The pursuit of efficiency is a constant goal for business leaders. Recurring problems and inefficient processes waste resources, restrict ROI, and chip away at morale. But resolving those ingrained issues and improving those established systems can be tricky. Many managers try to jump right to easing the symptoms of a problem, but lasting change starts at the beginning.
Root cause analysis (RCA) is the key to effective change because it’s an actionable structure for thinking about the problem.
In this piece, you will learn:
Thus, if you want to get rid of your business issue once and for all, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is something you need to practice.
Want to know more about it?
This blog is all about it.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
Table of Content
Root cause analysis is a method for getting to the cause of things by figuring out what went wrong. It is a method used to find the cause of a problem and figure out how to fix it.
Organizations can avoid treating the symptoms of a problem by using root cause analysis to determine the precise nature of the issue. Organizations can mitigate future issues by zeroing in on their origin and fixing it.
Want to Conduct Analysis and Publish Reports?
- Getting started with root cause analysis
- What Are the Benefits of Root Cause Analysis?
- Define the Problem
- Where Can You Get Root Cause Analysis Templates?
- Tips to Conduct a Successful Root Cause Analysis
- Is Root Cause Analysis Used in Project Management?
- What Are the Root Cause Analysis Steps?
- What Are the Resources about Root Cause Analysis?
- Prioritize the Causes
- Types of Root Cause Analysis Techniques
- What Are the Tools of Root Cause Analysis?
- How to Use the Tools in Root Cause Analysis?
- In What Steps Can Tools Be Used During a Root Cause Analysis?
- Do Root Cause Analysis Tools Have Templates?
- What Is the Importance of the Tools of Root Cause Analysis?
- How Do Tools of Root Cause Analysis Improve Work Efficiency?
- Which Sectors Can Benefit from the Use of Root Cause Analysis Tools?
- What Is the History of Root Cause Analysis?
- Fishbone Diagram
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
- What Are the Challenges of Root Cause Analysis?
- How to do root cause analysis
- Define the problem or goal
- Brainstorm possible root causes
- Devise solutions
- Implement solutions
- Monitor results
- Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
- Collect Data about the Problem
- What Are the Different Approaches to Performing a Root Cause Analysis?
- Scatter Plot Diagram
- What Is the Purpose of Root Cause Analysis?
- 5 Steps of Executing Root Cause Analysis
- What is root cause analysis?
- What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA)?
- What is a Root Cause Analysis Template?
- Why Perform a Root Cause Analysis?
- How Is Root Cause Analysis Used and by Which Industries?
- Health and Safety
- IT and Telecommunications
- Manufacturing and Industrial Process Control
- Systems Analysis
- Determine Potential Causal Factors
- How to Use the Root Cause Analysis Tools to Perform Root Cause Analysis?
- Do You Need a Template to Perform a Root Cause Analysis?
- Which Step Should You Write a Root Cause Analysis Report on?
- Which Approach Should you Use to Perform Root Cause Analysis?
- Which Sectors Can You Perform Root Cause Analysis on?
- How Should You Organize Your Root Cause Analysis Meetings?
- What Is the Effect of Performing Root Cause Analysis on Work Efficiency?
- Determine the Root Cause of the Problem
- What form does a Root Cause Analysis template take? What do these reports even look like?
- Six Sigma Method
- Five whys
- The 5 Whys
- Solution, Recommendation, and Implementation
Getting started with root cause analysis
RCA prevents recurring problems from occurring by helping businesses determine an issue’s underlying cause. RCA can also be used to make improvements to long-standing processes.
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RCA can be decomposed into four steps:
RCA generally serves as input to a remediation process whereby corrective actions are taken to prevent the problem from recurring. The name of this process varies from one application domain to another. According to ISO/IEC 31010, RCA may include the techniques Five whys, Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), Fault tree analysis, Ishikawa diagram, and Pareto analysis.
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a process for identifying the root causes of problems and a systematic approach for responding to them. Root cause analysis is based on the idea that effective management should find a way to prevent problems before they occur and affect the work of an entire organization.
Root cause analysis is one of the most crucial problem-solving elements in quality management. Root cause analysis is an important part of Six Sigma methodology, as it is a key component of the analyze phase of DMAIC – define, measure, analyze, improve, control.
There are six major tools of root cause analysis, which are used through the process of identifying the root causes of a problem.
