Analyse the root cause with the team
Find out with the team why a problem happens, before jumping to a solution.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- It does not recur every month
- Elmira today
- On the way
- Frequency
- Per project
- Who does it today
- Engineer, Senior
- Version
- Elmira Junior
What hurts today.
People jump to a solution without knowing the cause.
The analysis stays on a flip chart nobody looks at again.
It depends on an expert facilitator being available.
With the problem defined with data, the team looks for its possible causes, with an Ishikawa diagram or by asking why until it reaches the bottom, and checks with data which one is the root. It is the step most often skipped, and that is why problems come back.
Done today with
- Expert
- In-person meeting
- Paper and whiteboard
- Spreadsheet
- Email and chat
- Slides
- Statistics software
Each step, today and with Elmira.
Not yet. With the Value Office, the app structures it in the Problem playbook, with AI help in the editor.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| Bring together the people who know the process | Email and chat, In-person meeting15 min – 30 min | Still by hand |
| List the possible causes with the team (Ishikawa) | In-person meeting, Paper and whiteboard30 min – 1 h | Comes with the value office |
| Ask why until reaching the root (5 whys) | Expert, In-person meeting30 min – 1 h | Comes with the value office |
| Check the cause with data | Spreadsheet, Statistics software30 min – 2 h | Still by hand |
| Write up and share the analysis | Slides15 min – 45 min | Comes with the value office |
The conversation
No example conversation: the Obeyaka web app does it, or it comes later.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of problem solving
- Gather the problems people on the floor reportWhat is said in the hallway reaches nobody.
- Spot the problems in the indicators’ deviationsPeople react to every number that drops, and none gets solved.
- Keep the list of open problems and their statusThe list lives apart from the plan, and goes stale.