Any international document/standard developed through negotiations between by 450 experts from 99 countries and 40 international organisations will be complex, especially if the finished document is expected to be possible to be used by any organisation and company anywhere in the world.
Tools are needed to speed up, scale up and skill up. However, in line with the recommendations to those developing tools realated to ISO 26000, the tools should apply the recommendations as they are worded in ISO 26000, and avoid cherry-picking.
Clause 7 of ISO 26000 focuses on process management and was written to help the reader integrate social responsibility behavior in any organisation. Clause 7 is a tool that, when applied, will open up the rest of the clauses in ISO 26000, once the reader of the standard understands the core parts of the standard.
Most tools are available in English but there are several examples available in local languages. Unfortunately most tools are only accessible after payment or signing up. Also, too many tools aim at generating external communication instead of internal understanding.
One example of a tool that allows the user to anonymously and free of charge self-evaluate the core parts of ISO 26000 is available: SustCoReport. It was developed to be used as a first step before signing up or paying for tools or consultancy services.