The manufacturing sector was the first to implement root cause analysis in order to determine the reasons for product failures. Since then, the method has developed and found widespread application in fields as disparate as healthcare and the service sector.
Sakichi Toyoda, the company’s namesake and founder created one of the earliest forms of root cause analysis known as the “5 Whys” technique. Asking “why” questions over and over can help you get to the cause of a problem and find a solution.
The manufacturing sector also saw the development of other root cause analysis techniques, such as the Fishbone diagram and the Ishikawa diagram. These methods allow you to sketch out the connections between the different variables that may have triggered an issue.
What Are the Benefits of Root Cause Analysis?
The root cause analysis approach helps to describe a problem, identify and determine its primary cause(s). Reaching the heart of a problem and inspecting its aspects allows RCA to create an efficient, systematic problem-solving approach. Thanks to this preventive aspect, the problem-solving technique benefits organizations and processes by making them look deep into a problem and find permanent solutions. It also creates a prevention plan and identifies organizational improvement opportunities. Of course, RCA comes with advantages and disadvantages, so let’s look at the challenges of the method.
Define the Problem
The first step when performing root cause analysis is to analyze the existing situation. This is where the team identifies the factors that impact the problematic event. The outcome of this step is a statement that comprises the specific problem. A small team is tasked with the definition of the problem. This could be research staff who assesses and analyzes the situation. The question to be answered at this initial stage is: What is the problem?, How does the problem affect customer needs? etc.
Where Can You Get Root Cause Analysis Templates?
Root cause analysis templates are easily made using simple programs like Word or Excel. The example below is a root cause analysis template made in Excel.
Tips to Conduct a Successful Root Cause Analysis
RCA can be employed to optimize organizational methods and set precautionary measures to alleviate future issues. For example, in place of incessantly replying to support tickets, you could inquire why your consumers are making such requests in the first place. Below are some tips that help you gain root cause analysis success.
Some of the best root cause analysis methods are The 5 Whys, Pareto Chart, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), scatter diagram, and fishbone diagram.
The steps of a root cause analysis include describing the incident, discovering the root cause, determining solutions, taking corrective action, and authenticating solution usefulness.
Within a company, incident investigation, root cause analysis, and problem-solving all are basically connected by three fundamental questions:
Each root cause analysis template mentioned here will offer priceless and reliable additions to your business approach. If these templates are used consistently and correctly, they will bring you longstanding and significant company results.
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As soon as the cause is detected, you can implement the solution and conduct regular inspections to confirm that you are attaining continuous sustainable improvement. When it comes to creating a tactical plan for your business, you can refer to top strategic plan templates so that you can save your time and effort for other essential tasks to do.
Is Root Cause Analysis Used in Project Management?
Root cause analysis is used in project management to find solutions to recurring problems, prevent problems from occurring, and ensure that strategic goals are met. While the method was first applied in the engineering industry in the 1980s, RCA soon found application in multiple domains. As such, root cause analysis first breakthrough in the field of project management was made in 1986 with the development of quality standards designed for application in manufacturing companies. These standards are known as the Six Sigma approach. In recent years, root cause analysis has been also successfully implemented in modern PM approaches such as Agile project management.
What Are the Root Cause Analysis Steps?
There are six main steps to perform a root cause analysis.
What Are the Resources about Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis books, publications, and webcasts will help you understand the method’s fundamentals, find the right tools and techniques to use in your case, and provide a perspective on how effective the technique can be. Some of the most notable resources on root cause analysis are listed below.
RCA Case Studies:
Prioritize the Causes
Once the root causes are established, they need to be prioritized and tackled accordingly. To determine which cause or challenge to address first, the analysis team needs to assess what is the impact of the cause — the higher the impact, the greater its priority. Another point when prioritizing root causes is the number of causal factors triggered by a specific challenge — the greater the number of causal factors, the greater the impact of the root cause is and yields immediate addressing.
Types of Root Cause Analysis Techniques
There are several root cause analysis techniques, as described below.
What Are the Tools of Root Cause Analysis?
Among the most prominent and widely used root cause analysis tools are the five whys method, Pareto charts, scatter diagram, fishbone diagram, and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA).
Firstly, Pareto charts are used to indicate the frequency of distribution of defects and their cumulative effect. The famous 80-20 Pareto principle helps to inspect the potential root causes and failures. It can therefore be used to identify equipment faults or process impediments quite efficiently. The Pareto chart prioritizes the identified faults in order of severity and provides a more detailed explanation of the defects that need to be addressed first.
