Next to the category lines, the specific causes of the problem can be added. It is recommended to complete the fishbone diagram as a team. In particular, it should be done with those employees, who are directly involved in the problem-causing processes. The team should be mixed since if people with different expertise are involved, there’s more chance it will lead to extraordinary ideas. Brainstorming is required in order to find the causes. As a group all potential causes are to be identified.
For example, under “Material” it would be a good idea to comment on the type of customer inquiry. Also “Lack of knowledge on the customer’s part” as well as “Rudeness of the customer” could be added.
When analyzing the problem, further subcategories can be elaborated upon. With such a level of detail, the causes of the problem can then be determined. For example, the rudeness of the customers could be explained by excessively long waiting times on the hotline.
In order to find the real cause of a problem, the 5W method is used. Here the “why” question is asked five times in order to get to the root of the problem.
A solution to the problem requires time. Rushing the process is counter-productive. If a cause is overlooked, the whole project might be in peril. If you try to find the causes of a problem too quickly, you’ll be in danger of discovering only some of the causes but overlooking the most important ones.