In this blog series, we’ll get you up to speed on using the key tools listed in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) — Fifth Edition, including the seven Ishikawa Tools.
The seven Ishikawa tools were introduced in the Quality chapter of the PMBOK® Guide. They are, in no particular order, the following:
- Ishikawa diagrams (cause-and-effect diagrams, Fishbone diagrams)
- Flowcharts
- Check Sheets
- Histograms
- Pareto charts
- Control Charts
- Scatter diagrams
Ishikawa stated in his original 1968 publication of these tools that any worker in learning how to correctly use these tools could solve 95% of the problems in their work area. With the advent of spreadsheet programs like Excel, producing any one of these diagrams is easy thing to do.
For example, the QI Macros, an excel add-in, can easily produce the seven Ishikawa tools and will deliver any control chart in the Six Sigma toolkit. Getting up to speed using a tool like the QI Macros will take a few days but is well worth the effort.
This is an excerpt from the Global Knowledge white paper, Are All Those Project Management Tools Really Needed?
Related Courses
PMP® Exam Prep Boot Camp
IT Project Management
Quick Look at the PMBOK® Guide Series
- Quick Look at the PMBOK® Guide: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
- Quick Look at the PMBOK® Guide: Precedence Diagram
- Quick Look at the PMBOK® Guide: Critical Chain Project Management
- Quick Look at the PMBOK® Guide: Seven Ishikawa Tools