Quick Guide On Fishbone Analysis Plus Fishbone Diagram Templates

SlideUpLift
4 min readSep 13, 2020

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fishbone diagram templates

Problems have always been a part of the business. Every organization needs to do a cause and effect analysis to identify the causes of a business problem and develop corrective measures for the future. Recognizing the potential causes of a problem can help the business fix them, ensuring they do not get repeated in the future. A technique developed by Professor Ishikawa is a widely used method by business professionals to identify the potential causes of a business problem. This technique is known as The Fishbone Analysis and has become a widely used method to conduct the root cause analysis of any business problems.

In this article, we will be discussing the fishbone diagram along with -

  • The uses of Fishbone Diagrams
  • How to use a Fishbone Diagram Template in your root cause analysis.
  • Examples of Fishbone Diagram Templates

What is a Fishbone Diagram Template?

A fishbone diagram, also known as the Ishikawa diagram, is a cause and effect analysis tool to identify the potential causes or factors influencing the problem. It creates a systematic way of looking at the problem and the cause that create or contribute to the problem.

The diagram resembles a fish’s skeleton, where the problem is displayed at the front of the fish’s mouth, and the possible causes are listed in the smaller bones. Below is a fishbone analysis example -

fishbone diagram template

View Fishbone Diagram PPT

What are the Uses of a Fishbone Diagram?

Although the Fishbone Analysis was developed initially as a quality control tool, it can be used for other purposes. For example -

  • A manager can use it to identify the bottlenecks in a project process.
  • Medical professionals can use Fishbone Diagram templates to examine accidents and reach their root cause to be avoided in the future.
  • Product managers can use it as a process and quality improvement tool.

How to use Fishbone Diagram Template?

Here are the steps to use the Fishbone Analysis-

Identify the problem —

The first step in a cause and effect analysis is problem identification. It includes — describing the nature of the problem, the magnitude of the problem, the person involved, when and where it occurs, etc. On the fishbone diagram, this will appear on the head of the fish.

Work on the main causes of the problem —

This stage involves identifying the root causes of the problem. Highlight as many potential causes as possible that can be a part of the problem. As shown in the below diagram, these causes will follow the head of the fish.

The below Fishbone diagram template highlight the sub causes in a clean format –

fishbone diagram ppt

View Fishbone Diagram PPT

Identify the sub causes through the main causes —

Every major problem involves sub causes that contribute to the occurrence of the primary cause. This step involves identifying the possible additional causes related to the major problems identified in step 2.

The below Fishbone diagram template highlight the sub causes in a clean format –

fishbone diagram ppt

View Fishbone Diagram PPT

Analyze the diagram —

By this step, a diagram would be ready containing all the possible causes of the problem that you could think of. This diagram now needs to be reviewed as a whole. These problems need to be analyzed in detail. Depending on the problems’ priority and urgency, you can dive further into each problem to investigate them critically.

Derive an Action Plan —

After knowing the problem and its causes in detail, the final task is to derive an action plan. Outline the best approach to address the problem and come up with the most viable solution for it.

A Few Examples of Fishbone Diagram Templates-

fishbone analysis example

View Fishbone Diagram Templates collection

There are other prominent ways of identifying the root cause of any business problem. 5 Why Analysis is one of them. Learn how to use the 5 Whys Analysis technique to solve your problem at hand effectively.

Now you don’t have to scour the web to find out the right templates. Download our PowerPoint templates from within PowerPoint. See how?

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