Home 
 1. Overview - What is Problem Management 
 What is Problem Management? 
 Who uses Problem Management? 
 Why use Problem Management 
 How Problem Management works 
 What does Problem Management cost? 
 2. Guide - How to implement Problem Management 
 Define what needs to be done to implement Problem ...  
 Prepare to implement Problem Management 
 The Problem Management implementation plan 
 Problem Management post implementation review 
 Roles and responsibilities in Problem Management 
 Problem Management resources 
 3. Operations Guide to Problem Management 
 How to operate Problem Management 
 When does Problem Management occur? 
 Who carries out Problem Management? 
 Problem Management resources 
 Problem Management reports 
 4. Problem Management toolkit 
 Problem Management checklist 
 Problem Management process 
 Using problem analysis tools 
 The Problem Management implementation plan 
 Sample document to users about the introduction of...  
  Incident diagnostics 
 5. Roles and responsibilities of Problem Management 
 DW1157_3 Roles and responsibilities in Problem Man...  
 Who uses Problem Management? 
 6. Review of Problem Management  
 Recap of Problem Management  
 Checklist  
Using problem analysis tools
Fishbone diagram Root cause analysis
  • Beware of overloading yourself with tools that you cannot use easily.
  • Beware of thinking that you can solve all problems if you have the right tool.
  • Beware of making all problems a mathematical issue and inventing models and diagrams to explain your theory!
  • Remember that there is a cost associated with the time spent on problem solving, so use problem solving for expensive issues!

  • This is the process of finding the real cause of a problem and dealing with it rather than simply continuing to deal with the symptoms.
  • It seeks to identify the reason for the failure by asking lots of questions and determining if changing an event early on in the chain of events could have prevented the failure.
  • Ways to implement the change are decided and actioned through the Change Management process.

Error code look-up
This is where you find out what a displayed error code means. Often the user manual or technical manual cannot be found or it does not detail the error codes of the software. Before the Internet became so useful, the user or technician could not find out easily what the error meant.

Using search engines you can lookup the error code, the model of the equipment and the operating system to get a filtered response that may guide you towards the reason for the error.

This diagram, also referred to as a cause-and-effect diagram or tree diagram displays the factors that affect a particular quality characteristic, outcome, or problem.  The end product is typically the result of a brainstorming session in which members of a group offer ideas on how to improve a product, process or service. The trunk of the diagram represents the main goal, and primary factors are represented as branches. Secondary factors are then added as stems, and so on. Creating the diagram stimulates discussion and often leads to increased understanding of a complex problem.

Fishbone diagram
graphic
Root cause analysis
Root Cause Analysis
Reproduced by kind permission of Gene Bellinger, OutSights [http://www.outsights.com]
This article appeared on a website and shows two ways to look at the same problem. Scenario 2 using root cause analysis.
Scenario # 1
The Plant Manager walked into the pant and found oil on the floor. He called the Foreman over and told him to have maintenance clean up the oil. The next day while the Plant Manager was in the same area of the plant he found oil on the floor again and he subsequently raked the Foreman over the coals for not following his directions from the day before. His parting words were to either get the oil cleaned up or he'd find someone that would.
Scenario # 2
The Plant Manager walked into the plant and found oil on the floor. He called the Foreman over and asked him why there was oil on the floor. The Foreman indicated that it was due to a leaky gasket in the pipe joint above. The Plant Manager then asked when the gasket had been replaced and the Foreman responded that Maintenance had installed 4 gaskets over the past few weeks and they each one seemed to leak. The Foreman also indicated that Maintenance had been talking to Purchasing about the gaskets because it seemed they were all bad. The Plant Manager then went to talk with Purchasing about the situation with the gaskets. The Purchasing Manager indicated that they had in fact received a bad batch of gaskets from the supplier. The Purchasing Manager also indicated that they had been trying for the past 2 months to try to get the supplier to make good on the last order of 5,000 gaskets that all seemed to be bad. The Plant Manager then asked the Purchasing Manager why they had purchased from this supplier if they were so disreputable and the Purchasing Manager said because they were the lowest bidder when quotes were received from various suppliers. The Plant Manager then asked the Purchasing Manager why they went with the lowest bidder and he indicated that was the direction he had received from the VP of Finance. The Plant Manager then went to talk to the VP of Finance about the situation. When the Plant Manager asked the VP of Finance why Purchasing had been directed to always take the lowest bidder the VP of Finance said, "Because you indicated that we had to be as cost conscious as possible!" and purchasing from the lowest bidder saves us lots of money. The Plant Manger was horrified when he realized that he was the reason there was oil on the plant floor. Bingo!

You may find scenario # 2 somewhat funny, and laugh at the situation. It would be better if the situation made you weep because it is often all so true in numerous variations on the same theme. Everyone in the organization doing their best to do the right things, and everything ends up messed up. The root cause of this whole situation is local optimisation with no global thought involved.
Scenario # 2 also provides a good example of how one should proceed to do root cause analysis. One simply has to continue to ask "Why?" until the pattern completes and the cause of the difficulty in the situation becomes rather obvious.
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