This means the categories represented by the tall bars on the left are relatively more important than those on the right. Cause and Effect Diagrams - identify and organize possible causes of problems, or factors needed to insure success of some effort. A cause and effect diagram is essentially a pictorial display of a list. Each diagram has a large arrow to represent main categories of potential causes or solutions. Typical categories are equipment, personnel, method, materials, and environment Teams can customize these categories to fit their processes.
Smaller arrows represent subcategories of listed item.
Cause and Effect diagrams identify only possible causes. Even when everyone agrees on these possible causes, only data will point to actual causes. Operational Definitions - describes what something is and how it is measured. It is a precise definition of important terms and procedures used in a project. Each team must discuss what quality characteristics or other quantities it will be measuring and decide how these will be measured.