Since all your workers and experts can share documents and information safely and without sharing it with other individuals due to certain parameters and limitations you can set, there is no need to struggle with the need of exchanging papers.
Instead, they can upload whenever they want, need to and from the place they are right now. It is simple and if you need to think about it, consider that it is much faster than the usual exchange of information. When companies think about this and the problem with keeping the documents and information private, we always remember them something: you can choose who gets access to it and who can share it.
There are many ways to control the influx of information and confidentiality will always be respected as long as your company has a security and privacy policy.
Major benefits of Virtual Internal Audits
We already mentioned that saving money is part of the benefits you will enjoy the most. However, we didn’t mention what you will be saving money. After all, the main part where companies want to avoid investing so many resources is in training their experts or future ones. This is only a part of the elements you need to consider when it comes to investing money.
Another one that is included and you won’t have to deal with when conducting virtual audits is having to deal with logistics. You don’t have to book rooms, clean them when the meeting is over nor spent resources in providing everyone with food and different materials. It isn’t about being stingy, but these expenses usually add to others and you end up spending more money in these aspects than anything else.
The list of benefits is longer than it seems when you start writing down every pro and con. We highly recommend you to do this if you are thinking about conducting the virtual audit not only for the pandemic but rather as common action. To continue with the major ones, here is a list with some of them:
– Your audit team will be more efficient: they will feel more comfortable, relaxed, at peace, and believe it or not, with fewer distractions.
We already mentioned a few of this, but when you think about the efficiency overall, you have to include several aspects and elements such as the time they have available for their work.
Most workers that take their work to their house end up working more hours or just the necessary ones, but the efficiency and even productiveness increase at least 20%.
– You and your team won’t have to spend time traveling to the office: this is precious time that could be invested in the audit itself.
Besides, resting more isn’t a bad option either and will lead your team and company to the previous benefit.
Now, just keep in mind that although Virtual Internal Audits have many benefits, you still need to worry about the ISO standards you need to implement. Don’t forget about them, keep the pros in mind instead of the cons only, and you will notice the difference in conducting onsite audits and virtual ones.