Q 681. SWIFT Analysis is a lesser known risk assessment tool. Describe its working using an example. Also highlight its advantages and disadvantages.

 

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SWIFT Analysis stands for Structured What-if Technique and is a Risk identification technique. It is used to identify and evaluate potential risk. It uses Brainstorming sessions. The team discuss the possible risks, their causes and impact using What-if scenarios. The brainstorming is done using a diverse group and are Facilitator led sessions.

 

Advantages:

·        Systematic Approach

·        Diverse viewpoint as we use a multidisciplinary team

·        Swift Analysis can be implemented in various types of process and industries

·        Encourages to think creatively

 

Disadvantages:

·        It is a Qualitative approach and may not provide numerical data on risk probability and impact

·        The outcome of the discussion depends on the expertise of the team

 

Example:

 

Scenario : Deploying Automated Patient Selection Automation

 

Objective : Identify potential risks of deploying an automated Patient selection automation

 

Steps in the Swift Analysis

Scope : Is the deployment of automated patient selection in the prescription.

 

Team:

·        Pharmacist working on the manual cases

·        Technicians working on the manual cases

·        Manager

·        Leadership

 

What-if questions and answers :

 

Q1: What if the automation selects incorrect patient?

 

·        Identified Risk: Medication sent to the wrong patient, Legal implications, Customer dissatisfaction, Health risk to patient.

·        Potential Causes: Not including all the possible scenarios of Patient selection in automation, Twin scenarios

·        Mitigation Measure: Extensive Testing to be done before deployment to ensure all the patient selection criteria are defined and captured in the automation.

 

 

 

 

Q2: What if there is a change in the UI of the screen where automation performs the tasks?

 

·        Identified Risk : Possible incorrect selection of patient, not able to complete the task and build up of work for manual handling

·        Potential Causes: Change in the screen/fields or upgrade in the system which was not intimated to the automation team to assess the impact.

·        Mitigation Measure: Coordinating with the Application team and ensuring that all the updates to the system are shared well in advance with the automation team for impact assessment.

 

 

The team has identified the risks, their causes and Mitigation measure and documented as well. The team creates an action plan to implement the mitigation measure, assigning responsibilities and setting timelines for the completion. Regular meetings are scheduled to check the progress.

Following steps are followed for SWIFT analysis :

 

• Define the scope and objectives of the analysis.
• Gather relevant information about the system or process to be analyzed.
• The manager/TL guides the team through a series of "What if?" questions related to different aspects of the system or process.
• Team members suggest potential risks or hazards in response to each "What if?" question.
• Each identified risk is evaluated in terms of its likelihood and potential impact.
• The team discusses existing controls and measures that mitigate each risk.
• The entire process, including identified risks, evaluations, and recommended actions, is documented in a report.

 

Example :

 

Scenario: Assessing Risks in a Customer Service Center

 

• Scope: Risk assessment of the customer service call handling process.
• Team: Customer service managers, IT support staff, quality assurance personnel, and customer service representatives (CSRs).

 

• Team Manager : "What if the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system goes down during peak hours?"
• Team : CSRs won't have access to customer information, leading to longer call handling times and poor customer experience. 

Risks :

 

Risk: CRM system downtime.
Cause: Server failure, software bug, or network issue.
Effect: Increased call handling times, customer dissatisfaction, potential loss of business.

 

Actions :

 

• Regular maintenance and updates of the CRM system.
• Implementation of a backup CRM system and a robust incident response plan. IT support team will be responsible for this.
• Actions must be completed within the next six months

Advantages of SWIFT analysis :

 

• Provides a structured approach to brainstorming but allows flexibility in exploring different scenarios.
• Encourages participation from a diverse team, leading to comprehensive risk identification.
• Encourages participation from a diverse team, leading to comprehensive risk identification.

 

Disadvantages of SWIFT analysis :

 

• Relies heavily on the expertise and judgment of the team, which can introduce subjectivity.
• May not identify all possible risks, especially those that are less obvious or complex.
• Requires thorough documentation to ensure all identified risks and actions are recorded and followed up.

 

SWIFT Analysis is an approach for identifying and mitigating potential Risks for process or a project through focused brainstorming using What if Analysis: The steps involved in this analysis are :

 

1. Team formation : The team is formed for brainstorming which should consist of experts/SMEs from the different functions/departments 

 

2. Scenario/Situation Identification : Brainstorming is done here to identify the different potential risks caused by the different situations that pose a threat to project/process in any manner. example : In a project that is providing customer support through chat/e-mail/voice scenarios may include power outage, telecom outage, employee attrition etc 

 

3. What-if question on Scenarios: Th this step, what-if question is asked against the scenarios identified in step #2 for the various possibilities e.g. "What is there is a Power outage?', "What if there is telecom outage?, " What if the employee attrition is high?"

 

4. Impact Assessment : In this step the team evaluates the potential impact of the scenario from different perspectives like financial impact, impact on planning, impact on day-to-day operations.

 

5. Preventive Measure identification : Based on the previous steps, the team brainstorms to identify the preventive measure that can mitigate/minimize the different scenarios identified.

 

6. Implementation : In this step, the preventive measures identified in Ste % are implemented to make the process/project mote tolerant of the risks identified. These may include changes to the policies, Business contingency plans etc, which further helps the process/project become more robust.

 

7. SWIFT Analysis review: Periodic review of SWIFT analysis is done to ensure that any new potential risks arising due to changing circumstance are also taken care of through the steps mentioned above, to make the analysis adaptable to the changing times

 

Advantages of SWIFT Analysis:

1 Proactive identification of risks

2. Involvement of all departments/functions in risk identification & mitigation

3. Provides information about risks that can be acted upon

 

Disadvantages:

1. Lack of quantification of risks unlike FMEA

2. Unstructured way of prioritization as it is perspective based and not data based

3. Scope limitation as it is dependent on team's perspective and certain scenarios may get missed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best answer to this question has been written by Abhijeet Sonake. Well done.

 

P.S.: Half of the answers could not be published as they either failed the plagiarism or the AI generated content test.