The 5 Whys Of Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is an often-used technique that is done in order to know why the particular problem happened at the first place. This technique is quite popular amongst analysts who try to identify the origin of a problem using a specific set of steps. There are a lot of tools associated with root cause analysis. Students doing PGDM in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune etc get to learn this technique by various problem solving assignments and projects.

A basic assumption behind the RCA is that all systems and events are interrelated that is in order for an event to happen, there must be something in the current system that needs to be improved in order to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. In other words, any effect is the result of a chain of actions that has happened back to back that is an action in one area triggers an action in other area, which in turn triggered the action in other area and so on. RCA looks at all the causes and investigate the patterns of negative effects by discovering the specific actions and finding hidden flaws that lead to the problem.

PGDM Colleges in Hyderabad lay special stress on RCA and it’s 5 whys. Asking “why” to a problem is not an easy task. The technique of 5 whys  is used in identifying the root cause of the problem. The fundamental of this technique is very simple. You simply ask “why” five times. This helps in systematically peeling off the layers one by one and once all the layers of symptoms are stripped away, the root cause of the problem becomes crystal clear.

How to Conduct The 5 Whys?

A stepwise guide to following this technique is as follows:

Step 1 - Write down the problem on a clean sheet of paper. Even though you know the problem but writing it down adds that ensurance to the fact that everyone involved in the RCA are on the same page and there is no difference in opinion.

Step 2 - The next step is to ask why the problem happened in the first place. Write down all the possible answers  to this in the sheet of paper.

Step 3 - The next step is to dig deeper. Go through the answers you wrote down in step 2 and ask the why to these answers in order to understand the cause better.

Step 4 - Repeat the process till the time you are satisfied that you have uncovered the truth. Studies have shown that it usually takes 5 whys or  less to uncover the truth but if you are still not satisfied, you can always dig in deeper.

The technique of 5 whys are one of the most effective and simplest forms of troubleshooting a problem. Not only it helps you find the root cause to a problem but also helps in identifying the process to a much deeper level. You can use this technique in improving the quality of your organization’s process as well as in solving simple problems.

5 Simple Tips To Help Improve Your Decision Making

Decision making is the part and parcel of our lives. Everyday, we make a lot of decisions right from small everyday decisions to big business decisions. PGDM Diploma Courses are designed in order to train students in the art of decision making. PGDM Colleges focus on a long-term objective of improving the overall decision-making process of their students by laying down a well thought of training program. While your institute is working towards improving your decision making, you can follow these 5 simple tips at personal level:

1. Don't Delay

Simple decisions are easy to make. You can simply tick them off and have the feeling of accomplishment. The problem arises when the level of difficulty increases. Delaying such decisions can bring more harm than good. Difficult decisions need to be tackled on priority. Dedicate a focused block of time to it each day. Work through all the pros, cons, risks and realistic outcomes of your decision. Be prudent and realistic about tackling the problem in hand. The problem is not going to solve itself so it is better to take it up in priority and get it done with.

2. Shelve Ego And Emotion

Decision making process can be overwhelming at times as you become too personally invested in the whole process. It bothers you to think about the overall outcome of your decision and what impact, positive or negative, it will have on the future of the company. You need to shelve your emotions and ego while making the decision. Be practical about your decision and think rationally while going through the entire process.

3. Ask An Expert

A famous quote by Warren Buffet, “It’s good to learn from your mistakes. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.” The decision which you are about to make has likely been made in the past. It is always good to ask an expert. While the problems in hand may be unique to you but it is highly probable that someone else must have gone through the same problem. The advice here is not to copy the entire solution but to improvise according to your problem. Seeking expert advice can be a good way to deal with the problem in hand.

4. Question Every Step Of The Process

The technique of “why” can be a great way in decision making as well. Question every step in your decision making process, the answers to which can help you become sure of your decision in the long run. Use research reports, industry trends, and seek experts in your field while building your strategy. Collect all the relevant data and try to make an informed decision. Take constant feedback from the stakeholders as well as experts in the field.

5. Plan For Doomsday

The final step to decision making is to note down the underlying risks of the decisions you make. In other words, plan for the doomsday. Give this process a bit of time to consider the absolute worst case scenarios. Ask yourself what exactly can go wrong in the decision you are making. Always have a backup plan to tackle such situations. No decision or solution to any problem could be 100 percent full proof. There would always be risks involved and taking these risks into consideration can be a good way of handling your decision making process.

4 Tips For Successful Resource Allocation

Once you are done with your PG Diploma in Business Management, as a future project manager, resource allocation will become a major part of your job. So the question arises, what is the best way of resource allocation? What all factors need to be kept in mind while allocating the work to various resources?

In order to lead  a high-performing project team, resource allocation is one of the most trickiest task to perform. You need to make sure that every member of your team is fully occupied at the same time working to the best of their potential. While ensuring the maximum harmony in work, there can be times when someone has to work on something that is not their core expertise area but never the same you need to assign the task to them. In such situation, what you need to ensure is that you provide them all the support they require while performing that task.

You will get to learn a lot about resource allocation in your Post Graduate Diploma in Management. For the starters, here are 4 tips that can help you in successful Resource Allocation process:

1. Skill

This is the topmost factor that needs to be kept in mind. You would not want to allocate the work to someone who has neither knowledge or skill to perform a particular task.

