Understanding root cause analysis

 The majority of businesses can answer most questions and complete reports using data from internal systems. But not all are using all the available data to drive improvements with sound business decisions. A lot of businesses today are failing or succeeding just from how good they are at reacting to customer demands. The feedback of clients and customers has a lot of value and when a business is not using root cause analysis tools to capture and use customer insight they are missing out. They are also losing out on an advantage they could gain over their competition. As a result, RCA has become one of the top strategies in business data and initiatives.

RCA meaning

RCA or Root Cause Analysis is a means of problem-solving where the root cause of a business problem is identified and solved, rather than just trying to resolve the symptoms of the problem. This way the problem and its symptoms are less likely to return. It is the best tool to achieve continuous improvement. After practicing it on a regular basis in your business it can become a pro-active method where you see the problems coming before they do and you can prevent them.

RCA schools of thought

There are a number of different philosophies, root cause analysis tools and approaches. Some of the broader schools of thought are;

• Process - A form of RCA based on production covering business processes
• Safety - Analysing standards and accidents in terms of health and safety
• Systems - Combines a selection of RCA schools including risk management, change management and system analysis
• Production - In relation to quality control with industrial manufacturing businesses
• Failure - In the areas of maintenance and engineering you analyze the failures to learn from them

While there are different schools of RCA they are all based on the same basic understanding. That improved performance is best seen when you tackle the root cause of any problem. Root cause analysis should be systematically undertaken and the causes documented, keeping in mind that a problem might have more than one cause to discover and solve.

Conclusion

Effective root cause analysis process flow is reliant on the business collecting all relevant data to better ensure that real insight can be made from it. Customer feedback should be recorded effectively and analyzed quickly so that corrective actions can be put in place sooner. When a business undertakes this well, you will eventually see that the volume of customer complaints lowers and that customers overall find they are having a better quality experience than ever before. Brand loyalty goes up, they recommend you to more friends, revenues go up and profits go up. Both you and your customers are happier as a result of well-implemented RCA. It leads to more intelligent strategies that are about specific actions and making real change in an organization or business. It is more successful and efficient than operational reporting. With the right tools and technology to support you any business can benefit.