Communication

Small Acts of Kindness Work Wonders with Audit Clients

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The phrase “it is better to give than to receive” is applicable to most areas of our lives. Studies have shown that those who participate in volunteer activities live better lives. Further, contrary to popular belief, nice guys do not finish last. Acts of kindness are important to build relationships of trust and respect.

I was fortunate to work with a few experienced professionals early in my career who taught me about the power of genuine kindness. I recall

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Are You Telling Audit Clients What They Want To Know OR What They Need To Know?

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I have had the privilege of working for or with some really great Chief Audit Executives over the years. They have taught me many valuable lessons, but one that sticks with me is “Tell them what they need to know.” To take it a little further, this person made me understand that there is nothing to fear as long I operate truthfully and

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What to do when audit clients disagree with you!

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Every auditor has or will face situations where clients significantly pushback on audit issues. Internal Auditing is an independent and objective function tasked with evaluating management’s risk identification and mitigation strategies. However, when presenting potentially reportable items to management, that objectivity can sometimes disappear as auditors began vigorously

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3 Reasons Internal Audit Clients Refer You to Other Units

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Have you ever had audit clients refer you to or suggest (sometime strongly) that you audit specific areas in the organization? What do you think about this? My thoughts have changed over time.

In the past, I believed that audit clients would provide referrals to “throw other units under the bus” or to get us away from their areas of responsibility. You

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How Happy Are Your Audit Clients? Ask Them!

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Anyone providing products or services to customers should want to know what customers think about the product/services. Internal Auditors typically solicit feedback through client satisfaction surveys. There are a variety of ways to solicit opinions including live interviews and questionnaires. Successful questionnaires will help audit functions determine how well they are achieving goals and objectives. Many auditor simply copy surveys from other departments. I believe auditors must create surveys specifically for their operating environment. Successful surveys must consider the Stakeholders, the Questions and the Re

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4 Audit Client Types

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I recently wrote about 4 different auditor personality types. This article received a lot of visits, votes and comments. Check it out if you have not already. The purpose of that article was to identify some of the personality traits that we as auditors exhibit. Because communication is a two way street, today I want to discuss 4 audit client personality types. We must recognize

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The Power of Observation & Inquiry

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Observation and Inquiry is an important skill set that must be in every auditors toolkit. It requires us to remain objective at all times. I find it interesting how this skill is not only applicable to auditing, but also in “life outside of audit” interactions. I recently wrote about what appeared to be bribery at the London Olympics. Further inquiry disclosed that this normal and acceptable behavior. Well, I have noticed another instance of good observation, ineffective inquiry.

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