What is root cause analysis?
Root cause analysis is the process to determine the true cause of the problem.
At first, it may seem obvious as to why a business problem occurred – for example, a piece of machinery stopped working because it ran out of fuel, or the project was completed past deadline because not enough staff were allocated to the assignment.
So next time, the obvious fix is applied, such as the machinery is refuelled at the start of the day or more staff are allocated to the project to prevent the same issue reoccurring.
However, fixing this problem without a second thought may only mask an underlying issue that does not prevent it from happening again – for example, the machinery may run out of fuel again, despite being refuelled at the start of the day; the next project may again run past deadline despite being well-staffed.
Employers can continue trying to fix the problems each time using the same solution.
However, the best way to save time and money long term is by looking beyond the initial fix and investigating beyond the obvious cause.
How to conduct root cause analysis
There are a few techniques that leaders can use to easily conduct root cause analysis.
The 5 whys of root cause analysis
Root cause analysis may not require hiring an expensive consultant to conduct an investigation, but may only need a business leader to ask the question ‘Why?’ five times to the relevant staff who are involved or responsible.
Rather than badgering employees in the hope their answer will change by repeatedly asking why the problem occurred, each time the question should be phrased to respond to the previous answer.
The first ‘Why?’ tends to bring the obvious answer – for example, the machinery ran out of fuel because it was not refuelled at the start of the day.
If we follow this example, the second ‘Why?’ may ask why the machinery was not refuelled, to which the response may be that the employee who is responsible for that task forgot to do so that day.
The third ‘Why?’ asked may identify that this task was not in the job description or duties checklist for that employee so it was overlooked.
It may then be asked why they are doing it – with the response perhaps being that they only started doing this task to help out another employee.
The final ‘Why?’ determines this other employee is overloaded with morning work tasks so they took the initiative to delegate to another employee, without communicating the change to their supervisor. However on this day, that process failed.
With the root cause identified, a solution may be to re-write job descriptions and re-assign tasks officially to better distribute the load.
Sometimes it may only take asking ‘Why?’ a couple of times, instead of five, to get to the root cause, and likewise sometimes it may take many more than five times to get to the root cause. Five times was deemed appropriate by the concept’s inventor, Sakichi Toyoda, who used it in his work as an industrialist in Japan in the 1930s.
Root cause analysis templates
Free online resources are available that can help leaders to visualise the process of root cause analysis in an easy-to-follow and organised layout.
Templates can be particularly useful when the root lies within data and analytics, rather than human error or machinery malfunction, such as comparing revenue with cash flow and staffing levels. Having a structure already in place can help investigators tick off the stages of analysis as they are completed and a clear direction on what to do next.
Templates also are useful when the problem is complex and may require the input of more than one employee to investigate, or when time is a factor, such as a deadline by which the problem needs to be solved. Having a templated plan of attack can help ensure all parties understand the process and stay on track.
The template may be in the form of a spreadsheet, fishbone diagram, flow chart or other planning tool – the user/s can choose the method that best suits them, or try different methods if the root cause remains elusive.
Conduct a team workshop
There may be times when there may be more than one root cause to a problem, or those found to be at fault insist they are being hindered by outside factors.
For example, the fault may appear to lie at the hands of one department, but employees insist that its work is being constrained by a different department.
At other times, the data may point to a root cause but the data is not analysed or viewed objectively.
Conducting a team workshop can better facilitate discussion and communication, as well as bring extra sets of eyes to truly uncover the cause.
It may also lead to more solutions being offered, as more angles are considered.
When conducting the workshop, it is best to outline a clear agenda beforehand to ensure attendees can arrive prepared as well as to schedule the workshop with enough lead time for all participants to gather appropriate information. This also ensures discussions and decisions are not impulsive or reactive.
It also can help to designate a workshop facilitator who can help to keep discussions on track and try to get the problem resolved within the time allocated to the meeting.
It may also be useful for business leaders to ensure that one employee or department is not blamed in these workshops. The focus should remain only on identifying the root cause and to find improvements to prevent it from reoccurring.
When to dive into root cause analysis techniques
On many occasions it will be obvious when root cause analysis techniques should be undertaken – such as when machinery fails – but there may be many instances when it is not so clear.
It is often because the root cause of the problem was not identified the first time it occurred. For example, a leader thought they had found the cause and provided a solution, but they had not dug deep enough.
It may only take a manager or supervisor having a case of deja vu to go back to the drawing board, and perhaps this time try a different root cause analysis technique.
At other times, it may be an annual review that alerts business leaders that a problem has been occurring for a long period of time and gone unnoticed, or has escalated over time.
Root cause analysis can be used to determine the reasons behind successes, too. For example, a project may have been finished in half the usual time, so there may be learnings that can be taken on board in future that can increase productivity or bring in more revenue.
What to do once the root cause is identified
In most cases, putting together a plan to tackle the problem or change processes will address the root cause.
However, it may be that once the root cause is discovered, the cost of the actions required to remedy it in terms of time, money or staffing may outweigh the cost of dealing with the problem temporarily.
For example, the cost of the fine or compensation for not meeting a project deadline may be less than the cost to hire extra workers temporarily to complete it on time.
However, this is not common, so it is best to always undertake root cause analysis when a problem arises, rather than assuming it is too expensive to fix.
Only by finding the true cause can decisions be made on whether, and how, to rectify them.