Secondly, the 5 Whys analysis is one of the ultimate problem-solving tools in the Lean toolset. It allows you to break down the aspects of a problem or an event to reveal its root causes. The technique implies answering as many “Why” questions as needed to arrive at the real cause. Originating from the manufacturing domain, the 5 Whys method is nowadays implemented into a wide range of fields where human, technical, or process issues occur.
Another tool used for root cause analysis is scatter diagram. The scatter diagram is a statistical approach that shows the relationship between two variables in a two-dimensional diagram. By plotting cause and effect in it, the scatter diagram is utilized to identify potential variation causes.
One of the other tools used in root cause analysis is fishbone diagram. The fishbone diagram, also known as Ishikawa method, is a fishbone-looking diagram that illustrates that multiple factors, responsible for a problem, failure, or event. The problem or event is shown where the fish’s head is, the cause is represented along the fish backbone. Further contributing factors are illustrated along the fish bones. The fishbone diagram method helps brainstorm an idea, a process bottleneck or find improvement opportunities by visualizing the process in a diagram.
The FMEA approach to root cause analysis has a preventive nature. The method aims to predict the future failures of a system by analyzing past performance data. The analysis requires input from various safety and quality control teams to calculate the risk priority number (RPN) of a system. To arrive at this number, the team needs to consider potential disruptions, past failure modes, and analysis of possible failure modes. The FMEA method facilitates the identification of a weak point in a system or a process.
How to Use the Tools in Root Cause Analysis?
Here you can see the ways to use the tools in Root Cause Analysis.
In What Steps Can Tools Be Used During a Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis can be performed in six steps — define the event, find causes, find the root cause, find solutions, take action, verify solution effectiveness. Some of the RCA tools can be implemented during the root cause analysis steps. To define the event and go to the source of the problem, you can use the 5 Whys. To find the potential causes of the event in question, you may implement Fishbone diagrams. To uncover the root cause that lies at the heart of the problem, you can use a Scatter Chart and Pareto Analysis.
Do Root Cause Analysis Tools Have Templates?
Yes, there are root cause analysis tools templates. RCA templates are used to analyze a recurring problem and help eliminate the root causes. Root cause analysis teams drill down to the root of the problem in order to implement solutions so the problem won’t appear again.
What Is the Importance of the Tools of Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis tools are important in determining and identifying defects and the main causes of defects. By identifying the root cause, the organization can find a permanent solution to it so that possibility of its future re-occurrence can be reduced or eliminated. RCA plays an important role in developing a logical approach to solving problems.
How Do Tools of Root Cause Analysis Improve Work Efficiency?
The tools of root cause analysis are improving work efficiency by detecting and eliminating possible or existing problems at the beginning of a process, system, or production.
Which Sectors Can Benefit from the Use of Root Cause Analysis Tools?
Root cause analysis tools have countless applications in many industries. Here you can see the list of Root Cause Analysis Sectors.
The main six approaches to root causes analysis are:
What Is the History of Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis (RCA) originated in quality management engineering and emerged out of necessity to find the root causes of manufacturing problems and fix them permanently. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, established the first root cause analysis technique — the 5 Whys method as part of the Toyota Production System, developed between 1948 and 1975. Later on, W. Edwards Deming created his quality strategy based on the root cause analysis method. In 1986 Motorola introduced root cause analysis and quality control practices under the title Six Sigma. In the last 30 years, the analysis technique has been successfully applied to industries outside the manufacturing domain: healthcare, education, etc.
Fishbone Diagram
A fishbone diagram, also called a cause-and-effect or Ishikawa diagram, sorts possible causes into various categories that origin from the initial problem. Moreover, a fishbone diagram may have additional multiple sub-causes derived from each identified category. The fishbone diagram is the most used cause-and-effect analysis tool in Six Sigma. The cause-and-effect analysis is one of the key tasks in any Six Sigma project.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a method used to explore potential defects or failures during the process and product design. In Six Sigma, FMEA gives project teams a tool to predict the most likely failures that may impact the customers. The Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is implemented during the analyze phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC cycle, and it helps to estimate the significance of the impact of possible process failures.
What Are the Challenges of Root Cause Analysis?
