Managing error: what to do when things go wrong

Go back to basics, start by addressing the biggest risks, and don’t stop at correcting the problem, GIRI board member Helen Soulou told the summer members’ meeting. She argued that the only way to start getting things right is to put preventative actions in place, and to monitor the impact of these actions to ensure continuous improvement.

The theme for GIRI’s summer members’ meeting was ‘implementing strategies to reduce error’. Helen, who is the head of governance, risk and assurance for Network Rail Southern Region and a GIRI board member, drew on her experience of the tools and techniques applied in the automotive sector to provide a template for what the construction industry can do when something goes wrong. “We don’t live in a world where we always get it right, so the important thing is how we deal with problems when they arise.”

Her advice for those who don’t know where to begin: start with risk. “You could have a lot of problems, so you need to understand what is most important. What is the data telling you? Look at what is costing you the most, not just in money but also in reputation, in staff motivation and morale. What is assurance telling you? What’s impacting your performance? It’s easy to focus on everyday activities and overlook what affects overall business performance.”

Sometimes it’s a case of going for the easy wins that will have a big impact. Alternatively, address the issues causing the biggest impact on performance. If in doubt on where to start, Helen advised using the Pareto diagram. “This is simple to use and can help you identify your biggest issues. Start by tackling the first, then move to the second, then the third – that’s how you achieve continuous improvement.”

She shared advice on assembling a team to tackle the issues identified, urging delegates to bring together people with the right technical expertise, facilitation and people skills to effectively address difficult problems. “Empower your team to work on the issue and to discuss the problems they are facing. Be brave, challenge the status quo, and don’t be afraid to disclose how much a problem is costing. Often there is a temptation to make things look rosy when there are issues, but don’t hide these things. Bring them out openly so that senior leaders can understand the impact. I like to be bold, open and honest when faced with potential problems.”

Helen says she uses a set of seven quality control tools, including the Fishbone diagram, the Pareto diagram, five whys, and the flow chart. “These are the basic quality tools you should use when you assemble a team to investigate an issue. Then the most important thing to do – and this is very big in the automotive industry – is to implement corrective action. What is it that you need to do immediately to stop the issue from escalating? If you need to stop work, stop. Explain the impact and get the help you need. But make sure you put the correction in place.”

However, said Helen, a lot of people stop with the corrective action, missing out on the opportunity for continuous improvement and error reduction. Instead, she said it is important to understand the root cause of the issue and to formulate preventative action. “In my opinion, this is the most important step to getting it right.”

Another often overlooked opportunity for improvement is identifying the escape point. “This is the point in the process at which you could have caught the defect and stopped it from happening, but you didn’t. It is very important for the prevention of the issue and control of the process that you tackle the escape point as well as the root causes.”

Helen also highlighted the importance of continual monitoring to ensure the issue has been resolved. “You could put this into your assurance plan. Understand the problem and make sure you have risk-based assurance plans and that your audits and assurance reviews reflect your risks.  Look at governance, and check that whatever steps you have put in place are effective. This culture of continuous improvement will bring you closer to getting it right. This is what the automotive industry does so well – it repeats this process over and over to continually learn and improve.”

In closing, Helen summarised: “Go back to basics. Identify the problem, correct it, and don’t stop there. Undertake root cause analysis, remember the escape point, implement preventative action, and monitor the solution. Then do it all again for the next issue.”

Read Helen's advice on another quality tool, Global 8D.