Ishikawa diagram: Project problem-solving in 4 steps

The fishbone graphical technique to identify interactions of problem causes in a Project.

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

Ishikawa Diagram (also called fishbone diagram or cause-and-effect diagram) is a graphical technique to show the several circumstances of a specific event and it´s a common technic used for a cause and effect analysis to identify a complex interaction of causes for a specific problem in a Project. In this article, I try to simplify your application and how to apply an Ishikawa Diagram in just 4 steps, see below:

1. Define the problem (effect) clearly

When the problem is defined, draw a horizontal line (fish body) with an arrow pointing for the problem (head fish). Exemplo: PROBLEM — Project due date late.

2. Define major cause

Use the Brainstorming approach to identify the causes. Write the major categories of causes of the problem as branches from the main arrow. Example: For a “PROBLEM — Project due date late”, I can have “Development Team” as a major cause.

3. Define sub cause

Also using the Brainstorming approach identify the sub-causes branching off the cause branches. The more sub-cases you create…