Webinar Archives
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Losing weight is a common resolution people make at the start of a new year. Some people say their weight gain was because they ate too much. Others say they didn’t move enough. In both instances, there’s a cause-and-effect relationship. When discussing a problem, people within your company give different answers to the same Why question. This is normal. Organizing all that information into a clear picture that’s been validated with evidence is what an effective root cause analysis does.

Your team has completed an investigation – now what? This Webinar discusses specific ways to evaluate and improve Cause Mapping incident investigations, including tying investigations to work processes, using logical cause-and-effect reasoning, ensuring adequate evidence, and making a plan for implementing effective action items. We review 5 checkpoints to be used to evaluate an incident investigation.

This free webinar explains how to facilitate an investigation with a multidisciplinary team and provides some helpful documentation tips you can begin applying in your group. When a big problem happens there’s a lot of information that needs to be collected. It may involve multiple people from different groups. Typically, there’s not one person who knows all the various pieces. Each person may see the problem from their own point of view, but a thorough root cause analysis reveals how all the parts fit together. All the information about the problem, whether it’s collected in group meetings or one-on-one conversations, needs to be validated and organized. Seemingly small details at the outset may be extremely important. This complete understanding is essential for preventing future incidents from occurring.

A problem in your business can be thought of as an “information knot.” Different people from different departments each know part of the problem. The facilitator collects and organizes all of the details in an incident. He or she essentially untangles the knot to provide a complete explanation of what happened and why. An effective facilitator provides clarity. Sometimes people think of a facilitator as the person who leads meetings, but a root cause analysis facilitator manages the entire investigation process. It starts from the time an incident occurs and continues through the analysis and documentation, to the implementation of solutions and the communication of lessons learned. This Webinar explains the basics of facilitation and the role it plays in understanding and preventing problems in your business.

The fishbone cause-and-effect diagram is recognized as a standard quality tool around the world. Working from Ishikawa’s original idea, there are five lessons that can improve the way people define a problem, dissect the causes and discover effective solutions.

We are all human and therefore must acknowledge that as humans, we are prone to making mistakes. Labeling a problem simply as a case of Human Error is self-evident and shortsighted. Most concerning is that it misleads you from the ultimate purpose of your investigation. Instead, we are stuck with generic action items such as Don't mess up, Be more careful, or Follow the procedure that do little to reduce risk. If you have seen any of these as an output from an investigation then you are all too familiar with this shortcoming. During this webinar, we will challenge some of the conventional methods used to investigate human error that tend to focus on the human condition and leave you little to work with. Instead, we will demonstrate what to focus on during your investigation so that you can improve reliability in spite of the fact that we as humans err.

This webinar is intended for managers and executives interested in establishing a systematic approach for investigating and preventing problems in their department or across their business unit. It will discuss the application of the Cause Mapping method from front-line problem solving to complete investigations of major incidents.

Do you want to see the forest or the trees? One of the questions we get often is, “How much detail is enough for my root cause analysis?” If there’s not enough detail, it’s easy to miss important elements within the incident. With too much detail, the investigation will get bogged down with trivial issues - wasting time and frustrating those involved. Because problems in your organization are different severities, different problems need to be worked at different levels. If your company has a one size fits all approach, you will under analyze some problems and overanalyze others. This webinar will explain how your investigations can begin simple, then expand, as needed, into a more complete explanation to reveal a variety of different solutions options.

In the problem-solving realm, there is a commonly cited adage that a problem well defined is a problem half solved. This saying highlights both the importance and challenge of a good problem definition. Unfortunately, we see many problem-solving efforts struggle with this critical step of problem-solving. The result is often disagreements, wasted time, and missed opportunities to solve the problem.

How does an organization reduce errors in their operations? There are different schools of thoughts on preventing human error and improving human performance. This webinar covers how the Cause Mapping method is used to investigate errors people make. It will explain different types of errors and provide simple approaches for minimizing human error within your organization.

Learn how to become better at solving problems in your job! During this Webinar, we’ll demonstrate the Cause Mapping method, as well as answer your specific questions about our approach to root cause analysis. The Cause Mapping method is evidence-based cause-and-effect and can be used on day-to-day issues as well as catastrophic incidents. Anyone wanting to become a more effective manager or team member can benefit from this discussion. Take away practical tips that can be implemented immediately!

This Webinar demonstrates the use of the Cause Mapping method of root cause analysis to investigate workplace injuries. We’ll look at burns, contamination, slips/trips/falls and the most common, hand injuries, to better understand the factors influencing workplace injuries, how to effectively investigate these injuries, and how to reduce the number of injuries in the workplace.

The ability to solve problems is a valuable skill. Being able to solve problems remotely is more valuable now than ever before. In our Live Remote Facilitation, one of our ThinkReliability instructors will demonstrate how to facilitate an incident without stepping foot on-site or speaking to someone face-to-face. See how to apply the Cause Mapping® method of root cause analysis immediately to your organization’s incidents with tools you already have–whether your team is working from home, from the office or a combination of the two.

