Free fishbone diagram template
Build a cause and effect diagram in your browser, check it for the usual traps, and print it on one A3 sheet. No sign-up and nothing to install.
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How to use it
- Write the problem as a gap: what is wrong, where, how often, against what it should be.
- Add causes under each heading. Use the six that fit your site, or switch to the manufacturing 6M set.
- Press Why? under a cause to add what sits behind it. Stop at something the team can change.
- Read the checks. Each one asks a question; answer it, or keep the cause as written.
- Print to A3 landscape, or save as PDF from the print window.
What the checks look for
- A cause that names a person instead of a condition.
- "Human error", "lack of training" and other answers that say who, not why.
- A cause that only restates the problem.
- Vague labels such as "poor communication".
- A fix that is only retraining or a reminder.
- Nearly every cause sitting under one heading.
- An action with no evidence that its cause is real.
Fishbone or 5 Whys?
Use a 5 Whys chain when one incident has one chain behind it. Use a fishbone when more than one factor is in play. If you are unsure, start with the 5 Whys template.
Check whether the fix held.
A diagram finds likely causes. Cadence Resolve coaches the rest of the investigation, from what happened to an action that holds, then checks on a date you set whether the fix held.