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By Kevin Stewart

With all the preparation work (Honing your Facilitation Skills: Part 1) behind you, you’re now ready to start facilitating an Apollo Root Cause Analysis. Follow the steps below to ensure a smooth process and successful outcome.

  
Step 1. Introductions  

First, do some simple introductions and housekeeping. Cover things like:  

• Introductions all around
• The meeting guidelines: when to take breaks, phone and email policy, and so on
• The objective: we’re here to fix the problem, not appoint blame
• A review of the Apollo Root Cause Analysis methodology for those who may not be familiar with it (spend 15 – 45 minutes depending on the audience)
• Your role as facilitator: you may need to ‘direct traffic’ or change the direction of discussions to help them discover more causes or to reach effective solutions

Step 2. Timeline

It’s now time to capture the ‘story’. What has happened that brought you all here? Get several people to provide a narrative, and develop a timeline of events as you go.  

This timeline will prove very useful. It should reveal the event or issue that becomes your primary effect or starting point – and ensures that all the items beyond this starting point capture the group’s issues.    

In the example below, if I start from T1 I’ll discover why I left my iPad in the bathroom.  However if I start at T7 I will also discover why my check process didn’t function as desired.

While the time that each event occurs is important, it might not always be known. In these instances, you can represent the time sequence as simply T1, T2 and so on.

Step 3. Define the problem

You’re now ready to define the problem. Often, the problem definition comes out easily and everyone agrees. However, sometimes you’ll find that the group can’t arrive at a Primary Effect. In this case, as facilitator, it’s your job to regroup and ask some questions about why everyone is interested. Often, it’s about money.

One thing you don’t want to do is get stuck trying to find the perfect starting point. I’m reminded of a saying I heard once:

Dear Optimist and Pessimist,

While you were trying to decide if the glass was half empty or half full, I drank it!

Sincerely,

The Realist

The Apollo Root Cause Analysis methodology is robust enough to handle an imperfect starting point. If the problem changes or evolves as you go, just put it down as the new starting point, adjust the chart and go on!

Now that you have a defined problem, with its significance well understood, you’re now ready to start the charting process. The team should also know by now why they’re here, and how much time and money can be spent on the investigation. 

If you missed Part 1 of this article, you can read it here.

Would you like to learn more about the Apollo Root Cause Analysis methodology? Our 2 Day Root Cause Analysis Facilitators course is perfect for anyone needing to understand fundamental problem solving processes and how to facilitate an effective investigation.

You’ve investigated an incident, and now it’s time to write up your report. This report should document what you’ve found, and the corrective actions needed to prevent recurrence or mitigate the problem to an acceptable level.

At the heart of a good report is a strong, clear executive summary.

What does an executive summary look like? Is it a dot point affair? Is it a few one-liners that capture the critical elements of the issue? Or do you tell a story that recreates everything? Is it something in-between?

While it is certainly not the case that “one size fits all” – particularly given that different companies have different needs and policies – there are some golden rules that can be applied in crafting the perfect executive summary.

Be brief.

An executive summary should be brief and to the point. Yet it must still convey critical information, such as:

• The cause and effect paths identified in the investigation
• Lessons about the causal relationships culminating in the incident
• Rationale behind why certain corrective actions have been recommended

It should only take a few minutes to read. For a manager whose time is precious – and hence will likely not read the full report – the executive summary is their insight into the full investigation.

Be factual, but clear.

An executive summary should be factual, yet written for easy reading.

Everyone should be able to understand it, so avoid words that confuse people. Stick to clear, simple language that is easily read and interpreted.

Avoid ambiguity and generic language, which may lead to alternate interpretations of the information. For example, citing “mechanical failure” could refer to any or all mechanical failures. A root cause analysis targets a very specific failure – a seized motor, for instance – which has very specific causes.

An example: “… a temporary loss of cognitive function.”

An ore truck, fully laden with coal, was driving out of a mine. The engine “died” and the ore truck rolled backwards, hit a bank and flipped over. There was considerable damage but no injuries.

An investigation was launched, and a report produced. This report stated that “the driver had a temporary loss of cognitive function.”

This is not clear. What actually happened was that the driver fell asleep. Why didn’t they just say that in the report? Perhaps the report’s writer was trying to protect the driver from undue criticism. Yet, of course the driver didn’t mean to fall asleep.

The purpose of an investigation is not to point the finger, but to prevent a recurrence. So instead of focusing on “who”, a “why” question is needed in this example to elicit more specific, factual responses.

Avoid technical jargon.

Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that everyone will be able to follow your technical or task-specific jargon. Likewise with abbreviations or acronyms. Try to avoid this type of language.

Instead, write the report for a non-technical audience. This will make it easier for a broader readership to interpret and make sense of it, and reduce the number of questions you field once the report is published.

Use “caused by” language.

With reference to the cause and effect chart you created during the investigation, use “caused by” language to join the causes together. So A was caused by B and C; B is caused by D, E and F; and C was caused by G and H (where the letters represent the causes depicted in the chart).

This approach is simplistic, and deliberately so. It summarises the chart in a language that is easy to follow. It is factual and gets to the point. It avoids “storytelling” and the different interpretations that come from such an approach.

In summary

By following the advice above, you will find that an executive summary is quick and easy to read – and doesn’t take long to write, either.

Be aware that every organisation’s needs are different, and yours may have specific rules around what an executive summary should contain. If you have no template to follow, then use the advice above to craft the perfect executive summary for your investigation.