The root cause analysis method relies heavily on data to create a systematic approach to solving problems. Lack of important information can render the analysis of a process impediment incomplete and inefficient. On the other hand, gathering data over a long time can make identifying a problematic event extremely hard and time-consuming. That’s why it’s important to gather evidence and establish a timeline of events to help you distinguish between common and special causes of problems. Finding that a defect has not one but a few main causes is not uncommon. Establishing a causal graph showing multiple root causes can be a challenge to the root cause analysis method too.
How to do root cause analysis
Define the problem or goal
The first step in RCA is defining the problem that needs to be solved or the improvement that needs to be made. A full and detailed understanding of the issue is crucial.
For example, an operations manager might notice that new product releases are frequently late. As that manager pulls together data and insights, they will be able to confidently report exactly how often product releases are behind schedule, providing a concrete description of the problem. They will also be able to discuss the issue as it relates to the business as a whole. Releases that are consistently late degrade customer experience and customer trust, increasing churn and impacting revenue negatively.
Brainstorm possible root causes
After identifying the problem, list all the possible issues or events that may have contributed to it. If you’re trying to improve a process for greater efficiency, detail every part of the current workflow. Don’t worry about validating root causes at first — brainstorm the longest list you can come up with.
Then, analyze the actual impact of each possible cause. You may need to do some additional research to rule out anything that looks like a cause but actually isn’t. Finally, prioritize the causes you have left. Identify which are having the greatest impact and which are minor.
Let’s revisit the operations manager dealing with late product releases. They may start with the team’s Kanban board or other product development process and brainstorm possible root causes at every stage. The ops manager might list possibilities like:
Devise solutions
Once you’ve identified and detailed the root cause of a problem — or the root cause that’s keeping a system or process underperforming — brainstorm possible solutions. Interviewing personnel from the relevant department is a great way to gather input and recommendations from people who are immersed in the work.
Implement solutions
Once you’ve designed and validated solutions, implement them strategically to make sure new processes and fixes don’t fall through the cracks. You may need to get buy-in from the team members who are close to the problem or support from executive leadership. If you’re working with a team, assign a point person or project manager to ensure implementation doesn’t slip through the cracks.
The operations manager in our example may assign one team member to start developing a better process for requesting feedback and another team member to oversee incoming reviews. The manager would need to set up recurring check-ins with those team members to make sure implementation is done well.
Monitor results
Depending on the solution implemented, your monitoring period may last weeks or months. Make adjustments if your proposed solutions aren’t working. If you’ve repeatedly made adjustments and the solutions haven’t worked, brainstorm and implement solutions to the other primary causes you’ve identified.
If the operations manager notices that feedback has not gotten quicker or that it hasn’t helped the team make product release deadlines, the manager can simply go back to the list of possible root causes from step two and start to develop solutions for another possible cause. If faster feedback loops result in more timely product releases, they may still decide to select another possible cause and improve the process even more.
Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a graphical tool and one of the more useful tools in Lean Six Sigma problem investigations. FTA explores the causes of system-level failures. Fault tree analysis prioritizes the risks in a way that allows the highest risks to be resolved first. It uses boolean logic to combine a series of lower-level events, and it is basically a top-down approach to identify the component level failures (basic event) that cause the system level failure (top event) to occur. When combined with other Lean Six Sigma tools, fault tree analysis helps the team focus on the most important input variables to the key output variables in a given process. FTA is a top-down approach to identify the component-level failures that cause the system-level failure to occur.
Collect Data about the Problem
A critical step in root cause analysis is the collection of relevant data about an incident or a problematic event. Documenting all the characteristics and specifications of the event will help you answer questions like What are the contributing factors? When did the problem occur? Is it a repeating event? What is the observed impact? etc.
What Are the Different Approaches to Performing a Root Cause Analysis?
RCA employs a variety of techniques depending on the field application. The most prominent approaches to root cause analysis are listed below.
Scatter Plot Diagram
A scatter diagram is a two-dimensional graphical representation of a set of data. The scatter diagram graphs pairs numerical data with one variable on each axis to look for their relationship. Its ability to show nonlinear relationships between variables is widely used in Six Sigma. Scatter plots are widely used as a tool for analyzing problems in Six Sigma. Scatter plots show how the variables relate to each other. This relationship is called correlation, and there are three types of correlation: positive, negative, and no correlation. In Six Sigma, a scatter plot will visually display the correlation between a problem and a cause, whether there is positive, negative, or no correlation. This helps quality teams to evaluate which hypothetical cause has the greatest impact on a problem and which should be solved first.
