Introduction
The programme “Interacting Effectively with Auditors and Legal Advisers” develops professional practice in Secretarial and Office Management. It connects the subject with workplace challenges by examining existing evidence and practices and choosing methods appropriate to the organization and its available resources.
The learning progresses from risk-based auditing and evidence gathering to document, records, and digital preservation management, with practical work on legal analysis, research, and memorandum drafting, office, communication, and meeting management, professional communication, negotiation, and conflict management. Participants prepare outputs to support workplace application and review the quality and results of implementation.
Learning objectives
- Design an audit engagement connecting risks, objectives, tests, and evidence in an application related to “Interacting Effectively with Auditors and Legal Advisers”.
- Analyze a legal issue and write a memorandum distinguishing facts, rules, and alternatives.
- Organize office work, information, and follow-up to support decision-making.
- Select a communication and negotiation approach that addresses interests and preserves professional relationships.
- Build a document life cycle controlling classification, permissions, retention, and retrieval.
Learning areas
1. Risk-Based Auditing and Evidence Gathering
- Define the engagement subject, objectives, scope, and assessment criteria, and develop an initial understanding of the process and its main risks.
- Assess control design and suitability for the objectives, and select tests and samples proportionate to risk levels and available data.
- Collect sufficient, appropriate evidence, document sources and verification procedures, and maintain independence, objectivity, and information confidentiality.
- Write a finding connecting the criterion, condition, cause, and effect, and discuss the response and agreed action with the relevant party.
- Prepare a clear report and action follow-up plan, applying current professional requirements relevant to the audit type and work environment. The application examines a case related to “Interacting Effectively with Auditors and Legal Advisers”.
2. Legal Analysis, Research, and Memorandum Drafting
- Define the legal question, facts, documents, and parties, separating established facts from accounts and untested assumptions.
- Identify the relevant legal system, jurisdiction, and sources, and verify the law currently in force, its effective date, and amendments before applying it.
- Analyze the relationship between the rule and facts and areas of interpretation and disagreement, documenting arguments and evidence supporting each alternative.
- Draft a memorandum covering the issue, facts, analysis, options, and risks in clear language that preserves precise legal terminology.
- Review the memorandum for consistency, confidentiality, and citation accuracy, and identify matters requiring specialist advice or additional documents.
3. Office, Communication, and Meeting Management
- Analyze the flow of requests, correspondence, and appointments within the office, and classify work by priority, deadline, and responsible party.
- Organize mail, files, naming rules, and permissions, and apply a mechanism for tracking incoming and outgoing correspondence while retaining the follow-up trail.
- Prepare a meeting agenda specifying the purpose, topics, required documents, and participants, and distribute materials at the appropriate time.
- Write minutes covering decisions, actions, owners, and deadlines, and track open items and evidence of closure.
- Develop a concise management report template highlighting facts, alternatives, and the required decision, with checks on language, confidentiality, and data accuracy.
4. Professional Communication, Negotiation, and Conflict Management
- Analyze the communication objective, audience, context, and sensitivity, and select the channel, message, and timing to support the intended result.
- Practice listening, checking understanding, and questioning, and distinguish facts from interpretations and personal assumptions.
- Identify the parties' interests, limits, alternatives, and comparison criteria, and prepare a list of negotiable points.
- Handle objections and disagreements by reframing the problem, generating alternatives, and documenting agreements.
- Simulate a communication or negotiation situation, assess message clarity and response quality, and plan improvements for subsequent practice.
5. Document, Records, and Digital Preservation Management
- Inventory document and record types, owners, and reasons for retention, and distinguish operational copies from the authoritative record.
- Design classification, coding, metadata, and version control rules, with clear naming, indexing, and search criteria.
- Define viewing, editing, and approval permissions and usage tracking, and protect confidentiality and record integrity throughout circulation.
- Prepare a retention and disposal or permanent preservation transfer schedule after reviewing legal and regulatory requirements specific to each record type.
- Test retrieval, migration, backups, and file integrity verification, and set indicators for indexing accuracy and continuity of access.
Practical outputs
- An audit engagement program, working papers, and an actionable finding.
- A legal research memorandum, source list, and issues requiring verification.
- An office work plan, decision follow-up template, and meeting minutes.
- A communication plan, interests matrix, and actionable negotiation scenario.
- A classification plan, retention schedule, and document metadata template.
Who should attend
- Practitioners, specialists and supervisors whose work relates to the programme subject.
- Managers and teams working in secretarial and office management, according to their practical responsibilities.
- Professionals responsible for applying the outputs of “Interacting Effectively with Auditors and Legal Advisers” within their organizations.
Prerequisites
- Working familiarity with the programme field and the ability to discuss a professional case or challenge.
- Confirm the suitability of your experience and any specialist prerequisites with the Union before participation.
Conclusion
The programme “Interacting Effectively with Auditors and Legal Advisers” brings together concepts, case review and a practical application. Participants prepare steps that can be adapted to their responsibilities and organizational resources, with an indicator to follow application and review results after returning to work.
Participation arrangements and any special requests are specified in the confirmation issued by the Union.