An audit system manager recently told me that it was relatively easy to identify quality auditors who had good technical skills for collecting and evaluating data. What was really hard was to find auditors with good people skills (perhaps auditors need to go to charm school). Even though an auditor is not trying to win a popularity contest, the impressions that the auditor makes with auditee management, interviewees, and escorts can influence the audit and its effectiveness.

The moment an auditor makes contact with the auditee, he or she is making an impression. This true for both onsite audits as well as remote eAudits. The impression the auditor makes is a reflection of the auditee’s expectations based on prior contact with the audit organization, the auditee’s organizational culture, and each auditee’s background and experiences. The auditor has no way of knowing these things unless he or she does some investigating.

The auditor could start by asking the audit program manager and/or audit client what prior contacts have been made with the auditee organization and what was discussed. This could provide a wealth of background information about who is involved, the formal and informal customers, why they want the audit, their concerns, any difficulties encountered when scheduling the audit, communication difficulties with the audit organization, the audit boss’s impressions of the auditee personnel, the auditee organization, etc. This is a good technique to identify risks that could have a significant effect on the audit objectives.