car process

8/12/2019 CAR Process

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- Internal Use Only -

Disclose and distribute only to CenturyLink employees and authorized persons working for CenturyLink.Disclosure outside of CenturyLink is prohibited without authorization.

CenturyLink IT Services

Causal Analysis and Resolution Process


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CenturyLink India CenturyLink IT Services

- Internal Use Only - Page 2Disclose and distribute only to CenturyLink employees and authorized persons working for CenturyLink.

Disclosure outside of CenturyLink is prohibited without authorization.

Version History

Document History

All revisions of this document are listed in chronological order.

DocumentVersion

Date Description Author Reviewer Approver

0.1 4thapril

2011Initial Draft Vijaykrishna

Ranganathan

SEPG team

1.0 25thApril

2011Initial Baseline after reviewcomments

VijaykrishnaRanganathan

SEPG Team+ PAowners

PGG

2.0 24thApril

2012Rebranded to CTLI

Changes done as per PIR872(format changes)

AfshanSahar

Puthiyaveettil,Sreenivasan

SEPG

2.1 12/09/2012 Rewriting the process for ML4-ML5 requirements

Sreenivasan.V.P

PA Owners SEPG

3.0 12/10/2012 Baselined VersionCMMI HighMaturity expectationsincorporated

Sreenivasan.V.P

PA Owners SEPG

3.1 14/07/2013 Elaborated CAR processdefinition.Updated Entry criteriaUpdated tasks/ Sub process andtools and techniques.

Kiran/KanikaVij

KiranRajanna

KiranRajanna

Copyright

Copyright 2012 CenturyLink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Unpublished and confidential property of CenturyLink.

Trademarks

The trademarks contained in this document are the property of their respective owners.


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Table of contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 11.1 Purpose .................................................................................................................................. 11.2 Audience ................................................................................................................................ 11.3 Acronyms and Definitions .................................................................................................... 11.4 References ............................................................................................................................ 2

2 Causal Analysis and Resolution Process Definition ........................................................... 32.1 Applicability .......................................................................................................................... 32.2 Entry Criteria ......................................................................................................................... 32.3 Triggers for CAR : ................................................................................................................ 32.4 CAR Process : Flow diagram ............................................................................................... 42.5 Tasks/Sub process ................................................................................................................ 52.6 Exit Criteria .......................................................................................................................... 92.7 Measurements ........................................................................................................................ 92.8 Techniques and Tools used for performing CAR : ................................................................ 9

3 Appendix AAdditional Information............................................................................... 10


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1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose

Purpose of the CAR (Causal Analysis and Resolution )process is to provide a standardizedprocess of identifying & prioritizing problems. Identify causes of variance outcomes and takeactions to address the problem areas and evaluate improvements on continuous basis.

1.2 Audience

The target audience, for this process is CenturyLink India Project teams. This process isapplicable to all projects across the lifecycle and addresses outcomes found during the projectexecution.

CAR process can also be applied for any other / every area where there is a need to adopt astandardized method of problem solving and would involve multiple levels of expertise spanning

across muiltiple disciplines

1.3 Acronyms and Definitions

Sl No. Acronyms Definitions

1 CAR Causal Analysis and Resolution

2 SQA Software Quality Analyst3 MOM Minutes of the Meeting

4 PMT Project Metrics Tool

5 V&V Verification and Validation

6 QC Quality Center ( Tool )

7 PHI Project Health Indicator

8 CC Configuration Coordinator/Controller

9 RCA Root cause analysis

10 Outcome Defects/problems/issues/positive trends


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1.4 References

Project Management Plan

Project Schedule

Project Management Process

Risk Management Process

Risk and Issue Tracker

Product and Process Quality Assurance Process

Configuration Management Process

PHI checklists

CM audit reports

Metrics report

Refer to Measurement and analysis guidelines for more information about aligning measurementand analysis activities and providing measurement results

Refer to organizational performance management process for more information about selectingand implementing improvements for deployement

Refer to Quantitative project management guidelines for more information about quantitativelymanaging the project to achieve the projects established quality and process performanceobjectives


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Problems/Issues identified as part of the Organizational performance analysis

