How to Get Most of Fishbone Diagram

Source: https://miro.com/blog/how-to-get-most-of-fishbone-diagram/

Problems can occur in any business, and may take many different forms. It’s
important that you are able to determine the cause of such problems in a timely
manner. The only way to ensure this is to make use of a structured approach — and
that’s where the fishbone diagram comes in. A fishbone diagram may also be
referred to as a cause and effect diagram, an Ishikawa diagram, Herringbone
diagram or Fishikawa diagram.

What is a fishbone diagram?

A fishbone diagram, also known as Ishikawa diagram or cause and effect diagram, is
a tool used to visualize all the potential causes of a problem in order to discover the
root causes. The fishbone diagram helps one group these causes and provides a
structure in which to display them. When applied correctly, it ensures that you
address the actual cause of the problem and don’t just implement a superficial
solution.

The fishbone diagram was given its name due to its resemblance to a fish’s skeleton.
Initially popularized in the 1960s as a quality tool by its namesake, Kaoru Ishikawa, it
has become an important part of many modern-day systems, including Six Sigma.

When to use a fishbone diagram?

Originally conceived as a tool to aid in problem solving, the fishbone diagram is far
more versatile than just that. For any process or system, the fishbone diagram is
able to help you break down all of its contributing factors in a hierarchical manner.

Use cases for the fishbone diagram:

 To analyze a problem statement

 To brainstorm the causes of the problem (root cause analysis)

 To analyze a new design

 Process improvement

 Quality improvement

How to make a fishbone diagram

To show how a fishbone diagram is created, we are going to try to solve the problem
of “why the customer churn of a product is so high”. In this example, sales of a
software product are doing quite well, but their subscriptions are not being renewed.
This indicates that after the initial purchase, users don’t see continued value in the
product.

To illustrate the step-by-step fishbone diagram creation process, we will fill in the
Miro fishbone diagram template. Let’s get started.

The Fishbone diagram template

Step 1 – Define the problem

The first step to solving any problem, and the key to a successful fishbone diagram,
is to correctly define the problem. In this instance, a product has high churn rate.
When viewing the subscription data, the biggest problem noted was that 40% of
users were cancelling their subscription after the first month.

After discussing the situation internally, it was decided that this was the key metric to
improve on, and a goal was set to improve this metric to have no more than 20% of
new users cancelling their subscription after the first month.

When a problem is clearly defined, it is easier to identify causes that affect the metric
directly. It also encourages evaluating data to determine whether there is really a
problem or not.

The problem you define is used as the output of the fishbone diagram. In this case,
the percentage of users cancelling their subscription after the first month is above
20%.
 The Fishbone diagram – define the problem

Problem definition tips:

 If you are using the fishbone diagram to design a process or increase

productivity, it is equally important to correctly define your output. Goals should be
objective and achievable.

 You should place the problem to the right side of the diagram. Then you can
choose how to fill it in. The idea is that “bones” indicate the impact of the causes.
The causes with the biggest impact should be placed closer to the head of the fish,
the causes with the smaller impact should be placed further away. You can choose
right-hand side and develop causes in the space to the left or do it vice versa, but
remember the idea about the “bones” impact.  

Step 2 – Decide on key categories of causes

Once the problem has been properly defined, one must then decide what areas of
the problem or process are key to determining the actual cause. These can be
unique for your fishbone or based on a template.

For our example, three possible key areas to consider could be:

 Users

 Software

 Subscription system

If one starts considering potential causes, most of them would fall within one of these
three categories. If you felt marketing had a large impact on your retention figures,
 you could add that as a fourth area. You can have any number of areas, but for
simplicity, limiting yourself to no more than 10 is recommended.

The Fishbone diagram – decide on the key areas

Key area decision tips:

 For many industries, a template is available that already defines these key
areas. In manufacturing, the 6 Ms are most popular. The service and marketing
industries make use of the 5 Ss and 8 Ps respectively. These can be used as a
starting point for streamlined problem solving.

Step 3 – Determine actual causes of the problem

Now that the areas are defined, we go through each one and try to determine all the
individual influences that can affect our output. We look at each category and list
everything that we can think of, which falls within it.

If we look at the subscription system, some possible causes to investigate are:

 Not enough payment options are offered.

 The payment and registration systems are difficult to navigate.

 Credit cards expire voiding renewal.

 The system doesn’t send out reminders for renewals.

When considering the user, potential causes may be:

 Users don’t understand the full benefit of the software (low perceived value).
 Users are unable to perform basic operations or don’t know how to use all the
functions.

 Users experience delays when contacting support.

 Users don’t use the software continuously, only requiring it for a few days at a
time.

 Users forget about the product.

Coming to the software itself, potential causes may be:

 The software is unstable, crashes regularly.

 The software is difficult to use.

 Software installation requires multiple additional plugins to function well.

 Key functionality requires additional subscriptions.

 The software is insecure.

These are just a few potential causes. You should fill your fishbone diagram with as
many different causes as you are able to come up with. Not every area of your
fishbone needs to have causes listed, though (especially when using a template),
and some areas will have more causes than others.

You now have a starting point for your root cause determination. To progress, you
need to investigate each cause to establish its actual effect on your output.

The Fishbone diagram – determine actual causes

Actual cause determination tips:

 Consider running a brainstorming session or laying out a process map to
generate better causes for your fishbone diagram.

 Invite other team members in the process to ensure all the potential causes
are identified.

 Some causes may have multiple sub-causes. Expand your fishbone diagram
in a hierarchical manner to encompass all possible causes.

Step 4 – Using tools to plan the way forward

As mentioned earlier, a fishbone diagram does not lead to solutions on its own.
Further tools are needed to identify the effect that each cause has on output, and
ultimately select the causes you want to control.

Process Map

A process map is basically a flowchart of a specific system, which shows all of its
inputs and outputs. It works best in areas like the manufacturing industry, where you
have a clearly defined process, with individual steps that each product goes through.

Process mapping involves looking at each step of the process one by one and listing
all the potential influences. In an actual manufacturing environment, this may include
being present on the production line and viewing the system, taking notes as you go
through the process.

A process map is very effective at ensuring that all steps and influences in a system
are considered. By defining a process map, you can clearly identify potential causes
and add them to your fishbone diagram.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a fairly common tool used in modern businesses. Instead of

considering all of the factors of a fishbone diagram by yourself, include others in the
process. When working alone, one is likely to overlook certain areas and completely
miss others.

A brainstorming session should be a clearly defined meeting involving problem role-

players. Someone must lead the session, taking note of ideas offered by members of
the team, and allowing time to discuss matters that lack consensus.

The key to a successful brainstorming session is balancing a structured meeting

while ensuring all relevant topics are discussed. The main output from a
brainstorming session would be a list of causes to input into your fishbone diagram.
 Make sure once your fishbone diagram is concluded that the following steps are
clear to all team members. This may involve delegating tasks to other members and
ensuring that clear deadlines are set to allow for follow-up.

Forward planning tips:

 If you’re unsure what causes to investigate, by collaborating with team

members, you can develop a cause and effect matrix. This way, causes are ranked
from most important to least important, based on a team’s experience.

 If you’re interested in addressing the root cause of a problem and not just a
symptom, the 5 whys technique can be applied to dive deeper.

Conclusion

For any situation where you need to understand all of the contributing factors, a
fishbone diagram can help. Don’t get caught up trying to do something quickly before
you understand the whole system. Take the time to prepare a fishbone diagram and
ensure that the work you do is going to address the key aspects and add value.