2. Experience

Now that you have accessed the skill of every member of your team, it is time to judge them on the level of experience. Have they performed the similar task in past? If you have two people with the same skill set to perform a particular task - one with experience and one without experience, it is a good idea to go for the experienced one as they won’t need much support to perform the task.

3. Availability

Skill and experience would help you categorise the work in a good way. Next comes the availability. Is the person you think is most suitable as per skill and experience is available to do the task in hand? There will be times when the person most suitable would be busy doing a task that is high in priority. In that case, you should always have a backup who can take up the task and be able to complete it with as little assistance and support as possible.

4. Location

The last most important factor to be kept in mind is where the task is going to be carried out? In today’s remote work culture, this factor is usually of no importance but there are likely to be certain tasks where location does play an important part. For example, working at a client location for a length of time or the task of configuring servers on site. In such case, you would want to pick the best person for the job from the pool of available options. In case of overseas location, you need to make sure that the resources concerned are willing to go.

The Importance Of Teamwork In Project Management

The key to becoming a successful Project Manager is boosting the cooperation and productivity in your team. Teamwork is one of the basis of the smooth running of projects. Not only it speeds up the timely and successful achievement of targets but also helps project professionals overcome obstacles.

Teamwork as is inculcated in one of the Top 10 MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, helps ensure that all the resources are well-managed and project is completed most efficiently in as less time as possible. Good teamwork can help economise which can ultimately lead to higher profits for the company.

You will get to learn a lot in your MBA College in Hyderabad about Teamwork and here are a list of reasons why teamwork is so important in Management.

The Importance Of Teamwork In Project Management

5 Essentials Every Presentation Requires

“Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark.” – Jay Danzie

Creating a logical and precise presentation, is a necessary skill, that every student pursuing PG courses in India, needs to acquire. Crafting a meaningful story for the presentation with enormous amount of data can be a bit hard. You need to analyze and interpret every bit of it and then create a short understandable story out of it.

In our PG Diploma Courses, we always try to cover the basics of making a presentation and that to your surprise are not that complicated. Following a few simple steps and keeping a few important things in mind can drastically improve your presentation. In order to make sure that every one of your presentation creates a lasting impression, you need to add these five things.

5 Essentials Every Presentation Requires

4 Useful Tips To Manage A Virtual Development Team

With the continuously advancing technology, companies are opting for new ways in order to reap the maximum of the talent pool. There is a lot of virtual hiring that is happening in the companies. In such scenario, once you are out of your PGDM College in Hyderabad, there is a possibility that you can be a part of virtual team or may be in the long run, you even get to manage one as well. Managing or building a virtual team involves a lot of challenges but has its own advantages for both the employer and the employee.

Here is a list of top 4 tips that will help you be a part of Virtual Development Team:

Tip 1 – Hiring The Right Kind Of People

One of the fundamentals of a virtual team is having the right kind of people in your team. As a manager, you would need to conduct a lot of remote interviews in order to build an efficient team. Ask insightful questions and judge with the help of case studies. Also, it is advisable to look for referrals from the existing employees or the ones who have positive recommendations from previous freelance job(s). The advantage of hiring the remote workers is that you get to hire the best talent in the world with no restrictions in terms of talent or hiring expenses.

Tip 2 – Project Management Tools

This is an amazing way to handle the entire team. There are a lot of project management tools that can be used very effectively to keep a tab on your team’s work. It allows you to keep a track on the team projects, important files, other expenses, invoices, notes etc. These tools will help you organize the work processes remotely. Noting down various requirements and stating the expected deliverable are easy with such tools. Video and text platforms can be used effectively to show progress, to assign tasks and exchange information with team members.

Tip 3 – Active Communication

It is relatively easy to explain things when you are discussing in–person, face to face but handling a team remotely can be extremely challenging. Cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi are specially crafting PGDM courses to help newbies hone on their communication skills alongside managerial skills. In fact, a lot of PGDM in Hyderabad courses are known for being specially focusing on communication through mandatory electives and grade system. Active communication skills are very important and helps you to explain and delegate-work better. Being proactive would help keep the team at the same page and make sure that everyone participates in the team discussion actively.

Tip 4 – Regular Reviews

This part of the job is extremely important. When you have a virtual team, there is a big chance that your team starting to feel that there is no active tab on their performance. This can lead to poor performance or delayed work. Handling things virtually would only be possible when you keep a regular check and give regular reviews in order to continuously improve the performance of your team. Regular reviews would also create an environment that those who are responsible for work got to deliver in time and would therefore increase the overall productivity of the team.

7 Questions Every Budding Leader Needs To Ask Themselves

Once you are out of the best PGDM Colleges, you become a leader in making and there are a few questions you need to ask yourself in order to decide what kind of a leader you really want to be. Being a good leader is a difficult job. One that requires a lot of effort and hard work. It can create a lot of stress and pressure, which can lead to mistakes therefore once you are through your Diploma in Financial Management or other Management course, it is time to take a step back and ask yourself - how to become an impacting leader for real? Below Are 7 Questions You Must Ask Yourself :

1.     What Kind Of Culture You Want To Create?

2.     What Kind Of Enthusiasm You Want To Bring At Work?

3.     What Vision You Have?

4.     Are You Approachable?

5.     Are You Decisive?

7 Questions Every Budding Leader Needs To Ask Themselves