Time Lines & Tootsie Rolls

You ask yourself, "Tootsie Rolls?" A fair question indeed. Tootsie Rolls have nothing to do with time lines. However, time lines are not exciting and I needed to grab your attention as a result. Because time lines are not exciting many investigators either ignore or avoid them. The fact of the matter is that a time line is critical to the successful investigation of any loss event. Here is why:

1. A time line can help you identify all the activities that lead to the loss event. As you build the time line, you find gaps that you fill and you continue to build.
   
2. A time line can help you identify all the activities that transpired after the loss event. As you continue to build the time line, you find issues that obscured the loss event after it happened. These issues are important, as they also may represent gaps that need to be addressed.
3. Once your time line is constructed, you have an outline for your investigation.
4. A time line is extremely useful if your investigation requires approval, as it helps draw an organized picture of what activities or circumstances transpired around the loss event. (The key to approval is making it easy for the approver(s) to understand what happened.)
   

Nearly all investigations can be structured on a time line. Think for a moment of the press reporting an aircraft investigation. They are delivering news information about the aircraft accident, usually from a time line that the investigators have provided. This helps the press understand what happened. It also makes it easy for the press to convey to the public what happened. If your investigation has a time line outlined around the loss event, your written analysis will be smoother and make more sense.

So think about it; consider the value of a time line. If you've built them in your investigations in the past, continue building them. If not, start using them and see if they don't help your investigations immensely.

If you're not buying into the whole time line idea, it's time for you to get up and go get a Tootsie Roll!