I’ve long been a proponent of involving as many individuals as possible in corrective action, both during the root cause analysis phase and during the development of the action plan. Middle managers, supervisors, machine operators, customer service representatives, shippers, software test engineers, buyers, etc., should all be invited at one time or another to participate in this process. Each possesses distinctive talents, a unique perspective on situations and special knowledge relating to his or her area of expertise. As such, they collectively represent an often-untapped trove of ideas and information.One of the drawbacks to including these individuals in the corrective action process is that many of them lack adequate interviewing skills. They don’t know how to effectively pose a question to elicit pertinent information. Some, not fully comprehending the purpose of fact-finding and root cause analysis, are worried about getting their co-workers in trouble by “fingering” the individual who’s to blame for the problem. Others are simply intimidated by the whole process. Another downside is that individuals who aren’t skilled at interviewing often have inefficient practices that waste company time.

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