Move from issue triage to practical solutions
A structured, colourful workflow for investigating issues as a team. Use sticky notes to capture and test possible root causes, then document your findings in the accompanying table so priorities, evidence, and follow-up actions stay visible.
What’s included
The board guides you through four connected stages:
Issue overview — log the issue, report date, and reference ID.
Issue to investigate — define what happened, where it started, and how urgent it is.
Potential root causes — identify possible causes, rate their likelihood, and capture supporting evidence or assumptions.
Possible solutions — develop practical actions, consider risks and dependencies, and define how success will be measured.
It also includes clear rating scales:
Urgency: Low, Moderate, or Critical
Probability: Unlikely, Possible, or Likely
The fillable overview table turns the workshop discussion into a useful issue tracker that can be reviewed, filtered, and updated over time.
How to use it
Add each issue to the Issue overview section.
Choose one issue to investigate and describe what happened, where it began, and why it matters.
Add possible root causes as separate sticky notes. Focus on underlying conditions, not only visible symptoms.
Use evidence, observations, or checks to test the most likely causes.
Add possible solutions, including potential risks and a clear measure of success.
Record the final issue, cause, ratings, evidence, and action in the overview table.
Revisit the board after testing actions to confirm whether the issue has been reduced or resolved.
Suggested 60-minute workshop
5 min — Set the scope: Agree the issue or issues you will investigate and assign a facilitator.
10 min — Triage: Log issues and rate their urgency.
15 min — Explore causes: Add possible causes individually, then group similar notes and discuss evidence.
10 min — Prioritise: Rate the likelihood of each cause and choose the one or two most likely causes to validate.
15 min — Design solutions: Generate practical actions, identify risks, and decide how success will be measured.
5 min — Commit: Update the tracker, assign owners, and agree a review date.
Who it’s for
Ideal for project teams, operations teams, product and service teams, managers, consultants, and cross-functional groups investigating recurring problems, delivery issues, customer complaints, process failures, or risks.
