Always Look at the Beginning (for What Troubles You)

In my career, I often have been tasked with solving challenging business problems. After reviewing the issue and walking the process, one thing I always found is, the root cause is usually at the beginning.

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A few examples:

• A large contact center had thousands of calls route through a complex option list and forcing customers to often be bounced around until they could get the right team to assist. The root cause was not understanding that customer needs are often too complex for a simple decision tree. The initial gap was the lack of knowledge of potential customer needs.
• A giant software company was building a series of software applications but found challenges with conflicts and overlap. The root cause was the lack of a solid plan on how to coordinate everyone’s individual application. The problem came from missing coordination of individuals.
• An enterprise procurement program ran into challenges when the software programmers had completed all their work and ready for the next phase but found the business leaders had not planned for next steps. The root cause was a misalignment of the original strategy. The problem was the lack of understanding the end goal.
• A smaller call center responsibility included routing customer calls to various areas of the company. As this became a significant choke point, many calls had long wait times. The root cause was the routing to one phone number instead of supplying the choice to select the intended destination. The initial issue was the phone number routing loaded in the system.

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Regardless of their scale, these issues required timely and effective resolution to maintain productivity and competitiveness. I found a great approach was to walk the overall process, capture where the process seemed to stall and understand why. The beginning of the process is usually the root cause of the problem and often the rest of the work involved attempts to mitigate.

Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Examining the beginning of a process to find the root cause of a problem also fosters a culture of continuous improvement. This approach encourages the team to look beyond quick fixes and develop a deeper understanding of the processes they work with. It promotes a mindset where the focus is on systemic changes and improvements rather than short-term solutions.

This mindset is critical for long-term business success. When your team consistently analyze and address the root causes of problems, they contribute to the overall improvement of processes, ?systems and likely an improved customer experience. This continuous improvement leads to increased efficiency, higher quality outputs, and a more agile organization capable of adapting to changes and challenges.

Prevent the Recurrence of Issues

Another significant advantage of identifying the root cause is the prevention of issue recurring. When your team implements solutions that address only the symptoms, the same problem is likely to resurface in the future. This cycle can lead to frustration, wasted resources, and a loss of trust among your stakeholders.

By finding and addressing the root cause, your team can implement more effective and sustainable solutions. This proactive approach not only resolves the current issue but also strengthens the process, making it less susceptible to similar problems in the future. For instance, if a sales team experiences a drop in performance, a solution might involve additional training or incentives. However, by examining the initial stages of the sales process, such as lead generation or customer targeting strategies, the team might identify more fundamental issues that, once resolved, will lead to sustained improvements in performance.

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Examining the beginning of a process often finds the root cause of your problem. This approach ensures accurate diagnosis, fosters a culture of continuous improvement, and prevents the recurrence of issues. By adopting this approach, your team can develop more effective and sustainable solutions, leading to improved processes, higher quality outputs, and greater overall efficiency.

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