By Jack Jager
If you are investigating an incident using Root Cause Analysis (RCA), what are the critical skills that you should possess as an RCA facilitator?
Here are five key skills that will help to make you a more effective facilitator.
1. Value all ideas equally
First of all, it is important to acknowledge all ideas – nothing is unimportant. Something that seems trivial now may hold a great deal of value later in the process. Discourage any negative feedback from the group. This, too, is a disincentive to proffer suggestions or ideas.
The goal of information gathering is to capture everything known about a problem, no matter where it fits into cause and effect relationships. Just by watching you write a comment on a yellow “stickie” or type into the holding area, the participants can see that you are acknowledging what they know. Later, if it fits in the cause and effect chart then it has value; if it doesn’t, then it will naturally fall off the chart.
Secondly, value each and every response, regardless of where it comes from. First and foremost, this will encourage a positive flow of information from participants. If the facilitator starts saying “No, that’s not right”, then people may think before speaking and slow the whole process down. They may even stop contributing to the discussion, censoring the information in their own minds and preventing it from being evaluated on its own merits. Similarly, if someone offers a suggestion which is ignored then participants can switch off – you have to be able to work rapidly or say, “Hold that thought while I finish writing this one”.
So remember … no put-downs allowed, from you or any other member of the group. Positive affirmation is the mode for the facilitator to get a productive session.
2. Be dynamic
As facilitator, you need to guide the direction of the group and yet still be alert for other cause paths that may crop up. You are the prime mover, controlling the focus of the group. Don’t be a bystander to the process. You are the conduit through which the group is interacting.
Ask questions that are as precise as possible. This will elicit better, more concise responses which make it easier to identify causes. Good questioning will also eliminate unnecessary discussion and storytelling from the group.
Once the information has been recorded, get the group to help you organise the information and then challenge the logic of the way that information is linked together. Your cause and effect chart needs to make sense – or it risks being challenged and disregarded by those who look at it.
Remember … being dynamic may not come easy or naturally, but it’s important to give it a go. In this mode, you should continually ask “why” questions.
3. Keep the analysis moving
Don’t let the investigation get bogged down in detail too soon. Get the first pass of the chart out and then refine it. If the first pass is a linear connection of causes, then so be it. Remember, this is the start of the cause and effect chart, not the finish.
A timeline is often a good place to start – ordering key events according to “when” they happened. Such a timeline does not address the question of “why”, but it could certainly initiate a more comprehensive search for causes.
Do not waste time at this point trying to judge or evaluate each cause. Simply ask “why” immediately after placing the cause on the chart to keep people focused and moving down a productive path.
Try not to allow individuals to dominate the analysis. Everyone is there for a purpose, and has information to contribute to the investigation. Ensure that all people have the opportunity to speak. Keep redirecting and asking for other inputs. If one group member is dominant, set some ground rules – try giving each participant a chance to say what they know in turn, working your way around the group.
Remember … adding the finer detail can happen later, but then the devil is always in the detail. The onus is therefore still on you to do this.
4. Be a good listener
Attentive listening skills are critical. You need to be able to hear more than one response at a time. Your ears should be like radar, picking up on all signals. Don’t miss a response while recording another. You need to record everything.
Being a good listener means keeping an open mind, suspending judgment, and maintaining a positive bias.
It also requires the efforts of the whole group – ask the group not to have discussions on the side, as they might come up with causes that should be included but may not be shared with the group. This will also help you to hear all responses more clearly.
Remember … delegating the recording of information could be useful if it will help you to listen more effectively.
5. Don’t profess to be an expert
Don’t profess to be the expert about the problem at hand. You were appointed to be the facilitator, an independent guide, without a vested interest in the outcome. Ask the others in the group to explain what they know so that everyone can follow and understand it. That is why they are there. Remember … you don’t hold all the answers. That isn’t why you are the facilitator or it shouldn’t be. A good facilitator plays dumb whilst still directing traffic and working the cause and effects paths to a reasonable stop point.
Conclusion
Every incident comes with its own challenges. Each time you facilitate, you will no doubt come up against a range of human behaviours, which you will have to manage.
It’s a great idea to debrief the process and your role in it with some of the people involved. They will no doubt provide valuable feedback that will help you improve.
Finally, have faith in the RCA process, and learn from each experience to build on your skills as a facilitator.
Read about the key steps in preparing for RCA success.
