Mining companies stand to benefit from professional and specialist project management service provider VBKom Projects’ “unique application” of the fishbone diagram, also known as the Ishikawa diagram, in providing project management services, says company senior mining decision support consultant Margariet Lumgair.

While the diagram is typically used in root cause analyses to identify many possible causes for a problem or deviation, Lumgair tells Mining Weekly that VBKom Projects has established that the reverse fishbone diagram can be effectively applied to structure any project brainstorming session.

She states that the instrument has been successful for the company when used as a facilitation tool for various project management knowledge areas where brainstorming is used.

“Our favourite applications for fishbone diagrams in project management is risk identification in project risk management, as well as user requirements identification,” says Lumgair.

When applying the fishbone method in defining user requirements for a project, the ‘head’ defines the project objective, while each ‘spine’ defines a work breakdown structure area under which all the requirements for the specific area are identified and categorised.

“This is a very useful way of presenting a ‘big picture’ view of all the facilities included in the user requirements, which can then be successfully used as an input for a fit-for-purpose evaluation of a proposed solution to meet the project objective,” says Lumgair.

In risk management, the ‘head’ also defines the project objective, while each ‘spine’ defines a risk breakdown structure area under which the enablers for the project objectives are categorised. Hindrances to enablers and preventative measures against hindrances are then defined in conjunction with each enabler, she explains.

The advantages of using the fishbone diagram when gathering information through brainstorming include the stimulation of new and lateral thinking; it also provides structure for the brainstorming session, which reduces the risk of any areas being overlooked, says Lumgair.

She adds that other benefits include focused discussions that save workshop time, a visual display which assists in facilitating the flow of the discussion, encouraging more exploration of ideas and more robust outcomes from the discussions, adding more ratings to each item of discussion that enables easier prioritising of urgent aspects to be attended to.

Lumgair says VBKom Projects is always considering ways of making its project management services innovative to enhance customer experience, while also improving the efficiency of its overall customer engagement.