ISO 55000: Asset Management Policy -- Communicate!

The Asset Management Policy is  defined by the ISO 55000 standard as the set of principles an organization will employ to meet objectives – not asset management objectives but organizational objectives.

It is leadership’s opportunity to create vision and focus. In many ways it is a reflection of values and culture. It is more about what we do than what we say. This is very clear in what is stated in ISO 55002, 5.2: “It is not necessary for the policy to be captured in a discrete document: it can be contained in other high level organizational policies or documents… The important point is that it is communicable to the organization.”

Communication is the measure. Rightfully so! We know this from years of helping organizations undertake continuous improvement and much empirical research data. Failure to effectively communicate is the most common mistake. We hear this so often, yet we keep repeating it. Why?

We do not communicate frequently enough and from the right level.

The ISO 55000 standard attempts to address this through the focus on leadership engagement. But it is not specific or directive on how. Here we must rely on what we know about communication. So, understand communication. Understand that effective communication comes from leadership and supervisors. Understand that communication must be repeated several times, some say as often as seven times, to be heard. Understand that face-to-face is most effective.

Ultimately it is not only required that there is a policy, but there must be clear evidence that the policy is communicated.