1. How to prepare for the opening meeting?

The opening meeting is important because it is the first contact with the auditees. It marks the start of the on-site audit, after the audit preparation activities (document review, preparation of the audit plan, preparation of working documents). This stage is essential not only to clarify the context and terms of the audit, but also to dispel any apprehensions and instill confidence in those being audited.

One of the first questions you'll need to ask yourself is how you're going to set up the opening meeting. You need to bear in mind that this meeting will take a different form depending on the nature of the audit itself:

• in the event of a certification audit (third-party audit), the opening meeting will be formal and will follow a protocol specific to the certification bodies;

• ...