Root Cause Analysis
A root cause analysis takes place when something unexpected happens in a project or immediately following the resolution of problems that a company is facing. These unexpected events could be: a health and safety failure, a serious delay in the schedule, a major customer complaint or an internal resourcing problem.
Action-Fraction will provide a facilitated workshop or meeting with the key team members to uncover the root cause so that an action plan and preventative measures can be put into place. Keeping a focus on what problem we are trying to solve and who was affected by the problem, we will use a five why’s technique to steer the workshop to conclusions.
The purpose of the workshop is to learn and improve from the issue, it is not to assign blame. For each problem or issue we will look to ask:
Why did it happen?
Why was it not prevented?
Why did our processes not work in this case?
We provide an interactive session to look at five levels of analysis until the attendees are at a human or system level problem.
Action-Fraction will then help you to brainstorm solutions for each of the problems identified. For root cause analysis to be a success, the solutions should be assigned to someone for action. If all the solutions are actioned it will prevent the problem happening again.
The entire process will be documented and shared with the project sponsor and team. We also recommend that the results are shared within the wider business to diffuse knowledge throughout the business and provide evidence that the team is taking problems seriously.
Why conduct a root cause analysis?
To eliminate waste in the business
Prevent mistakes being replicated
Utilise resources better
Save time and energy on activities that do not work
Eliminate common mistakes and errors
Engage team members to take ownership