Free Root Cause Analysis Template
Start from a filled-in example, then write your own report on the blank template. One report takes you from problem statement to verified fix, and every cause needs evidence before it counts.
What is in the pack
- Filled-in example first: refund complaints after an app release
- Blank RCA report: problem, timeline, evidence, causes, root cause, actions, check
- Fishbone sheet with six customer experience cause categories
- 5 Whys sheet with an evidence column
- Pareto sheet: enter causes and counts; sorting, percentages and the 80% line are calculated for you
- Action plan: corrective and preventive actions, owner, due date, status, metric, check date
- Checklist for before, during and after the analysis
- The report as a Word document, plus a printable PDF
Example: refund complaints after an app release
Illustrative example, not customer data. This is page 1 of the template; page 2 is the same report, blank.
| Section | Example | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Problem | Refund-request complaints rose from about 120 to 310 a week after mobile app version 5.2 | Ticket tags |
| Scope | Orders placed in the mobile app, iOS and Android. Web orders: no change. | Ticket tags by channel |
| Timeline | Week 0: 5.2 released with a redesigned order screen. Week 1: 240 complaints. Week 2: 310, report opened. Week 4: fix released. Week 6: check. | Release notes, ticket tags |
| Top reasons (Pareto) | Two reasons make up 254 of 310 complaints (82%): could not find how to report a problem with the order (158); wanted a replacement, only saw Refund (96) | Week 2 tickets, by reason |
| Possible causes (fishbone) | 12 candidate causes across Product, Process, People, Policy, Channel and Communication: 3 verified, 6 minor, 3 ruled out | Release notes, funnel data, staffing, crash rate |
| Why 1 | Most of the new complaints come from customers who could not report a problem with their order | Pareto of week 2 tickets |
| Why 2 | In 5.2, "Report a problem with my order" moved off the order screen into the Refund menu | Release notes, app screens |
| Why 3 | Customers with a missing or damaged item do not look under Refund, so they tap Refund or contact support | Funnel: flow starts down from about 1,850 to 240 a week |
| Why 4 | The redesign grouped all order actions under one button; support was not asked to review it | Design ticket |
| Why 5 | The release checklist has no step for support-flow changes, and no one owns checking them | Release checklist |
| Root cause | The 5.2 release moved "Report a problem with my order" behind the Refund button, and no one owned checking support-flow changes before release | Web orders, which kept the old screen, did not rise |
| Corrective action | Put the entry point back on the order screen (app 5.2.1), update the help centre article, brief agents. Owner: mobile product manager, week 4 | |
| Preventive action | Add a support-flow review with CX sign-off to the release checklist. Owner: CX operations lead, week 5 | |
| Metric and check | Refund-request complaints under 140 a week by week 6. Result: 131, and report-a-problem flow starts back to 1,780 a week |
Pareto: complaint reasons in week 2
| Reason | Count | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| Could not find how to report a problem with the order | 158 | 51.0% |
| Wanted a replacement, only saw Refund | 96 | 81.9% |
| No update on refund status | 27 | 90.6% |
| Refund takes more than 5 days | 15 | 95.5% |
| Shipping fee not refunded | 8 | 98.1% |
| Other | 6 | 100% |
| Total | 310 |
Fishbone: causes checked
| Product |
|
|---|---|
| Process |
|
| People |
|
| Policy |
|
| Channel |
|
| Communication |
|
How to run a root cause analysis
- 1Define the problem as a fact: what, where, since when, how much. Keep causes out of the problem statement.
- 2Collect evidence before anyone guesses: tickets, reviews, survey comments, release notes, funnel data. Note what changed when the problem started.
- 3Map possible causes with a fishbone across Product, Process, People, Policy, Channel and Communication. These are hypotheses, not answers.
- 4Drill into the top causes with 5 Whys. Every answer needs evidence; stop when fixing the cause would stop the problem coming back.
- 5Verify the root cause with data: it should explain when the problem started, and where it did not happen.
- 6Act: one corrective and one preventive action, each with an owner and a due date. Check the metric on a set date and close the report only if it moved.
Which method when
5 Whys
One problem with one clear chain of causes. Quick, and it fits in a short meeting.
Free 5 Whys templateFishbone diagram
When the causes could sit in several areas (product, process, policy, channel) and you need to see them all before you choose.
Free fishbone diagram templatePareto analysis
When there are many complaint reasons and you need to pick the few that account for most of them, by count.
Included in this packThis template uses all three in one report: the fishbone lists the causes, Pareto ranks them, and the 5 Whys takes the top one to the root.
Frequently asked questions
Is the root cause analysis template free?
Yes. The printable PDF downloads without an email. The Excel pack and the Word report are sent to your email for free.
What should a root cause analysis report include?
A problem statement with numbers, a timeline, the evidence, the possible causes you checked, the verified root cause and how you verified it, corrective and preventive actions with owners, and the metric and date you will use to check the fix.
Is there a Word, Excel or Google Sheets version?
Yes. The pack has an Excel workbook with seven sheets and a Word version of the report. For Google Sheets, upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets; the dropdowns and Pareto formulas carry over.
What is the difference between an RCA report and a 5 Whys?
The 5 Whys is one method: a chain of questions that follows one cause down to its root. An RCA report is the whole record, from the problem statement, timeline and evidence to the causes you checked, the verified root cause, the actions and the result. A 5 Whys is usually one section of it.
What if the problem shows up across thousands of tickets, reviews or survey comments?
A workshop works from a sample and from memory. Pivony analyses all of your customer feedback and finds the root causes automatically, so the report starts from the full picture.
Have thousands of complaints, reviews or tickets?
Pivony runs root cause analysis on all of your customer feedback, not a workshop sample.
Get a free root cause audit