Virtual brainstorming is hard. It relies on people working together in sync. The team needs to be able to contribute an collaborate at the same time.
Already know what a fishbone diagram is? Skip to the end for our list of the top free fishbone diagram templates.
What is the Fishbone Diagram?
The fishbone diagram is a cause and effect brainstorming method. The fishbone diagram is also known as the Ishikawa diagram (named after its inventor, Japanese quality control expert Kaoru Ishikawa). It is easily one of the most effective tools to identify cause and effect when combined with the 5 whys. It helps people to quickly identify the root cause and stop guessing.
Other Names for Fishbone Diagram:
- Root Cause Analysis
- Cause and Effect Diagram
- Cause & Effect Mindmap
- Ishikawa diagram
What do you do after the fishbone diagram? The 5 Whys
You have started by creating as many branches as you see fit all could be categories of the possible problem. The next step is to use the 5 whys to ask. The 5 whys help the team think of new causes. Then you ask why is this causing the problem and as you keep asking why you are creating links on the branch. It should come to a conclusion typically after 5 whys.
If its issues with team motivation you should check out our article on creating a Agile Team Charter with templates and examples.
Cause & Effect Mindmap for Remote Software Teams
The fishbone diagram can be considered as a cause and effect mindmap, as it groups possible areas of the problem. It then helps teams easily visualize where all the possible causes could be leading to the problem. To breakdown and get further causes using the 5 whys approach with the fishbone diagram is highly recommended.
The 3 steps to working on a fishbone diagram are as follows:
How to create a fishbone diagram
Total Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Create a problem statement as the fish head.
What is the problem? How does the problem occur? When does the problem happen?
Set broad categories or areas do potential causes fall into (max 10)
Possible categories for software products: Users, Software, Marketing, Integrations, Database
List out all of the individual causes for each category or area as the bones of the diagram
Use 5 Whys to systematically dig deeper and uncover new potential causes.
Tools:
- Excel / Word
- Google Sheets
- Miro / Mural
How do you make a fishbone diagram virtually?
Virtual brainstorming is hard. It relies on people working together in sync. You donât have a whiteboard as you would normally have to have people openly put up postits and feel like they can actively contribute. Using Google Hangouts or zoom meetings are good but for a facilitator, it can be very difficult to squeeze ideas out of people. We previously discussed how you can use ice breakers for virtual meetings to get people engaged but what is the next step to continue engagement?
You can create fishbones with PowerPoint and share your screen looking for inputs but itâs really just one person driving the conversation and lacks engagement you would get in real life.
How do you get virtual teams to engage in brainstorming?
The solution is to use virtual whiteboard tools such as miro. You can see the people interacting with the diagram below. One of my favourite features is actually seeing peoples name as they interact so you can discuss on the zoom meeting while the person is making the changes.
This works really, especially when you are writing out effects using the 5 why method mentioned above.
Virtual Fishbone Tutorial
Other Quality Checking Tools like The Fishbone Diagram
The fishbone diagram is one of the Seven Basic Tools of Quality â 7 QC Tools. This would be the first place I would check if I felt the fishbone diagram wasnât exactly what I was looking for to help identify issues. Different circumstances require different tools.
- Stratification (Divide and Conquer)
- Histogram.
- Check Sheet (Tally Sheet)
- Cause-and-effect diagram (âfishboneâ or Ishikawa diagram)
- Pareto chart (80/20 Rule)
- Scatter diagram (Shewhart Chart)
- Control chart
Fishbone Diagram Free Download Resources
Creating a fishbone diagram template isnât rocket science. Its more about using a tool that you are familiar with or that your organization is using already. I have listed a mix of paid and free tools.
- Fishbone Diagram Google Slides: Ideal for anybody who uses gsuite in their organization and ready using Google slides. All you need to do is just copy and paste.
- Fishbone Diagram for Google Sheets: We created this ourselves as couldnât find any online. Itâs ready for you to use and any issues or suggestions please add a comment below. I have embedded it below this list to make it easier for you to access.
- Fishbone Diagram Blank PDF Templates: Free samples for you to download which includes: Venn Diagram of Fishbone, Site Map of Fishbone Diagram Template, Network Fishbone Diagram Template, Fishbone Diagram Powerpoint, Fishbone Diagram Excel.
- Fishbone Template in Word: Requires paid version of Microsoft Office to edit.
- Fishbone Diagram Template in Excel: Requires paid version of Microsoft Office to edit.
- Fishbone Diagram PowerPoint: Requires paid version of Microsoft Office to edit.
- Fishbone Diagram in Miro: Online collaboration tool â you can create 1 board for free.
- Fishbone Diagram in PDF: Ready for you to download and print to use today.
- Fishbone Diagram Report for Google Docs & Word
- Online Editor Fishbone Diagram
Bonus Free Google Sheets Template
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