1⟩ How would you audit, say, a "lawn mowing" process? Give me a process map where you would start and end your audit of lawn mowng?
An auditor does not necessarily need to be a shoe polisher to audit shoe polishing. The same applies to lawn mowing. Candidates often panic when they hear a question about auditing a process that they are not familiar with. A true feature of a true auditor is the ability to identify risks associated with the process.
Every process that requires auditing has common elements, be it lawn mowing or petrochemical refining. For example, the common features across multiple processes might be:
► Preparedness / Planning / Scheduling. Processes have to be properly planned in terms of resources, capacity, scope and timing.
► Efficiency and Effectiveness - attempts to minimizing costs and optimizing materials. Doing things rationally and technically right.
► Quality - doing things right from the first time with minimal waste, plus, fitness and conformance to specifications of a final output/product including tolerance for defects.
► Technology - equipment and tools being physically and technically fit, tidy, clean and ready.
► People - right people must do the job.
► Safety - maximum alertness to hazards, their risks, deficiencies, and damage to people, equipment/materials and surroundings.
► Rules - legal requirements, operational procedures, organizational policies and codes.
► Cost-benefit. Is this process needed, do we get maximum benefit out of the costs we incur. Is it financially viable?
► Correctness - are all above things being done correctly and accurately?
► Fraud - are there opportunities, reasons and justification for thefts, burglary, misappropriation and embezzlement?
► Others - You name it.