The ability to solve problems is a valuable skill. Being able to solve problems remotely is more valuable now than ever before. In our Live Remote Facilitation, instructor and facilitator Renata Martinez works through a conveyor system injury submitted by a client—without stepping foot on-site or speaking to anyone face-to-face. In fact, the client will be interviewed live, during the session, to demonstrate the effectiveness of remote problem-solving. Using this industrial example, see how to apply the Cause Mapping® method of root cause analysis immediately to your organization’s incidents with tools you already have–whether your team is working from home, from the office or a combination of the two.

When a problem occurs in a company, it’s important to understand exactly how it happened. Organizations with a blame mentality typically have a difficult time getting details. People with first-hand information are less likely to share facts if they think it will result in disciplinary action, in short, because they don’t want to lose their jobs. Organizations focused on prevention have to make it easier for employees to share what they know so that the analysis is accurate. Management may believe that a prevention focus undermines accountability, but it doesn’t have to. A bias for prevention can actually help define accountability, especially if the specifics within a particular work process have not been clearly defined. In that case, the people closest to the work will have to be involved in both the problem investigation and the solutions. This Webinar covers the basic differences between these opposing approaches and explains the benefits of establishing a prevention culture.

The hierarchy of controls consists of five levels for mitigating hazards. The intent is to help organizations determine the most effective way to manage risk. The hierarchy provides a preferred order for prevention. In this webinar, we'll cover the important insights within the hierarchy of controls and some of the concerns practitioners have when applying the model.

This presentation, for both you and your managers, clarifies the connection between risk, reliability and root cause analysis. These three topics can sometimes be vague theories rather than concrete disciplines. Companies inadvertently make problem-solving too complicated. Six-week quality programs that leave people confused, 300 puzzling “cause codes” and frustrating investigations are not just counterproductive, they can be detrimental. It can erode the effectiveness of an organization. Your problems are confusing enough; your problem-solving tools shouldn’t make it worse. Employees who are inundated with techniques, methods and software can lose track of the basics. All problem-solving efforts should be focused on your company’s goals with a bias toward principles.

Organizations apply a variety of tools to solve problems, improve operations and increase reliability—many times without success. Why? More than likely, they make one or a combination of six common errors. Overcoming these errors involves knowing why they happen and how to prevent them. Armed with this knowledge, both employees and managers can improve problem-solving in any organization.

Root cause analysis (RCA) is typically used for investigating why a problem did occur so that specific solutions can be implemented to prevent it from occurring again. Failure modes effect analysis (FMEA) is used to understand how a problem could happen in the future, to identify what actions should be taken to prevent it. Connecting these two approaches can improve the way your organization dissects and prevents problems.

Understand How to Untangle a Big Problem: A Titanic Problem in your organization is one of those big issues that consists of many little things. All of those little things, when they occur on their own are relatively minor, but when they happen together results in a major incident. A thorough root cause analysis provides a clear explanation of how and why a problem occurred. It untangles the incident to create a much clearer understanding of the details. This makes it easier to identify specific solutions. Big problems are solved by recognizing the little things that can be done to mitigate risk. This Webinar explains a consistent approach for working big and small issues in your business.

If you have already attended one of our Excel Documentation Webinars, then you’ve learned how to use the different drawing functions in Excel to build a Cause Map within the Cause Mapping Template. During this 45 minute webinar, we are going to show you how to get the most out of your Cause Mapping Template when it comes to documenting a COMPLETE investigation. In addition to the Cause Map, a complete investigation can include a timeline, visual aids such as photos and diagrams, and a detailed action plan. Using an actual incident, we will demo what a complete Cause Mapping Investigation file contains. We’ll also send you a copy of the Cause Map file to reference during your future Cause Map investigations.

During this Webinar, you’ll learn more about the basic elements for establishing a comprehensive root cause analysis program: the method; measurements; roles in the investigation process; facilitation, documentation & storage; and review of the entire program.

The Swiss cheese model of accident causation is a conceptual model that visually represents how a high severity problem is comprised of a system of breakdowns within an organization. Its value lies in its ability to demonstrate that a problem must pass through “layers of protection” that organizations have already designed and built into their systems and processes. This webinar will explain the important lessons within the model, address criticism, and highlight the most important takeaways that are often overlooked. We will demonstrate how to leverage the valuable lessons the model reveals on risk and reliability into real-world application for your organization.

This webinar shows an investigation of a truck backing into an overhead door. As with all our investigations, the analysis begins very simply with just a few why questions. It then expands into a more thorough explanation of exactly how the incident occurred. In this case, we’ll review a 5-Why and a 15-Why Cause Map™ diagram. Understanding how to reactively dissect this type of incident reveals specific solutions that help organizations reduce risk in other areas of their operations.