What Is the Purpose of Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis aims to uncover the root cause of problems, find the optimal way to repair faults, and find a solution that can be applied to prevent the recurrence of the event at fault. Thus, the method supports all efforts to locate the true causes of processes faults or impediments and fix them to continuously improve.
The RCA method is successfully used to identify root causes and contributing factors to a problem and create a prevention plan. In combination with other problem-analysis techniques such as barrier analysis, risk tree analysis, etc., root cause analysis is helpful for incident management, maintenance issues, productivity issues, risk analysis, etc.
5 Steps of Executing Root Cause Analysis
Based on the scope, complexity, and nature of the applicable problem, your team members can select from the available root cause analysis processes. Taking off the root cause analysis with step-by-step methodology applying ready-made templates lets you distinguish the problem and recognize it well before progressing towards its solution.
What is root cause analysis?
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic approach to identifying the core of a problem or inefficiency so you can identify the best way to solve it. It’s based on the idea that you can prevent recurring problems and improve existing processes when you identify and treat underlying causes instead of focusing on surface-level symptoms.
RCA is often used to solve problems and outline necessary preventive measures for situations like major and minor accidents, maintenance and manufacturing problems, medical mistakes, environmental releases, productivity issues, or everyday incidents caused by human error.
What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA)?
Root cause analysis is the procedure of identifying the actual root causes of problems to detect correct solutions. RCA presumes that it is more effective to methodically prevent and resolve fundamental issues instead of treating unpremeditated symptoms.
Root cause analysis can be accomplished with a compilation of techniques, methodologies, and principles that all can be used to recognize the root causes of a trend or event. Such analysis aims at identifying the issue by mining into its sources and then taking the necessary steps to eradicate the underlying problem.
What is a Root Cause Analysis Template?
Understanding how to execute an RCA utilizing a root cause analysis template can help your project team stay on the same path and dig out project issues in real-time.
A root cause analysis template is exercised by a cross-functional team of subject matter experts to create reports of the problem, gather relevant data, discover the root cause effectively, and execute enduring solutions. Employing mobile-ready root cause analysis templates can assist teams in taking instant actions to solve underlying issues and promote a culture of accountability and collaboration.
Why Perform a Root Cause Analysis?
Generally, there are three main goals to achieve while performing a root cause analysis:
A root cause analysis is executed when an accident or problem has arisen, and its cause must be discovered. This root-cause analysis documentation files the necessary steps taken to pinpoint the issue and establish the cause.
Also, it describes the methodology that will be utilized to tackle the problem and avert it moving forward. Diagrams and templates illustrating such a cause-and-effect relationship are mentioned below:
How Is Root Cause Analysis Used and by Which Industries?
Thanks to its wide range of tools, root cause analysis is applicable in multiple areas and industries, offering organizations problem-solving methods and supporting decision-making. Some of the fields where root cause analysis techniques are commonly used are healthcare, telecommunications, IT, and manufacturing.
Health and Safety
Root cause analysis is applied in healthcare to examine events to determine root causes of problems that led to undesired outcomes such as harm to patients or medication side effects. The analysis is utilized to improve patients’ safety, take corrective measures to prevent future occurrence of such events.
IT and Telecommunications
The application of root cause analysis techniques in IT and telecommunications helps to detect the root causes of newly-surfaced problematic services or deal with recurring problems. The analysis is widely used in processes such as incident management, security management, etc.
Manufacturing and Industrial Process Control
RCA is used in manufacturing processes to identify the root causes of engineering or maintenance failure. Root cause analysis methods allow the control of quality in the production of chemicals in the industrial process control discipline.
Systems Analysis
RCA has been successfully applied to change management or risk management areas thanks to its problem-solving abilities. RCA is also suitable for analyzing businesses, determining their goals, and creating processes to reach those goals, making it ideal for system analysis.
Determine Potential Causal Factors
Creating a sequence of events is important to identify causal factors that can contribute to the observed problem or event. The project team tasked with the analysis of the problem should establish a timeline of events and brainstorm as many potential causal factors as possible by asking “Why?” questions. Using a causal graph, for instance, helps to visually represent the connection between events and enables tracking of the root cause.
