Common Cause Variation Special Cause Variation [Updated]

Special Cause Variation, on the other hand, refers to unexpected glitches that affect a process. The term Special Cause Variation was coined by ... ProjectManagementDataScience&BusinessAnalyticsAI&MachineLearningProjectManagementCyberSecurityCloudComputingDevOpsBusinessandLeadershipQualityManagementSoftwareDevelopmentAgileandScrumITServiceandArchitectureDigitalMarketingBigDataCareerFast-trackEnterpriseOtherSegmentsArticlesEbooksVideoTutorialsFreePracticeTestsHomeResourcesProjectManagementCommonCauseVariationVs.SpecialCauseVariationTrendingnowPMPCertificationCostandPriceBreakupExplained:ACertificationGuideForBeginnersArticleWhatisaProjectManagementPlanandHowtoCreateOne?ArticleFreeMind-map:PMPCertificationEbookProjectScopeManagementandWhyIt'sImportant?ArticlePMI-RMP®Certification–ABriefSketchArticleWhatisProjectPlanning:ToolsandFundamentalsVideoTutorialFeasibilityStudyAndItsImportanceinProjectManagementArticlePRINCE2Vs.PMP:ChoosingTheBestCertificationArticleROMEstimateVsDefinitiveEstimate-ProjectManagementLearningSeriesArticleFinancialRiskandItsTypesArticleCommonCauseVariationVs.SpecialCauseVariationByAvantikaMonnappaLastupdatedonOct12,2021123577TableofContentsViewMore Everypieceofdatawhichismeasuredwillshowsomedegreeofvariation:nomatterhowmuchwetry,wecouldneverattainidenticalresultsfortwodifferentsituations-eachresultwillbedifferent,evenifthedifferenceisslight.Variationmaybedefinedas“thenumericalvalueusedtoindicatehowwidelyindividualsinagroupvary.”  Inotherwords,variancegivesusanideaofhowdataisdistributedaboutanexpectedvalueorthemean.Ifyouattainavarianceofzero,itindicatesthatyourresultsareidentical-anuncommoncondition.Ahighvarianceshowsthatthedatapointsarespreadoutfromeachother—andthemean,whileasmallervariationindicatesthatthedatapointsareclosertothemean.Varianceisalwaysnonnegative. AreyoulookingforwardtomakingamarkintheProjectManagementfield?Ifyes,enrollintheProjectManagementFundamentalProgramnowandgetastepclosertoyourcareergoal! TypesofVariance Changeisinevitable,eveninstatistics.You’llneedtoknowwhatkindofvariationaffectsyourprocessbecausethecourseofactionyoutakewilldependonthetypeofvariance.TherearetwotypesofVariance:CommonCauseVariationandSpecialCauseVariation.You’llneedtoknowaboutCommonCausesVariationvsSpecialCausesVariationbecausetheyaretwosubjectsthataretestedonthePMPCertification andCAPMCertificationexams.  CommonCauseVariation SpecialCauseVariation PMPCertificationTrainingCourseForyournextroleasaProjectManagerViewCourse CommonCauseVariation CommonCauseVariation,alsoreferredtoas“NaturalProblems,“Noise,”and“RandomCause”wasatermcoinedbyHarryAlpertin1947.Commoncausesofvariancearetheusualquantifiableandhistoricalvariationsinasystemthatarenatural.Thoughvarianceisaproblem,itisaninherentpartofaprocess—variancewilleventuallycreepin,anditisnotmuchyoucandoaboutit.Specificactionscannotbetakentopreventthisfailurefromoccurring.Itisongoing,consistent,andpredictable. Characteristicsofcommoncausesvariationare: Variationpredictableprobabilistically Phenomenathatareactivewithinthesystem Variationwithinahistoricalexperiencebasewhichisnotregular Lackofsignificanceinindividualhighandlowvalues Thisvariationusuallylieswithinthreestandarddeviationsfromthemeanwhere99.73%ofvaluesareexpectedtobefound.Onacontrolchart,theyareindicatedbyafewrandompointsthatarewithinthecontrollimit.Thesekindsofvariationswillrequiremanagementactionsincetherecanbenoimmediateprocesstorectifyit.Youwillhavetomakeafundamentalchangetoreducethenumberofcommoncausesofvariation.Ifthereareonlycommoncausesofvariationonyourchart,yourprocessissaidtobe“statisticallystable.” Whenthistermisappliedtoyourchart,thechartitselfbecomesfairlystable.Yourprojectwillhavenomajorchanges,andyouwillbeabletocontinueprocessexecutionhassle-free. CommonCauseVariationExamples Consideranemployeewhotakesalittlelongerthanusualtocompleteaspecifictask.Heisgiventwodaystodoatask,andinstead,hetakestwoandahalfdays;thisisconsideredacommoncausevariation.Hiscompletiontimewouldnothavedeviatedverymuchfromthemeansinceyouwouldhavehadtoconsiderthefactthathecouldsubmititalittlelate. Here’sanotherexample:youestimate20minutestogetreadyandtenminutestogettowork.Instead,youtakefiveminutesextratogetreadybecauseyouhadtopacklunchand15additionalminutestogettoworkbecauseoftraffic.  