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| Criterion |  Facilitation Timeline |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Facilitation Dot Voting |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a project, incident, or change process is only remembered in fragments, Timeline brings the sequence back into a readable form. It makes turning points, precursors, and after-effects recognizable over the course of time. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | When a workshop has produced too many options and the group needs to condense quickly, dot voting makes preferences visible in a short time. It bundles individual votes into a solid signal for the next selection. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 5-15 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-12 | 3-10 | 3-20 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Timeline, Milestones, Insight Notes | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Ranked list, Consensus signal, Shortlist | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | TimelineFacilitationSequence | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | FacilitationVotingConsensusPrioritization | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |