A fishbone diagram, also known as Ishikawa diagram or cause-and-effect diagram, is a diagram introduced by Kaoru Ishikawa to visually represent all factors that have certain influences and effects. The diagram consists primarily of fish bones and head. Each of the bones represents causes and the head represents the effect or problem influenced by those causes. The benefit of using fishbone diagram is that it uses format that is easy to read and it encourages its observers to focus on all minor and major causes that affect a certain outcome. The diagram has been commonly used in educational, business and industrial fields.

This fishbone diagram template is meant to ease the creation of fishbone diagram. Designed to be used with Microsoft Word, this template should be easy for contemporary users, who consider such program a user-friendly and familiar program. The template is so customizable that even every bone can have its own child bones. This is especially useful if a cause of a certain problem is actually a problem that has its own causes. With this template, creating fishbone diagram and the comprehension of the root causes of a problem should be easy and intuitive.

As a versatile tool to brainstorm a problem and its causes, it will benefit anyone who is dealing with problematic matters and trying to explore its causes. You will likely need this template if:
1. You are a student, a teacher or anyone in the academic world who is brainstorming a particular problem, mapping its causes, and trying to find the best solution for it.
2. You are a service provider who is trying to figure out the effect caused by your service policies, service procedures, the people you are serving, and the technologies and means you are using in your business.
3. You are a manufacturer who is concerned with the effect of such factors as materials, machines, methods, manpower, etc.

This fishbone diagram consists primarily of every important element of the diagram, including the head and the bones. Each element includes a text box that can be filled with text obtained through a brainstorming process. The simplicity of the template allows it to be easy and straightforward to use. Its simplicity and ease of use are among factors that make this template useful for everyone who is going to brainstorm a problem using a fishbone diagram.

  Fishbone Diagram (57.9 KiB, 43,623 hits)

  Fishbone Diagram Model 2 (56.1 KiB, 12,681 hits)