Root Cause Analysis for Software Project Managers

Risk management and reduction is an important activity for the project manager. Accidents will always happen and corrective action is then needed to deal with issues encountered during projects. Unfortunately, actions taken to resolve a problem often only address the problem itself, not its underlying causes. This article explains the importance of root cause analysis in project management to achieve better results and create a learning culture.

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Unfortunately, actions taken to resolve an issue often only address the problem itself, not its underlying causes. Symptoms of the problem are addressed and project resources are adjusted to compensate for the problem, but true corrective action may not be taken. In other words, the causes of the problem remain unknown, meaning the problem may reoccur later in the project and/or in future projects.

Another significant advantage of developing better root cause analysis skills within the project team is that such thinking is fundamental for risk management, quality management and the creation of a “learning culture.”