Everybody loves a cookbook. A real cookbook, that is.

You see them on coffee tables, kitchen tables, ready to be idly thumbed through – or meticulously followed through.

For many people, they are a source of inspiration to dip into for that perfect main course or hard-to-think-of dessert. For others, they spark new ideas for twists and variations on somebody else's theme. For a few people, cooking through the entire book becomes a goal in its own right …

The 2009 film Julie and Julia was the first major motion picture to be written about a blog. In the film, based on a true story, Meryl Streep plays Julia Child, chef and author of the 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, a young, frustrated New York writer and blogger with a passion for food. Julie decides to cook all 524 recipes from Child's book in 365 days and blog her experiences. As she progresses towards this impossible goal, her blog gathers momentum and Julie gathers followers (and some heated relationship challenges) as she ticks every recipe and shares her experience of ‘cooking out loud’ with an ever-growing community.

ISO 30401 is widely seen as the first international standard to be written for Knowledge Management. Based on the experiences of regional practitioners and consultants around the world, it set out to define a measurable framework to describe Knowledge Management from the perspective of a management system. The process gathered momentum, and numerous followers and commentators (and some heated philosophical differences), working out loud to enable public comment. The first version of the standard was published in November 2018.

When the three of us met in the summer of 2018 for the first time to discuss this new development in KM, there was already plenty of debate and some angst amongst the KM cognoscenti regarding the new standard. Some welcomed it, some feared it, and some just didn't know what to think about it!

We wanted to help dispel some of the myths, misunderstanding and misconceptions.

We wanted to find a way to explain and unpack the standard which would move it beyond a ‘ticking every recipe’ experience but make it an enriching experience for organisations considering the merits of accreditation.

Preparing for an audit – tips from the field from Patricia Lee Eng

During preparation of this book, we sought out people who have been audited many times over the past three decades and asked them how they prepare for an in-depth audit. Although they have experience with system-wide audits, programme audits and licensing or certification audits, their preparation for each type of audit was the same. This appendix contains their tips and suggestions.

Ideally, staff should work in such a way that what they are doing every day is always auditable. Being ready for an audit, in theory, should be the same as doing the job and doing it well. It helps if key staff keep unofficial current copies of records handy, even if not required to do so, for quick reference when needed, particularly if retrieval normally takes time. All of this assumes that you know about the audit in advance. Even so, if you are subject to a surprise audit you can do some of these things.

The goal is to make it as easy as possible for the audit team to examine your programme and for your staff to assist the audit team. While audits can be stressful, there is value in them. Just as a restaurant critic identifies great service but bad food, the audit team will help you identify programme strengths and weaknesses, ultimately improving the overall programme. Think of it as an assist visit.

1 Before the audit team arrives

Documentation

For audits that are announced ahead of time, the audit team often provides the organisation with a list of documents they wish to review before they arrive on site. Review and compile their requested list of documents and see if you can anticipate additional documents which they may also want to see. Just provide the documents they request but be ready to provide the additional documents as the audit progresses. The organisation should be careful not to appear ‘too eager’ but being prepared will make the organisation look responsive, which is always appreciated.

If you know the specific area being audited, try to anticipate what records the auditors will want to review. ISO 30401 calls out required documentation.