Posititive trends analyzed at the organization level

2. Triggers : Project level CAR

2.4 CAR Process : Flow diagram

Customer reported issues/defects

SLA misses

Major Non Compliances found during internal Audit/Reviews

Increasing defect trends noticed as well as other issues

Inputs from PPB and Process capability issues

Deviation in KPI and Metrics from the organizational/project goals

Outputs from risk and issue tracker

Project planning and Project monitoring reports requiring corrective action

Incident Identification ofthe problem

Planning forCAR

Data gatheringand Analysis ofthe problem

Create actionPlan

Implement theAction plan

Evaluate

changes andFollow up(ASIS and TO BEProcess Map

Stop ProblemResolved

NY

EvaluateActions


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2.5 Tasks/Sub process

Step 1: Select outcomes for analysis

Step 2 : Determine which outcome to be analyzed further

Step 3: Analyze causes

Step 4 : Come up with action proposal

Step 5: Prioritize action proposals

Step 6: Implement action proposals

Step 7 : Evaluate the effects of change

Step 8: Capture CAR learnings in CAR database

SUB PROCESS STEPS ELABORATION

Step 1: Select outcomesfor analysis

This activity contains practices which includes identifying triggers forCAR and gathering data for analysis .

CAR could be triggered by an event at the project level or at theorganization level

Refer Section 2.3 where triggers for CAR are listed.

Gather data for analysis : Gather data as per the triggers and list outthe gathered data in the CAR workbook under Pareto analysis andHistogram for further analysis

For Defect Prevention, Project team members should log the defectsand problems/issues reported by them as well as the customer as perthe V&V Plan in the Review log, Test Reports, QC, OutageCentral/Remedy Reports etc as the case may be. Team membersMUST classify the defects into appropriate defect types and severityas per the Defect Classification Guideline.

Problems/issues related to metrics: Variances should be logged intothe Metrics Action Tracker, which is part of the Metrics Report(Generated from PMT) can be triggers for CAR

Audit Non compliances are recorded in the Projects PHI Audit Report

SQA should review the Metrics Sheets, Logs, Test Reports,

QC data for completness and correctness , as this is the basis

for conducting an efficient CAR.

Use CAR Case" to define Problem Statement and other relevantdetails for the CAR approach


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Step 2 : Determine whichoutcomes to be analyzedfurther

Since it is not practical to perform CAR on all outcomes , selecting afew outcomes to perform CAR is necessary.

From the data gathered , determine which outcomes will be analyzedfurther . The following factors can be considered while selecting the

outcomes to be analyzed further. Impact of the defects on Business outcomes

Frequency of occurrence of the defects

Similarity between defects

Pareto analysis and Histograms as given in the CAR workbook can be

used for this purpose .

The graphical representation of the data using CAR techniques andtools can be represented in the Data analysis tab of the CARworkbook.

Refer CAR Guidelines for the usage information on Pareto analysisand histograms

Remember: While it is left to the teams to decide which defectsthey would like to analyze from a prevention point of view, It isrecommended that all Critical and Major defects be analyzedon priority.

Step 3: Analyze causes Purpose of Causal analysis is to identify root causes which lead to theproblem and define actions that will address selected outcomes

Coordinator of the Causal analysis meeting or project leader gives anunderstanding of the outcomes to the team. Information shared at thispoint include description of the outcomes , the symptoms of theoutcomes , possible fixes and solutions

Perform brainstorming : Participants are expected to come up withvarious reasons as to what leads to the problem or defect.Brainstorming will typically be unstructured to start with and then willbe structured once all participants have exhausted all reasons for thedefect. The objective of the Brasinstorming exercise is to come up withmaximum reasons for the cause.

Tips for Brainstorming

Use out of the box thinking to come up with reasons.

Do not validate any cause while brainstorming

Do not be biased with cause

Weed out unwanted causes with valid reason

Arrive at the final set of Causes

Group the Causes into themes like( Not restricted only to )

o Process

o People

o Tools

Use Cause and effect diagram (Fishbone diagram) as given in theCAR Workbook for this purpose

Perform Root cause analysis for each cause to arrive at the rootcause. Use the 5 Why techniques to determine the root cause .


