Mistake-Proofing your IT Shop

Human error accounts for a large percentage of the problems encountered in information technology.  There are plenty of opportunities to make mistakes in our business.  We are working with complex systems and large amounts of data.  With so much to do and so many distractions in our environment, it is almost impossible to operate without the occasional error.

Our mistakes, and those others make, can come back to hurt us.  In fact, a lot of our daily stress and anxiety revolve around mistakes we/others have made.  There are plenty of GREAT reasons to mistake proof.  Just spend a minute and think of the pain (both physical and mental, and often financial) that mistakes are causing or have caused you and others in the past.  Ouch!!!

Mistake-proofing (AKA “Poka-Yoke” in manufacturing industry) has been an effective concept for many years.  In fact, it is quite prevalent in our daily lives:

• Spell checkers
• Cars beep if you do not have seatbelt on
• Doors do not lock if the keys are in the ignition
• Grill lighters do not start unless you press a safety button
• Computer messages help us make sure we are not doing something (i.e.’ sending or deleting) erroneously.

At Remote DBA Experts, we have on-going efforts to mistake proof our critical tasks that are most prone to mistakes and errors. You would be amazed how the simplest solution can help prevent a potentially big problem.

Since the subject is fresh in my mind, I am dedicating this post to suggest IT managers consider spending some time and efforts in this high ROI area.  If you choose to do so, I suggest the following approach to help you get it going:

Step 1.  Get your team together and brainstorm a bunch of common human mistakes/errors.

Step 2.  Once you have that list, try to assign consequences/implications for each of the mistakes/errors.

Step 3.  Take the same list and indentify each item’s ease of prevention/avoidance.

Step 4.  Now that you have the cost/implication data, rank the list using that data to produce your top list.

Step 5.  Identify prevention strategies for the top list items.  You can assign each item to a team or an individual or ask for volunteers to take the items they are most passionate to solve.  To make things more interesting, you can offer incentives, monetary or otherwise, to those who solve the top problems.

The following 2X2 matrix is designed to help prioritize items according to the two axes.

In the long-run, the key to success is to keep mistake-proofing and reduction at the forefront of everyone’s attention on an ongoing basis.  Every mistake that sneaks by the prevention strategies needs to be highlighted and a solution developed and implemented.  In some instances, it may be useful to keep statistics on the quantity and severity of mistakes/errors.  Use that metric to keep attention on it high.

Let me tell you what I have done to help me and others pay attention.  I made a public commitment to reduce my mistakes by establishing a system that forces me to put a dollar in a highly visible bucket every time I make a mistake that affects our employees or operations.  And I plan give the money in the bucket to charity.  This public commitment helps me remain aware of my mistakes and it forces me to think of strategies to prevent them. It also shows the team my commitment to this matter. I am walking the talk and leading by example!  And by the way, I am expecting and waiting for my management team to “volunteer” to do the same soon!

The BEST is Yet to Come!

Epi Torres, CEO