Keeping up with Standards

With recent clients I have been dealing more and more with new standards coming out or revisions being made to standards. This has got me thinking a lot about how to keep up with current standards. What is the best way of being notified of new releases of standards as well as interpreting and then implementing those standards?

I think one of the positive things is that the governing bodies that manage certain standards put an effective date on when standards need to be implemented which is however many months after they have been released. This allows time for companies to become familiar with those standards and come up with a compliance strategy. Coming up with a solid strategy and sticking to it, is almost more important than complying with the standard because interpretation of compliance can vary so as long as you can back up why you complied the way you did to an auditor.

Before starting this job I had always thought that standards were set in stone. That everything was clear cut and easy to follow. I realize now that it's more about proper interpretation. One of the hardest things can be having multiple people interject their own opinion on how certain standards should be complied to. Having proper communication and making sure everyone in the company is on the same page is important for having total, consistent compliance.

So tell me...how does your company keep up with current standards?

-- Jillian F. Walker