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Use Action Plan tab of the CAR workbook to enter the details ofCausal analysis done

Refer CAR guideliens to understand the steps to perform Causalanalysis using Cause and effect diagram

Step 4 :Come up withaction proposal

Further brainstorm with the team and come up with actions that helpaddress the root cause

Action proposal include Corrective and Preventive actions

All selected root causes will be analyzed further inorder to come upwith Corrective and Preventive actions

Grouping of selected root causes according to the Cause category is anecessary activity at this point

Propose and document actions that need to be taken to correct theexisting issues and to Prevent the future occurrence of similaroutcomes

The action proposals are usually grouped (But not limited to )into the

following areas :

People area : These are suggestions in the areas of humanresources practices and policies inorder to prevent such defectsfrom occurring

Process area : Suggestions related to process improvements soas to prevent the defects

Infrastructure : Suggestions related to which tools , software orhardware components

Training area : Suggestions related to closing or narrowing theskill gaps by organizing various training programs

Refer CAR guidelines to understand the Brainstorming technique

Refer Defect guidelines section in the CAR Workbook to understandthe root cause categories used in Century Link India .

Refer CAR guidelines to understand the definitions of Correctiveaction and Preventive action

Use Action Plan tab of the CAR workbook to enter details of actionproposals

Step 5: Prioritize actionproposals

Analyze the action proposals and determine their priorities. Use theSolution Prioritization Marrix provided in CAR wookbook to arrive atthe priority

Document the prioritized action proposals in the CAR Workbook under

the Action plan tab

Criteria for prioritizing action proposals may include the following :

Implications of not addressing the outcomes

Cost to implement process improvements to address theoutcome

Expected impact on quality : Refer DAR guidelines to select from aset of alternatives using a formal evaluation criteria


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Step 6 : Implement

Action proposals Select the action proposals that will be implemented and create action

plans for Implementing the prioritized list of action proposals

Action proposals may be either categorized as Project level orOrganization level plans .

Organization level action items may be raised as PIR and the samecan be tracked as Process improvement request using the PIR site

The result of implementation is tracked and communicated to

relevant stakeholders

Track the closure of action proposals

Use Action plan tab of CAR workbook to enter details of action

proposals

Step 7 : Evaluate theeffects of change Use Effectiveness Analysis tab of the CAR workbook to enter details

of effectiveness analysis related measures

List out the Precausal analysis data and the data after the CAR isdone (Post causal analysis data ) in the effectiveness analysis tabof CAR template

Hypothesis testing is used for validating the improvement statistically

Benifit based on PPM's Certainty Levels on Objectives- show Initial,Projected and Actual performance.Test results graphs if any areplotted

Statistical inference , Projects inference,Process impacted aredocumented

Refer CAR guidelines for the list of measures considered forevaluating the effectiveness of change

Refer CAR guidelines to understand more about hypothesis testing

Based on changes made evaluate planned improvement withachieved goal, refer to process flow captured under currentAS IS andproposed process flow TO BEin Process analysis.

Step 8: Capture CARlearnings in CARDatabase CAR databaseis still on hold

Process improvements /Lessons learnt from CAR conducted acrossthe organization will be captured and documented in the CARdatabase

Use the Action Plan tab of the CAR Database to document theProcess improvements / Learnings from CAR

CAR Database will be used only by SEPG team

Refer CAR Database template for more information


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2.6 Exit Criteria

Filled CAR template with root causes , corrective , prevention action plans and their status

Risk Tracker updated as required

Actions implemented result in Improvements

2.7 Measurements

Effort spent in CAR, Planned vs achieved improvements etc are also measured

No. Of CARs performed

Reduction in cost

Improvement trend

2.8 Techniques and Tools used for performing CAR :

Minitab

Crystal ball

CAR Workbook

Brainstorming

Histogram

Run Chart

Pareto Analysis

Five Whys

Cause and Effect Diagram (Fish Bone Analysis)

o Refer CAR Guidelines for detailed description about the tools and techniques used forconducting CAR


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3 Appendix AAdditional Information

NA

car process

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