How to Use the Root Cause Analysis Tools to Perform Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis tools represent methods designed to help you conduct RCA and determine the underlying cause of an event or a problem. Some of the most widely used RCA tools and their utilization are explained below.
The Fishbone Diagram is a technique that helps to group multiple causes into various categories. By identifying such similarities between causes, you can easily navigate through the challenges, prioritize their impact, and ultimately determine the underlying cause of the problem. To use the fishbone diagram, the head of the fish needs to represent the problem, while the primary group causes are represented along the fishbone. You can also draw additional secondary causal factors along each primary cause.
The Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is another root cause analysis tool that uses the boolean logic to determine a problem’s root cause. Through the visualization of the problem at the top of the chart and mapping all the affected subsystems in the form of branches, the tool establishes the relationships between a problematic event and its effect on other parts of a system. FTA uses deduction to determine root causes of events and it is helpful to identify system risks.
The 5 Whys analysis is a technique from the Lean toolset that helps to narrow down the root cause of a problem by simply asking why-questions. To arrive at the root cause of an event, you need to ask “Why” as many times as needed. Normally it takes no more than five times to identify a root cause. The evaluation method is very effective to determine how different root causes relate to one another and brings clarity into the chain of events.
Do You Need a Template to Perform a Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis templates can be very helpful to establish the foundation of the process and streamline its progress.
Reporting RCA templates include key data such as the description of the event at fault, an established timeline of events leading to the event at fault, the team tasked with the analysis process as well as the RCA method that will be used to arrive at the root cause. The information can be laid out in any form you like.
RCA tools templates are useful to visualize the entire analysis process. RCA templates such as 5 Whys or Pareto chart templates can be easily created using a variety of programs such as Excel or other niche software solutions.
Which Step Should You Write a Root Cause Analysis Report on?
All the steps in a root cause analysis should be briefly and concisely documented in an RCA report upon the completion of the analysis. The information that needs to be listed on the report is listed below:
Which Approach Should you Use to Perform Root Cause Analysis?
To determine the most effective way to find the root cause of a problem it is important that you diligently perform the first steps of the process. By asking the right questions and gathering critical details about the event, you’ll manage to determine the problem and its contributing factors. Based on that information, the most suitable root cause analysis approach will correspond to factors such as the number of causal factors identified and their diversity, how they relate to one another, do you need to apply deduction, etc.
Which Sectors Can You Perform Root Cause Analysis on?
RCA is a powerful approach to determine problems’ underlying causes and it allows companies to create stable work processes by preventing future occurrence of the same issue. The utilization of root cause analysis in a wide range of industries and sectors stems from its ability to solve problems and support an organizational culture of continuous improvement. Some of the industries where RCA is highly applicable are listed below.
How Should You Organize Your Root Cause Analysis Meetings?
Root cause analysis meetings allow teams and stakeholders to learn and improve. Through an in-depth analysis of a problem, its underlying cause, and additional causal factors, RCA meetings bring not only solutions to an existing problem, but also have preventive nature. Everyone involved in the problem should be involved in RCA meetings, team members, leaders, and stakeholders alike.
Phase 1: RCA meetings should be organized and led by leaders familiar with the specifics of the problem itself. It’s their role to clarify the meeting’s structure for all the attendees. They should also explain the goal of the meeting.
Phase 2: To navigate through the exact sequence of events, a timeline should be established explaining how the problem was detected, when, and who raised the alarm. The root cause analysis method employed should be announced.
Phase 3: During the next phase of the meeting, stakeholders and team members are involved in the discussion to list all the potential causes of the event considering their valuable insights and experience.
Phase 4: Upon listing potential causes, facts about the problem should be gathered to help narrow down the actual potential causes and eliminate the ones that fail to explain the event.
Phase 5: Once the root cause or causes are identified, everyone involved in the meeting should discuss the next logical steps to take to remedy the problem and prevent its further occurring.
What Is the Effect of Performing Root Cause Analysis on Work Efficiency?
Root cause analysis provides the means and tools to find and eliminate problems. Most importantly, the method supports problem-solving with optimal use of resources which greatly impacts the overall work efficiency. By targeting the root causes of problems, and tackling all causal factors, the technique allows organizations to be more effective, and to increase their work efficiency. The logical process of capturing the root cause of a problem, the preventive nature of RCA, and the supporting real data are some of the key advantages which make the analysis model so appealing and successful.
