Author: Cassandra Turgman

FMEAs. Quality teams love them. Everyone else? Not so much.

What are they? Simply put, FMEAs (Failure Modes Effects and Analyses) are a type of risk assessment tool. They’re structured, systematic reviews that help teams identify what can go wrong, why it might happen, and how to prevent it. While there are many types of risk assessments, FMEAs are especially useful for complex manufacturing environments such as automotive, pharmaceutical, and aerospace, where process reliability and compliance matter a lot.

There are two main types: design FMEA (dFMEA) and process FMEA (pFMEA). The output of both is a score called the Risk Priority Number (RPN), which is a multiplication of three scores – Severity, Occurrence, and Detection. The RPN helps teams decide which risks to tackle first. High‑scoring items typically get more urgent attention and resources.

But this article isn’t about teaching you what FMEA is. It’s about how to do them well and even make them enjoyable. Yes, “fun” and “FMEA” can actually exist in the same sentence.

Rule 1: Keep Sessions Short but Consistent

Most FMEAs are done in long group meetings, which can drain attention fast. Research on cognitive endurance shows that focus starts to drop significantly after about 60–90 minutes, and productivity after three hours can fall by more than 40% (Harvard Business Review / University of Illinois studies). In other words, it’s not the smartest use of anyone’s day to lock a group of engineers in a conference room for eight hours.

Set the standard early in the kickoff. Communicate how long sessions will run, how often they’ll happen, and which stakeholders need to attend. We’ve found that 1½‑ to 2‑hour sessions, two or three times per week, strike the right balance. The steady rhythm helps keep the content fresh and builds consistency, and shorter sessions improve recall. This is supported by studies showing that learning and retention improve up to 20–30% when people engage with material in shorter bursts more frequently rather than one long event.

Think of it as training for the mind: repetition beats exhaustion every time. The total time spent on the exercise may be similar, but the efficiency and engagement are much higher.

Rule 2: Keep Sessions Small and Focused

The more people in the room, the less productive the room becomes. The best approach is to bring only those directly involved with the subsystem or subprocess you’re reviewing during the session. That means system owners, engineers, or operators with a direct link to the area under discussion.

Imagine analyzing an automated step where a robot grabs an item from a pallet and places it on a conveyor. On the surface, this sounds simple, but even one process step can have several potential failure modes: the robot could stop working, pick up the wrong part, crash, or drop the item. Each of these has different potential causes—electrical connections, mechanical wear, faulty vision sensors, and so on. It is important in this case to have several disciplines involved. However, bringing multiple people from the same discipline—say, three electrical engineers—isn’t a good use of resources. Teams should be aligned enough to send one representative who can speak for that function. This keeps sessions focused and frees up valuable time for the rest of the team to contribute elsewhere.

Keeping sessions small ensures the right experts are in the room to discuss that exact piece of the process without losing time on unrelated chatter. It also makes meetings more productive and prevents the common “email multitasking” that happens when half the room isn’t actively involved.

If a risk comes up that belongs to another part of the process, note it down and move on. Jumping back and forth drains energy. And if a risk repeats across steps (such as “operator presses e-stop accidentally”), capture it once and apply it as needed. The idea is to stay focused, value people’s time, and move forward efficiently.

Rule 3: Do Your Best – Perfection is a Progress Killer

One of the biggest FMEA time traps is obsessing over scoring. Teams can spend 15 minutes debating about scores for each process step (severity, occurrence, and detection). The truth is, the exact number doesn’t matter as much as consistency in applying the scores does.

If a “line down” event is defined as an 8, leave it that way everywhere else. If the process is still in development and data is limited, take a reasonable approach and assume the worst case until proven otherwise. It’s far easier to adjust later than to overlook a true risk because you didn’t know enough early on.

For instance, say a team is uncertain how often an operator misses a visual inspection. Scoring it as a moderate occurrence until production data proves otherwise keeps the FMEA useful without making it perfect. The real goal isn’t flawless scoring—it’s uncovering what you didn’t know before and acting on it. Treat FMEAs as living documents, they’re not one-and-done exercises. Processes and designs evolve, which means risks evolve, too. Review your risks at least annually or whenever significant changes occur to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Rule 4: Keep People Engaged

Moderating an FMEA isn’t just project management—it’s guided collaboration. A good moderator balances staying on track with keeping people involved. That means asking open-ended questions, giving people space to think, and knowing when to move discussions along.

Sometimes, moderators make the mistake of answering their own questions or dictating scores. That approach kills engagement. Instead, keep asking for input: “What are we missing here?” or “How might this fail in the field?” Questions spark conversation; statements stop it.

Keep in mind that engagement doesn’t mean banning laptops or phones. You can’t force people to pay attention; you have to earn it by making the time valuable. Participants will lean in when they know their voice matters and their input impacts the product or process.

During a particularly complex FMEA session for a new product that hadn’t even been fully developed yet, one of our clients said something that summed up our entire approach:

“We never heard the word fun used to describe FMEAs—you’re doing something right!”

That kind of feedback doesn’t come from luck. It comes from structure, moderation, and making sure every person in the room feels connected to the conversation.

Rule 5: Celebrate the Wins

FMEAs don’t have to feel like punishment. They can be genuinely rewarding when the team sees progress. Celebrate small wins throughout the sessions. Call out strong observations, meaningful mitigations, and improvements.

For example, when someone identifies that a simple sensor position change could eliminate a recurring detection failure, share that as a team “win.” It helps people see how the conversation turns into real improvements, not just paperwork.

By recognizing these moments, you reinforce that the process has value. The more people see that FMEAs lead to cleaner launches and fewer headaches down the road, the more invested they become in doing them well.

Conclusion

There’s no question that FMEAs can be mentally taxing. But they don’t have to be painful. When structured well, they become focused, collaborative sessions that encourage critical thinking instead of dragging people through a “check-the-box” exercise.

Short, focused, and consistent sessions with the right people and a strong moderator transform FMEAs from a dreaded meeting into something productive and—even occasionally—fun. When people walk out saying, “That wasn’t so bad,” you know you’ve done something right. And when they come back ready for the next round—that’s when you know you’ve truly made FMEAs fun.