When To Use a Fishbone Diagram

Fishbone diagrams work for most entrepreneurs and almost any industry or person having a problem. Professional diagramming software may help you create Fishbone (Cause and Effect or Ishikawa) diagrams. When people are unclear about what is causing an issue, ConceptDraw DIAGRAM will be your lifesaver. When to use a Fishbone diagram? Originally developed as a quality control tool, you may find a Fishbone diagram helpful when used in many cases, such as to analyze a complex problem when there are many causes, for identifying all possible root causes for an effect or a problem, when you need different point of view to look on a problem, to uncover bottlenecks and identify where and why a process doesn't work, for acceleration a process when traditional ways of problem solving consume many time.

Affinity Diagram

The Affinity Diagram, also known as a KJ diagram, is a business tool invented for organization the large quantity of ideas and data. It is a part of Seven Management and Planning Tools, it is usually used right after brainstorming to sort large numbers of ideas into the corresponding groups. The Affinity Diagram helps to represent in a better way the structure of large and complex factors which influence on a problem, divides these factors into the smaller and simpler structures, and helps team members to see the patterns and identify possible solutions to problems they have. The diagrams of this type don't show the causal relationships between the factors, but they are designed to prepare the data for holding further analysis of the cause-effect relationships. Another area of Affinity Diagram usage is contextual inquiry as a way to sort observations and notes from field interviews, support call logs, open-ended survey responses organizing, etc. ConceptDraw MINDMAP software offers you the tools for easy holding brainstorming, generation ideas and creation MINDMAP Affinity Diagram.

Draw Fishbone Diagram on MAC Software

The problem solving and decision-making processes are closely linked and crucial for the business and life. There are many tools and techniques for facilitating and improvement these processes, and also enhancement the quality of accepted decisions. One of them is Fisbone Diagram or Cause and Effect diagram. For its construction, you need first define the problem which you need to solve (existing or potential), write it into rectangular and draw to it a horizontal line - a “fish spine”. Then define general types of possible causes like Persons, Materials, Methods, Machinery, Measurements or Environment, and attach them to “spine”. Start brainstorming the possible reasons of failure and connect them to the branches. Professional diagramming ConceptDraw DIAGRAM MAC OSX software offers the Fishbone Diagrams solution which contains templates, samples, and ready Fishbone design objects. Use of them lets effectively identify the possible causes for an effect, realize successfully cause and effect analysis, and instantly draw Fishbone diagram on Mac software.

Cause and Effect Diagram

ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software extended with Fishbone Diagrams solution from the Management area of ConceptDraw Solution Park is perfect for Cause and Effect Diagram creating. It gives the ability to draw fishbone diagram that identifies many possible causes for an effect or a problem. Causes and Effects are usually grouped into major categories to identify these sources of variation. Causes and Effects in the diagram show relationships among various factor. Fishbone diagram shows factors of Equipment, Process, People, Materials, Environment and Management, all affecting the overall problem.

Cause and Effect Analysis

Cause and Effect Analysis - The Seven Management and Planning Tools is a tool for Cause and Effect Analysis that allows users to analyze the root causes for factors that influenced the problem. This diagram is constructed separately for each highly prioritized factor. The Diagram is then used for further formulation of potential actions.

Risk Diagram (Process Decision Program Chart)

The Risk Diagram or Process Decision Program Chart (PDPC) is intended to determine the risks of potential obstacles during the corrective actions that can be at the cases of their incorrect performing, and helps to develop effective preventive actions. Process Decision Program Chart it's kind of contingency plan to limit the risks, it determines the consequential impacts of failures on the activity plans. The Risk Plans and Process Decision Program Charts can be extended on several levels and take the form of tree or hierarchy, this form is incredibly convenient for representing the risks and countermeasures. ConceptDraw MINDMAP is powerful software tool for Business, Marketing and Project Management. It is also ideal for easy designing MINDMAP Risk Diagram or Process Decision Program Chart, due to the included "7 Management and Planning Tools" solution to ConceptDraw Solution Park. We recommend to start with Process Decision Program Chart (PDPC) template opening it from ConceptDraw STORE or from the Output tab at ConceptDraw MINDMAP application.

Fishbone Diagram Example

Fishbone Diagram, also referred as Cause and Effect diagram or Ishikawa diagram, is a fault finding and problem solving tool. Construction of Ishikawa diagrams is quite complicated process and has a number of features. Fishbone Diagrams solution included to ConceptDraw Solution Park contains powerful drawing tools and a lot of examples, samples and templates. Each Fishbone diagram example is carefully thought-out by experts and is perfect source of inspiration for you.

Affinity Diagram

Affinity Diagram is a powerful business tool, one of the Seven Management and Planning Tools. It helps to gather and organize in groups the large number of information, opinions or ideas, which are typically generated during brainstorming session, and is based on the natural relationships that exist between ideas. Affinity Diagram is indispensible for analysis the complex problems, ideas and results of oral surveys. It effectively depicts the structure of large and complex factors that influence on a problem, divides them into smaller with simpler structure, but doesn't show a causal relationship between the factors. Typically Affinity Diagram contains approximately 40-50 topics and is widely used for a completely different goals, for the project definition, for analyzing product evaluations, for identifying the main violations in a process and the ways of their improvement. ConceptDraw Office applications are ideal for designing professional-looking Affinity diagrams. This Affinity diagram is created to prepare the data for further analysis of cause-and-effect relationships.

Decision Making

Decision Making - ConceptDraw Office suite provides visual tools that are given support on the stage of the decision making. The Seven Management and Planning Tools is a set for such diagrams: Affinity Diagram, Relations Diagram, Prioritization Matrix, Root Cause Tree Diagram, Involvement Matrix, PERT Chart, Risk Diagram (PDPC).

Cause and Effect Fishbone Diagram

Cause and Effect Fishbone Diagram is one of the popular productivity and management tools widely used in business organizations. It is also known as Fishbone Diagram, because it looks like a fish skeleton. Cause and Effect Diagram provides a structured way which helps to identify all possible causes of a problem. Cause and Effect Diagram can be applied anywhere where exists a causal relationship. Now the problem of complexity the Cause and Effect Fishbone Diagram creating is solved thanks to the ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software extended with Fishbone Diagrams solution from the Management area.