Process: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)

In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit

The auditor follows processes under real conditions: watching an activity, examining its inputs and outputs, checking that the planned criteria are applied and the results recorded. Interactions matter: an SDG objective set by top management that appears in no purchasing criterion remains a dead letter.

The process approach also helps the auditor build a sample and divide time between departments. A process map often exists; its accuracy is tested on the ground. These expectations appear in clauses 4 and 8 of the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard, notably under operational control.

Process versus procedure

A process is what happens; a procedure describes how to carry it out, in writing or not. The auditor audits the process: a written purchasing procedure that buyers do not follow is evidence of a gap, while an unwritten but consistent practice can meet the requirement if its results are controlled.

Related terms

Activity

a task or set of tasks within a process.

Operational control

the conditions set so that processes deliver the planned results.

See also

• Operational planning and control: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Operational planning and control (French: *maîtrise opérationnelle*) covers the arrangements through which an organisation organises, runs and checks the processes that carry its contribution to the SDGs: criteria, methods, resources, management of change and of outsourced processes.
• Outsource: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)To outsource (French: *externaliser*) is to entrust an external provider with all or part of a function or process that remains within the scope of the management system.
• Management system: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)A management system (French: *système de management*) is the organised set of policies, objectives, processes, roles and resources an organisation uses to achieve given results.
• ISO/UNDP 53001 clause 8: what the auditor checksISO 53001 clause 8 covers operation.