Root Cause Analysis Workflow

What happens if the corrective actions are found not effective during the effectiveness review?

The analysis lead records the effectiveness review outcome and notes on their task. If the outcome is 'Not effective', the workflow automatically restarts from the investigation task so the investigation team can revisit contributing factors and root cause. This keeps the case open and moving rather than being closed prematurely.

What happens if the quality manager rejects the completed analysis?

When the quality manager's decision is 'rejected', the workflow routes back to restart the investigation task rather than proceeding to closure. This gives the investigation team another pass at contributing factors, root cause, and actions before the case comes back for quality review.

Can this handle cases where the investigation team needs to change after the case is created?

The analysis lead's task for forming the investigation team records the team members on the case record before analysis begins. If the team needs to change later, a workspace admin or the analysis lead can update the workflow's steps in the workflow editor, or the change can be described in plain English to adjust how team members are assigned.

What if a case needs to loop through investigation more than once?

The workflow is built to support this: both the effectiveness review and quality manager approval steps can route back to restart the investigation task. Each pass through investigation, actions, and review is captured in the record's timeline, so the full history of attempts is visible even if a case cycles more than once.

Who is responsible for each stage of the analysis?

The analysis lead forms the investigation team and later reviews effectiveness, the investigation team conducts the analysis and identifies root cause and actions, the action owners confirm which corrective/preventive actions were completed, and the quality manager approves or rejects the finished analysis. Each of these is assigned as a task to a workspace member, and the workflow waits for the relevant task before moving the case forward.

What does the case owner see throughout the process?

The owner submits the initial request form and receives an acknowledgement email with their case reference number right after intake. Once the case reaches Closed status, they receive a closure email confirming the outcome and including the root cause identified during investigation.

Can the request form or investigation task fields be customised?

Yes — the intake form fields, task instructions, and the specific data captured at each step (such as contributing factors, root cause, or effectiveness review notes) can be adjusted by describing the change in plain English or editing the steps directly in the workflow editor. Earlier versions of the workflow are kept, so changes can be reviewed or reverted.

How is the status of a case tracked as it moves through the stages?

Each case record carries a status — Open, Investigating, Actions In Progress, Under Effectiveness Review, Under Quality Review, or Closed — that updates automatically as the workflow progresses. Table views and dashboards show all cases grouped by status, and each record's timeline shows what happened and when, which each business should confirm meets its own record-keeping needs.

What if the action owners don't complete all the corrective/preventive actions?

The action owners' task has no due date and records which actions were completed on the record. Whatever is entered here — whether all actions or only some — is what moves forward into the effectiveness review, so the analysis lead can assess effectiveness based on the actual completion status.