Otherexamplesthatrelatetoprojectsareinappropriateprocedures,whichcanincludethelackofclearlydefinedstandardprocedures,poorworkingconditions,measurementerrors,normalwearandtear,computerresponsetimes,etc.Theseareallcommoncausevariation. FREECourse:IntroductiontoCAPM®BecomeaCAPM®withthiscourseforFREEEnrolNow SpecialCauseVariation SpecialCauseVariation,ontheotherhand,referstounexpectedglitchesthataffectaprocess.ThetermSpecialCauseVariationwascoinedbyW.EdwardsDemingandisalsoknownasan“AssignableCause.”Thesearevariationsthatwerenotobservedpreviouslyandareunusual,non-quantifiablevariations. Thesecausesaresporadic,andtheyarearesultofaspecificchangethatisbroughtaboutinaprocessresultinginachaoticproblem.Itisnotusuallypartofyournormalprocessandoccursoutoftheblue.Causesareusuallyrelatedtosomedefectinthesystemormethod.However,thisfailurecanbecorrectedbymakingchangestoaffectedmethods,components,orprocesses. Characteristicsofspecialcausevariationare: Newandunanticipatedorpreviouslyneglectedepisodewithinthesystem Thiskindofvariationisusuallyunpredictableandevenproblematic Thevariationhasneverhappenedbeforeandisthusoutsidethehistoricalexperiencebase Onacontrolchart,thepointsliebeyondthepreferredcontrollimitorevenasrandompointswithinthecontrollimit.Onceidentifiedonachart,thistypeofproblemneedstobefoundandaddressedimmediatelyyoucanhelppreventitfromrecurring. Learnnewtrends,emergingpractices,tailoringconsiderations,andcorecompetenciesrequiredofaProjectManagementprofessionalwiththePMPCertificationcourse. SpecialCauseVariationExample Let’ssayyouaredrivingtowork,andyouestimatearrivalin10minuteseveryday.Oneday,ittookyou20minutestoarriveatworkbecauseyouwerecaughtinthetrafficfromanaccidentzoneandwereheldup. Examplesrelatingtoprojectmanagementareifmachinemalfunctions,computercrashes,thereisapowercut,etc.Thesekindsofrandomthingsthatcanhappenduringaprojectareexamplesofspecialcausevariation. Onewaytoevaluateaproject’shealthistotrackthedifferencebetweentheoriginalprojectplanandwhatishappening.Theuseofcontrolchartshelpstodifferentiatebetweenthecommoncausevariationandthespecialcausevariation,makingtheprocessofmakingchangesandamendseasier. Conclusion Thisarticlehasexplainedspecialcausevariationvscommoncausevariationwhicharethetwoimportantconceptsinprojectmanagementwhenitcomestodatavalidation.SimplilearnoffersmultipleProjectManagementtrainingcourseslikethePostGraduatePrograminProjectManagementandlearningpathsthatcanhelpaspiringprojectmanagersgettheeducationtheyneedtopassnotonlyexamslikethePMPcertificationandCAPM®butalsoreal-worldknowledgeusefulforanyprojectmanagementcareer. PMPisaregisteredmarkoftheProjectManagementInstitute,Inc. FindourPMP®CertificationTrainingOnlineClassroomtrainingclassesintopcities:NameDatePlacePMP®CertificationTraining27Nov-8Jan2022,WeekendbatchYourCityViewDetailsPMP®CertificationTraining27Nov-8Jan2022,WeekendbatchSingaporeViewDetailsPMP®CertificationTraining29Nov-5Jan2022,WeekdaysbatchYourCityViewDetailsAbouttheAuthorAvantikaMonnappaAprojectmanagementanddigitalmarketingknowledgemanager,Avantika’sarea ofinterestis projectdesignandanalysisfordigitalmarketing,datascience,andanalyticscompanies.ViewMoreRecommendedProgramsPMP®CertificationTraining79995LearnersExploreCategoryNextArticleHowtodealwithAssignablecauses?ByEshna3056Sep28,2012RecommendedResourcesFourProvenReasonsWhyGamificationImprovesEmployeeTrainingEbookTheArtofRootCauseAnalysis-AllYouNeedtoKnowArticleTheHolisticLookatLongestCommonSubsequenceProblemVideoTutorialFreeeBook:AgileandScrumSalaryReportEbookImportantCausesofFailureinCloudComputingProjectsArticlePowerBIVsTableau:DifferenceandComparisonVideoTutorialprevNext DisclaimerPMP,PMI,PMBOK,CAPM,PgMP,PfMP,ACP,PBA,RMP,SP,andOPM3areregisteredmarksoftheProjectManagementInstitute,Inc.