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64 I ICT TODAY BOOST YOUR ICT EDUCATION ONLINE Prepare for your next ICT learning experience online through BICSI CONNECT. LEARN MORE The diversity of an organization is a significant factor in the success of its RCA practice. Even within the same educational framework, men and women think and act differently. Old and young have different viewpoints, education, and experiences. Times change, things change, and people change. Incorporating multiple perspectives and actors is an excellent catalyst if expecting the organi- zation to evolve. Each of these individuals is equally important for the RCA outcome, testing, validation, and innovation. Remember, customers are not homogenous; the RCA efforts should not be either. Monitor and Iterate Assuming the team has identified the root cause and potential solution(s), it is time to put the plans in motion. The time commitment should not stop at the solution documentation. Companies need to allow time to mon- itor the outcomes. For simple results, follow-up may be as early as a 30-day meeting. For more complex actions, iterations and follow-ups may take longer. At this stage, the key players on the RCA team will need to reconvene and evaluate expected outcomes against reality. Did the proposed solution work? If not, why? How can it be made better? There is no fixed period or frequency for this stage, although it certainly should not go on indefinitely. When the initial root cause is deemed "solved," other opportunities may Sometimes problems are cumulative, and one leads to another. Without the benefit of past documentation, a company may have to start over, leading to wasted time and frustration with the entire RCA process. Logging can be a formal system, which is recom- mended, or folders and notes. Regardless of the logging format chosen, it should document the team involved, root cause inputs, brainstorming notes, milestones, decisions, and testing notes. Where corrective actions lead to other measures, the handoff should be clear. For instance, if an RCA identifies a new procedure that needs adding to a business continuity plan, it should be noted to whom that task was assigned and ideally an acknowledgment of completion when done. On the other hand, firm completion dates that are not RCA processes should be attributed to outside projects. As such, the RCA team needs to have the autonomy and authority to work with management for required external tasks. In addition, a company may consider presentations to management as the final close of the process. Closeout actions are certainly discretionary, but this extra step of executive involvement can lead to continued top-down support for future efforts. These exercises should be con- sidered closed loop at their conclusion in all cases. While an RCA may need review once closed, a new incident should trigger a new RCA, and the prior RCA may be a simple input to the new. come to light throughout the process. This is where innovation lives. RCA actions often feed inno- vation. Consider the expression "Necessity is the mother of inven- tion." While further developments and innovations are not technically part of the RCA process, they are certainly a welcome by-product. Log Everything! As with anything worth doing, it is worth doing write (pun intended). Logging the process and outcomes is critical. For starters, it may be neces- sary to revisit in a few years, and the personnel involved may change.