Process Improvement RAID Log
This is a practical guide to building a raid log for a process improvement project — a consolidated log of Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies, adapted to the realities of improving an existing business process.
What a RAID Log is
A raid log is a consolidated log of Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies. For the full concept and how it works in general, see RAID Log. On a process improvement project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Process Improvement project
Process Improvement projects live or die on improving an existing business process. A well-built raid log gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how process improvement projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Risks
- Assumptions
- Issues
- Dependencies
- Owners and status
Process Improvement-specific considerations
Tailor the raid log to the risks that most often derail process improvement projects:
- Change resistance
- Measuring the baseline
- Scope discipline
Example
On a real process improvement project, the raid log would be shaped by improving an existing business process. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — change resistance, measuring the baseline, scope discipline — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.