Skills for a Highly Productive Audit Team Adair Barton VP of Internal Audit and CAE

1. Skills for a Highly Productive Audit TeamAdair BartonVP of Internal Audit and CAE

2. My Background 2

3. Learning Objectives • Understanding team dynamics • What does success look like? • Skills for team players • Skills for team leaders • Skills for winning teams (putting it all together) 3

4. Team Dynamics How many of you have played on a winning team? What helped you succeed? 4

5. Team Dynamics Challenge • Two teams of 5 people working to solve a 500 piece puzzle. • What do you need to accomplish this task? • What would you do to win this competition? 5

6. Team Dynamics Challenge • What if I said you can’t communicate with each other? • What if you could only communicate through text or email? • What if I blindfolded the team? • What if I gave you the wrong box (wrong picture)? • What if you had a team leader who helped communicate a clear vision and assigned team members responsibility according to their strengths? 6

7. Team Dynamics A Highly Productive Team • A group of people working together to produce large amounts of quality goods or services Team – we must work together (using each individual’s strengths and talents) to achieve a common goal • Once the vision is clear, we must communicate effectively to complete small tasks in order to achieve the bigger goal • Egos must be set aside and teamwork must prevail • Activity does not equal productivity 7

8. Highly Productive Team Productive - we must produce something of value to our customer • Activity does not equal productivity • “no useful moved detected” • What activities bring value to our customer? • What activities don’t add value? 8

9. What Does Success Look Like? • For Internal Audit, how do we know we are succeeding? • Annual risk assessment • Audit plan based on perceived highest risks • Complete the plan (on time and under budget) • Individual projects (audits, investigations, etc.) • Organize the right team • Perform detailed, accurate planning • Perform detailed testing • Report timely, relevant findings (help management address risks) • Developing talent • Hiring talented, curious self-starters (who work well on teams and can think out of the box) • Perform ongoing employee assessments and give real-time feedback 9

10. What Does Success Look Like? • Recognizing threats to the organization before they materialize • Keep our ear to the ground regarding risks and company operations • Stay connected with industry experts • Stay current on national and global news that may affect your organization • Being recognized as the risk experts in your organization • Help with enterprise risk assessment • Participate in executive level steering committees for your company • Take the lead in fraud investigations • Adding value to your organization • Offer consulting services to your company regarding various issues • Participate in steering committees for your company • Offer best-in-class recommendations as part of audit projects 10

11. Skills for a Winning Team • So what are some of the skills needed for a highly productive audit team? • Trust • Honesty • Integrity • Ingenuity (right brain) • Accuracy (left brain) • Flexibility • Humor • Communication • Curiosity • Team work (meet deadlines, support each other, being selfless) 11

12. Skills for Team Players • Professional Skills • Basic job skills – Developing a base level of knowledge to perform assigned duties on a project. Effectively identify risks, controls, and appropriate actions for noted weaknesses. • Produce Quality Documentation – Workpapers and support easy to read; work could be reperformed without asking for clarification; minimal revisions required; written communications to auditee were grammatically correct and easy to understand; etc. • Use Available Resources Effectively – Initiative and ability to adequately research topics relevant to the audit or project. • Effectively Perform Assigned Tasks – Deadlines met; willing to perform all assigned work; take on additional responsibilities; etc. • Technical Skills – Understand technical aspects of audit or project and use technology effectively. 12

13. Skills for Team Players • Leadership Skills • Interaction with Others – Communication with auditee is cordial and professional; conduct effective meetings; are a team player; etc. • Honor Commitments – Show up timely to meetings; finished assigned tasks by commitment date; etc. • Good Judgement and Decision Making – Able to appropriately distinguish between significant and less significant control weaknesses. • Offer Constructive Suggestions – Work well with auditee to understand needs, concerns, and expectations; take advantage of opportunities to consult / educate auditee on better processes or controls; etc. 13

14. Skills for Team Players • Personal Skills • Demonstrate flexibility – Willing to accept necessary changes to project timelines or work being performed (travel, timing, assignments, etc.). • Listen to Directions – Coaching comments acknowledged and answered timely; learn from feedback given from in-charge or other leadership; etc. • Learn from Mistakes – Analyze mistakes honestly and objectively; put lessons learned into action; monitor progress; etc. • Learn and Use New Skills – Seek opportunities to learn new skills during audit or project; receptive to feedback from others; analyze difficult or problematic situations and seek solutions prior to approaching in-charge to discuss; etc. • Communicate Effectively – Keep in-charge and others informed timely of progress and any delays encountered; use appropriate form of communication (in person, phone, email, etc.). • Plan and Organize Effectively – Hit target dates; use time effectively; prioritize tasks and balance work load; work with minimal supervision; etc. 14

15. Skills for Team Leaders • Personal Skills • Communicate Effectively – Clearly communicate expectations and give constructive feedback with each team member; communicate with the auditee and audit leadership; etc. • Plan and Organize Effectively – Hit target dates; use time effectively; prioritize tasks and balance work load among team members; etc. • Provide Leadership – Treat team members with fairness and respect; provide adequate resources for team to perform assignments; allow team to perform tasks without interference; promote positive attitude and encourage teamwork; etc. 15

16. Skills for Team Leaders • Leadership Skills • Pattern Recognition – Sees underlying relationships and gets at the meaning beneath the surface • Street Smarts – Understands how things really work • Organizationally Savvy – Understands business issues and is recognized as an expert or thought leader • Character – Lives by positive principles (honesty, respect, fairness) even when it is not easy to do so • Passionate Team Builder – Does what it takes to build a great team 16

17. Skills for Team Leaders • Leadership Skills • Influence and Persuasion – Gets others to buy-in to a perspective or action • Business Partner – Acts as a valued partner to the business • Impact Player – Pursues the right results with passion • Results and Solutions Oriented – Stays focused on solutions and develops new approaches to difficult problems • Passionate For the Job / Enthusiastic / Fun to Be Around – Approaches work as a challenge, not just a job. 17

18. Skills for Winning Teams • Clearly Communicated Vision • What we are doing • Why we are doing it • Open Communication • Informal meetings • Online communications for tracking progress • Team activities outside of work 18

19. Skills for Winning Teams • Clearly-Defined Responsibilities and Joint Activities • Each player with a particular role • How their roles overlap or interact for success • Results Oriented Goals • Specific, measurable goals to improve the team • Target dates with quality measures 19

20. Skills for Winning Teams • Sharing Knowledge and Accomplishments • Sharing brings team members closer and helps improve the team • Lessons learned from good and bad events • Celebrate victories along the way • Flexibility • Adjust to new situations quickly • Fill in for others where needed 20

21. Wrap Up • Highly productive audit teams: • Have a clearly communicated vision • Obtain feedback from customers regularly • Learn from each audit or project and improve quality and productivity • Stay current with trends, techniques, and technology • Work to improve the audit process and promote growth in the company 21

22. Questions? Contact Info: • Email: adair@adairbarton.com • www.linkedin.com/in/adairbarton/ 22