How do I run a retrospective with a fishbone diagram?

Write the facts in the head first: how late, and what it affected. Then everyone writes the causes they saw as one sentence each and files them under a category. Keep the discussion about events, list every cause first and pick the main ones together afterwards.

How does a fishbone diagram work with 5 Whys?

The fishbone spreads sideways to list possible causes from every angle. 5 Whys digs down: take the most important cause and keep asking why until you reach something you can change. Add the answers as deeper indentation on the diagram.

Can I put the diagram in a retrospective document?

Yes. Export to Word gives you a page ready for the document, and PNG or SVG can be inserted in any writing tool. The code is appended to the file, so the next retrospective can start from this diagram.

Project delay root cause fishbone diagram template

Previewed in the “Paper” theme; you can switch themes in the editor

When to use it

Retrospectives, delay reports and quarterly reviews. Put how late the project was in the head; the five main bones are the usual groups of causes in software projects, and the team adds specific events to each.

Make it yours

Change the second line to your project and the delay.
Adjust the categories: add Supply chain for hardware or Customer for client work.
Write one cause per line, describing what happened instead of a general judgment.
After the session, list the confirmed main causes separately with an action and an owner for each.

Mermaid code

project-delay-fishbone.mmd

ishikawa-beta
    Launch slipped by two weeks
    People
        Lead developer left mid-project
        Too few testers
    Requirements
        Features added during development
        Unclear acceptance criteria
    Technology
        Third-party component incompatibility
        Performance issues found late
    Process
        No buffer in the schedule
        Long wait for code review
    External dependencies
        Partner API delivered late
        Approvals took longer than planned

Ask an AI for one with this structure

Send the prompt below to ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the whole reply into the editor; the code inside is detected automatically.

prompt.txt

Draw a fishbone diagram with Mermaid ishikawa-beta syntax that analyzes why a launch slipped by two weeks. Write ishikawa-beta on the first line and the problem, indented, on the second. Below it add one line each for People, Requirements, Technology, Process and External dependencies, and two specific causes indented one level deeper under each. Indent with spaces only and write plain text on each line. Output only the mermaid code block.

FAQ

How do I run a retrospective with a fishbone diagram?: Write the facts in the head first: how late, and what it affected. Then everyone writes the causes they saw as one sentence each and files them under a category. Keep the discussion about events, list every cause first and pick the main ones together afterwards.
How does a fishbone diagram work with 5 Whys?: The fishbone spreads sideways to list possible causes from every angle. 5 Whys digs down: take the most important cause and keep asking why until you reach something you can change. Add the answers as deeper indentation on the diagram.
Can I put the diagram in a retrospective document?: Yes. Export to Word gives you a page ready for the document, and PNG or SVG can be inserted in any writing tool. The code is appended to the file, so the next retrospective can start from this diagram.