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🔬 Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Post-incident analysis with 5-Whys methodology and preventive actions

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When to Conduct RCA

Mandatory

Recommended

RCA Meeting Structure

Aspect Details
Timing Within 48 hours of resolution
Duration 30-60 minutes
Facilitator Tech Lead
Presenter Developer who fixed the bug
Attendees Tech Lead, Developer, QA Lead, Product Manager (if business impact)

Meeting Agenda

1. What Happened? (5 min)

2. Timeline (5 min)

3. 5-Whys Analysis (15 min)

The 5-Whys: Keep asking "Why?" until you reach the root cause (usually 5 levels deep)
  1. Why did the bug occur? (immediate cause)
  2. Why wasn't it caught in development?
  3. Why wasn't it caught in code review?
  4. Why wasn't it caught in staging testing?
  5. Why wasn't it caught in UAT testing?

4. Contributing Factors (10 min)

Category Questions to Ask
Technical Complex code? Legacy system? Insufficient validation?
Process Rushed development? Inadequate testing? Poor requirements?
Human Knowledge gap? Communication breakdown? Time pressure?

5. Corrective Actions (15 min)

Type Description Timeline
Immediate What prevents this specific bug? (already done) Completed
Short-term What prevents similar bugs? This sprint
Long-term What systemic improvements are needed? Next quarter

6. Action Items (10 min)

RCA Template

# Root Cause Analysis: [Bug Title] **Bug ID**: SEQ-XXX **Date**: [Date] **Severity**: [P0-PAYROLL / P0 / P1] **Facilitator**: [Tech Lead Name] **Attendees**: [Names] ## Summary [Brief description of bug and impact] ## Timeline - **Code Deployed**: [Date] (version) - **Bug Introduced**: [Date] - **First Reported**: [Date] (days later) - **Fix Deployed**: [Date] - **Resolution Time**: [X hours] - **Client Impact**: [# clients, impact description] ## Root Cause [Description of underlying cause] ## 5 Whys Analysis 1. **Why did [symptom] occur?** → [Answer] 2. **Why was [answer 1]?** → [Answer] 3. **Why did [answer 2]?** → [Answer] 4. **Why wasn't this caught in [stage]?** → [Answer] 5. **Why was [answer 4]?** → [Root cause] ## Contributing Factors - **Technical**: [factors] - **Process**: [factors] - **Human**: [factors] ## Corrective Actions ### Immediate (Completed) - [What was done to fix this specific bug] ### Short-term (This Sprint) - [ ] [Action] - Owner: [Name], Due: [Date] - [ ] [Action] - Owner: [Name], Due: [Date] ### Long-term (Next Quarter) - [ ] [Action] - Owner: [Name], Due: [Date] ## Lessons Learned 1. [Key takeaway 1] 2. [Key takeaway 2] 3. [Key takeaway 3] ## Follow-up - Review action items: [Date] - Verify long-term actions: [Date]

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Blameless Culture

Key Principle: RCAs focus on systems and processes, not individuals. Every bug is a learning opportunity.

Guidelines