Blank Fishbone Diagram Template and Cause and Effect Graphic Organizer

A Fishbone Diagram Template can help you understand cause and effect. Fishbone Diagrams are also known as Cause and Effect Graphic Organizers or Ishikawa Diagrams. These causal diagrams were introduced by Kaoru Ishikawa in 1968. The Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram is often used to diagnosis product malfunctions. The diagram can also used when there is a positive cause and effect correlation.
Below you will find five blank fishbone diagram templates and a fishbone diagram example. Each printable is  free for personal and educational use. Each of these cause and effect graphic organizers differs slightly, allowing you to choose the one that best suites your needs. Click on the images below to open up the pdf version of the fishbone diagram in your browser. From there, save it to your computer.

Fishbone Diagram Example

This Ishikawa fishbone diagram example shows the various causes of a missed deadline. The causes are grouped into six categories: people, method, measurement, machine, environment, and materials. The category “people” refers to any humans that may have contributed to the undesired outcome. “Method” refers to any complications in process or policy. “Measurement” relates to data collection and time. “Machine” encompasses errors caused by technology or computers. “Environment” covers problems with surroundings. “Materials” explains any issues caused by supplies or software. All together, these problems resulted the outcome in the circle. A blank version of this diagram is also available further down the page.

Blank Fishbone Diagram Templates

This first blank Fishbone Diagram Template has two blanks for each cause category. The standard categories: people, method, measurement, machine, environment, and materials, have been provided.

In this Cause and Effect Graphic Organizer the categories have been changed to equipment, process, people, materials, environment, and management.

Here is another version of the Ishikawa fishbone diagram. This time the fishbone diagram template has  blanks for the categories. This template has four subcategory rows to fill in.

This fishbone diagram has two subcategory rows per category.

This final fishbone diagram template is the simplest of all the available templates. Containing neither the boxes for the categories or the subcategory rows, this template provides the most writing space, and may be useful for simple cause/effect relationships. This cause and effect diagram may also be useful for teachers teaching students how to use these graphic organizers.