Use Microsoft® Excel® to document the entire investigation
Facilitator Tip #8: Use Microsoft® Excel® to document the entire investigation
There are many different ways to document an investigation, and one tool that nearly everyone has on their PC is Microsoft Excel. Many people are surprised because they think of Excel as a spreadsheet application. The drawing tools built into Excel are extremely effective for making boxes and using arrow connectors to capture cause-and-effect relationships visually. The analysis can be built on one worksheet while other worksheets can be used to capture the problem definition (the impact to the goals), the timeline, the work processes and any diagrams. Photographs can easily be inserted onto a worksheet or attached directly to the cause-and-effect diagram as evidence. A solutions table summarizing action items, owners and due dates can be captured on its own worksheet. The first worksheet in the Excel workbook can be used as a table of contents to organize all the pieces of an investigation. Another worksheet can be used to track all of the different versions to maintain an accurate record as the document evolves. The multiple worksheet tabs in Excel allow someone to easily move through a comprehensive investigation. It can be emailed and shared with anyone else or attached to a record in a company’s existing CMMS system or even in SAP®. All of the Excel calculation capabilities are still available within the Excel file. Download a free
Excel root cause analysis template at
www.thinkreliability.com