Tool #3 - Cause & Effect (Fishbone) Diagram
This week, let’s focus on a great root causal analysis tool - the Cause & Effect Diagram. It's also called a 'fishbone diagram' because it resembles a fish's bone structure.
Summary:
It’s a great tool for brainstorming and encouraging team participation. It allows you as the leader, to help your team understand the root causal elements of a problem and (have them) identify areas of improvement. They solve their own issues!
History:
Fishbones or causal diagrams were popularized by Kaoru Ishikawa in the 1960s that show the potential causes of a specific event.
Applications:
Common uses of the diagram are process issues, product design, or quality defect prevention to identify potential factors causing an overall effect. For our purposes, we will focus on management problems/process issues.
Step One: State the problem or ‘effect’ (red oval).
This is why we’re all here — pick a problem that is affecting your team’s performance or productivity or holding back the progress on a team project.
Step Two: Identify the main causal groups (black ovals).
Let your team brainstorm each one and don’t interrupt unless they need a little push to get their ideas flowing.
Step Three: Identify the causal elements within each group.
This is where the rubber hits the road — allow your team to come up with multiple causal elements for each grouping. At this point, a grouping will either get stronger or weaker — and if it gets weaker, eliminate it.
Step Four: Prioritize the causal groups from most to least important.
Have your team vote on each grouping — whether it moves closer to the problem statement or farther away. This process simplifies the fishbone for the next step.
Step Five: Identify the root cause in each group (red type).
This is a contentious area — but it allows your team to clearly define what the real problem is. Once you do this, it will simplify and personalize your plan of attack on the problem.
Step Six: Develop an action plan to ameliorate the root causes.
Let them develop their action plans to solve their problem. Not you, you are only the facilitator — don’t let them put tasks/responsibility on your back.
Some managers might find this tool a little over-structured and pedantic. All I have to say is, “Trust It”. I’ve found that some of the most simple problems have very ingrained and complex causes — and it helps you to let your team uncover it on their own rather than barking out solutions.