Devising a strategy or strategies in determining how to streamline and improve the workflow process is the next step in the workflow planning process. The team will determine how this will be done using a root cause analysis - to determine why workflow needs improvement. The basic process of root cause analysis is to:
- Define the problem or the factual description of each step in a workflow
- Collect data and evidence
- Ask the "Why?" questions
- Classify the causes discovered
- Devise corrective actions or improvements
There are a number of root cause strategies that can be used. Two tools that can be used independently or combined are the "Five Whys" (also known as "5 Whys") technique and the Ishikawa diagram (fishbone diagram). 6,7
