5 whys proforma

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 management style. 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. 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 are multiple whys which we must ask ourselves in order to peel away the different layers of the problem to get to the root.

The Root Cause Analysis formate can only effective if we ask ourselves the right questions. Example: Within our analysis, we discover that our fancy new sales slide deck was actually an unrelated factor, but the fact it was the end of the quarter was definitely a contributing factor. However, one factor was identified as the most likely root cause: the sales lead for the area moved to a new apartment with a shorter commute, meaning that she started showing up to meetings with clients 10 minutes earlier during the last week of the quarter.

Example: While not everyone can move to a new apartment, our organisation decides that if Sales reps show up an extra 10 minutes earlier to client meetings in the final week of a quarter, they may be able to replicate this root cause success.

Another common technique is creating a fishbone diagram, also called an Ishikawa diagram , to visually map cause and effect. This can help identify possible causes for a problem by encouraging us to follow categorical branched paths to potential causes until we end up at the right one.

Typically we start with the problem in the middle of the diagram the spine of the fish skeleton , then brainstorm several categories of causes, which are then placed in off-shooting branches from the main line the rib bones of the fish skeleton. After grouping the categories, we break those down into the smaller parts. As we dig deeper into potential causes and sub-causes, questioning each branch, we get closer to the sources of the issue.

We can use this method to eliminate unrelated categories and identify correlated factors and likely root causes. For the sake of simplicity, carefully consider the categories before creating a diagram. Ask questions to clarify information and bring us closer to answers. The more we can drill down and interrogate every potential cause, the more likely we are to find a root cause. Once we believe we have identified the root cause of the problem and not just another symptom , we can ask even more questions: Why are we certain this is the root cause instead of that?

How can we fix this root cause to prevent the issue from happening again? Getting input from others will also offer additional points of view, helping us to challenge our assumptions. Take notes. Ask questions about the analysis process itself. Find out if a certain technique or method works best for your specific business needs and environments.

Root cause analysis is a great tool for figuring out where something went wrong. We typically use RCA as a way to diagnose problems but it can be equally as effective to find the root cause of a success. This kind of analysis can help prioritise and preemptively protect key factors, and we might be able to translate success in one area of business to success in another area.

Root cause analysis explained with examples and methods. So what is root cause analysis? Goals and benefits The first goal of root cause analysis is to discover the root cause of a problem or event. Core principles There are a few core principles that guide effective root cause analysis, some of which should already be apparent. Diagrams illustrating cause-and-effect relationships may also be included as part of the analysis. Excel Word PDF. This root cause analysis report template allows for a detailed examination of the event.

It also allows you to record a description of the event itself, the timeline, the investigative team, and the methods used.

Watch the demo to see how you can more effectively manage your team, projects, and processes with real-time work management in Smartsheet. Watch a free demo. Excel PDF. This is a more stripped-down version of the root cause analysis template above. It allows you to record a short explanation of the issue or problem, list potential root causes and possible solutions, and report whether or not those solutions were successful.

It prescribes its own approach to analyzing and investigating root causes. This root cause analysis template walks you through each of the steps above, and allows you to enter information about the root cause action plan, resolution, and investigative team. A 5 Why root cause analysis template is used to conduct a particular type of root cause investigation. You can also note corrective actions that will be taken to prevent the problem from recurring.