Free Fishbone Diagram Templates | Editable

The fishbone diagram, or Ishikawa diagram, is used to identify the root cause of an issue and present it visually. This diagram was developed by a quality management expert, Professor Ishikawa in 1986. He developed the diagram to help teams to identify the root causes of problems within industrial processes. It is called a fish diagram because of its shape, which looks like the skeleton of a fish. The main problem is displayed as the "head" and the bones are the causes. This diagram is used nowadays across various fields such as manufacturing, healthcare, service industries, education, and software development. We have designed these templates by maintaining the fishbone standards to help you make fishbone charts effectively and present your information professionally.

Understanding the Fishbone Diagram

A fishbone diagram is made up of essential parts that function together to determine the underlying causes of a problem. These parts are:

• The Head of the fish is used to write down the main problem or issue that you want to resolve. For example, you can write “Missed delivery deadline for our products” or “Increased cost of packaging materials” etc.
• The Main Bones are used to identify the main categories of causes. The main categories are usually People, which means factors related to human resources; Methods, which are procedures or processes; Machines, such as equipment or technology; Materials, which are raw materials or inputs; Environment or external factors; and Measurements, which mean data collection and measurement processes. All these factors should be customized according to your particular situation or industry.
• After identifying Main Bones, you can add Sub-Bones which are branches from the main category of causes. This means that you can list specific factors under each category. For example, under People, you can write “Not enough staff," or Equipment can have a sub-bone of “outdated machinery,” etc. You can use this part of the template to brainstorm with colleagues and teammates to describe the challenges.
• The lines and arrows in the diagram help you to connect the sub-issues with the main issues and their impact on the problem statement.

These fishbone diagram templates are useful resources for professionals across diverse fields to identify the causes of complex issues and present them as fishbone diagram charts with clarity and precision. After you have customized the template and added relevant information, you can easily integrate it into your existing documents.