To perform an effective root causes analysis, there are six main steps that you need to do.
Determine the Root Cause of the Problem
This is the time to identify as many causes as possible. The analysis team can use techniques such as the 5 Whys, Fishbone analysis, or Pareto chart to narrow down the potential underlying cause or causes of the problem and the major contributing factors. During this phase, stakeholders and other relevant teams should be involved.
What form does a Root Cause Analysis template take? What do these reports even look like?
This template structure can be stripped down and pumped up depending on the gravity and size of the problem. For instance, for simpler issues, your corrective reports won’t require as much detail. You want to record a short explanation, list the potential causes, and report why the solution was or was not successful.
For a more complex issue, the report will naturally be more detailed when it comes to recounting the problem, its defects, how often they occurred and why.
Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach used to eliminate business faults. It’s a method proven to provide organisations with both powerful and exceedingly efficient tools. These tools improve how corporations function on a day to day basis.
In a nutshell, Six Sigma is all about focusing on how a given project is managed and ensuring systematic improvement of this project, depending on your people management skills.
While the tongue-tying title Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology Root Cause Analysis report suggests something from a futuristic sci-fi saga, the report isn’t rocket science. It’s actually pretty easy to grasp.
‘DMAIC’ is an acronym which explains the various steps involved in effective business problem solving:
DM = Define and measure: This section attempts to understand the difference between what the original aim was and the actual outcome. In short, comparing the difference between expectation and result. For instance, what happened, when and where, and who was impacted. This can be done by analysing the difference between the VOC and the VOP, also known as the voice of the customer and the voice of the process.
A = Analyse: DMAIC analysis looks at using the above data to understand the cause-and-effect relationships. Figuring out the cause and its concomitant effect can help prevent the problem from recurring.
IM = Implement and control: The final two letters focus on what the potential solution to the problem is: what can be done and what are the benefits of this corrective action? Likewise, how can this solution be monitored in a way that prevents the problem from rearing its ugly head again in the future?
Ultimately, the goal of the Six Sigma Method is to identify as many factors as possible related to the root cause of the problem in the business.
Six Sigma Method
These can easily be made with an excel document, a flow chart or a simple word document. A flow chart of a Six Sigma Method might look a bit like this:
Here are a few more quick and easy to replicate examples of simple Root Cause Analysis templates. They can be made into neat lists or more structured diagrams to suit your own leadership style and management skills.
This is a design that divides ideas into suitable categories. The fishbone diagram is used to identify the different potential causes of a problem or an effect.
This is perhaps better known as a bar graph. The Pareto chart depicts factors according to their significance. To use Pareto Analysis, you need to identify and list the problems and their causes. Then, you can score each problem individually and group them together by their cause. This is a clear, visual way to compare various factors contributing to any given problem.
Scatter diagrams can be used to help you find the relationship between respective factors and influences. A scatter diagram charts numerical data pairs with a variable on each axis.
All these Root Cause Templates can be found online for free. They’re a fail-safe, goof-proof method that costs nothing.
But before you start hacking away at these templates, there are still a few things you need to consider first. One of them is the notorious 5 Whys worksheet. There isn’t really just one big why. There are multiple whys which we must ask ourselves in order to peel away the different layers of the problem to get to the root.
Five whys
There is nothing stopping any businessperson from using Root Cause Analysis templates. If you don’t have the time to put together a template, many can be accessed online for free. The templates are reliable, priceless additions to your business strategy. If used correctly and consistently, they could bring you significant, longstanding business enhancing results.
The 5 Whys
The 5 Whys method uses a series of questions to understand the layers of a problem. The idea is that each time you ask why, the answer you give becomes the fundamental of the next why until you find the sources of the problem. The 5 Whys is a simple tool used for problems where you don’t need any advanced data. This method is used to deeply analyze the results of a Pareto chart used in Six Sigma.
Solution, Recommendation, and Implementation
Next step upon establishing root causes and their prioritization is finding solutions to the problem and their implementation. Brainstorming is a great way to attempt and come up with a variety of potential solution scenarios. Another approach is interviewing as many people as possible. Gathering input as well as the implementation of the solution requires involvement from everyone. On one hand, every recommendation counts, and on the other, a successful implementation is the one that sticks with everyone affected.