Analyze Phase Resources

Analyze Phase: What is causing the problem?

You can use these resources to analyze data from your current process and identify root causes of your problem.

This table provides resources for the Analyze Phase of a continuous improvement project.
	Template/Tool	User(s)	Description
Root Cause Analysis	5 Why Template (xlsx)	Facilitators, Project Team	The 5 Whys are used to identify the root cause of a problem. Using the technique, you ask a series of "Why" questions to peel back the layers of reasons for a problem and get to the root cause or causes.
	Fishbone Diagram Template (xlsx)	Facilitator, Project Team	The fishbone diagram helps you lay out the causes of the problem you may be trying to solve. Each "bone" of the diagram is a cause, and at the head is the problem (or effect).
	Countermeasure Matrix Template (xlsx)	Facilitator, Project Team	In the Analyze phase, root causes are listed in the countermeasure matrix. This matrix will then be used in the Improve phase as the project teams brainstorm improvements to counter the root causes.