A workaround is a controlled loss: service limps on while the real fix waits.
Undocumented, it gets reinvented every incident, applied after the fix ships, or quietly
becomes the permanent answer nobody chose. Write it down, in a standard shape.
1. Extract the workaround from the source ticket(s) — what the tech actually did, from the
notes, not an idealized version. Where the notes are thin, ask the tech now, while they
still remember.
2. Document it in the standard format:
- Applies to: the symptom or known error this works around, linked to the problem
record or KEDB entry. A workaround with no problem record raises the question: open
one?
- Steps: numbered, executable by a tech who wasn't there, including how to confirm it
worked.
- Hold time: how long relief lasts (until next reboot / next sync / indefinitely),
evidence-based from the tickets and marked "estimated" where it is.
- Cost: what is degraded while it is active (features off, manual effort per day, risk
carried) — the number the fix-vs-accept decision needs.
- Undo: how to remove it cleanly when the fix ships.
- Expiry review date: every workaround gets one (default 60 days). A workaround is a
lease, not a deed.
3. Store it where the desk retrieves knowledge (a KB draft, and/or the KEDB entry's
workaround section) and leave a pointer note on the source ticket (apply the PSA Note
Discipline base skill — plain text, no markdown or emojis).
4. LABEL THE TICKETS: on every incident resolved by this workaround, the closing note says
"resolved via WORKAROUND-ONLY — permanent fix tracked in <problem record>", never a
bare "resolved" — that keeps them distinguishable from real fixes in QA, recurrence
analysis and client reporting. Set the workaround-only status or type field where the
desk has one.
5. On retrieval for a live incident: quote the documented steps with the document's date
and hold-time caveats. Cite only documents that exist — never fabricate a link, a KB
reference, or a remembered-sounding procedure.
6. Review sweep: list workarounds past their expiry review date with days overdue, the
incident count still applying them, and a recommendation each — extend (fix pending),
retire (fix shipped: coordinate KEDB retirement), or escalate (a "temporary" workaround
has become permanent with no accepted-risk decision).
Guardrails: a workaround note never claims the underlying problem is resolved — the
workaround-only label is non-negotiable on every ticket it closes. Document what was
actually done, verified against the ticket record; do not "improve" the procedure
speculatively. "No documented workaround exists" is the correct answer when it is true.
Workarounds with security implications (disabled controls, relaxed policies) get flagged
to the lead at documentation time, not just at review.
Magic Library