A fishbone diagram is an effective tool to help presenting cause-and-effect in an easy and understandable format. It is also referred to as cause-and-effect diagram and Ishikawa diagram. This fishbone diagram template will help you add the potential causes for a specific effect or problem. You can then plan and implement actions to address the key causes.

This template comes in three different variations; one that allows to add only the first level of potential causes, another that allows to add 2-levels of potential causes, and a third that allows to add 3-levels of potential causes. Remember however that it does only allow to log the causes in a linear sequence, so you cannot enter two sub-causes under a parent cause. You will need to do this manually.

This template is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that you can use and modify to meet your specific needs. For example, you may increase the number of potential causes per category or change their positions. It comes with ready to fill text-boxes which simplify the process of adding the potential causes. Just fill the text-boxes with the potential causes under the relevant categories.

Although this template uses the 6 Ms approach for labeling the categories, you may use any other approach and create your own branches that best suit your project. You may also download our 6 Ms checklist to help you better log all possible causes under the appropriate categories.