This document presents 24 tools that are useful and valuable at various times in the course of solving a
problem. The tools are listed on the right side of this page.
Not all tools are relevant all the time or in every instance, but some are quite useful much of the time and a
few do have a role to play most of the time
The tools are presented one to a page. On the top part of the page is a visual showing an example of what the
tool in question might look like. Visual representations of the tool in question can vary quite a bit so keep in
mind that what is shown in this document is merely one example. On the bottom part of the page is a threepart table that describes what the tool is, when to use it, and how to use it; hence the title of this document.
You can jump around from tool to tool if you like simply by clicking on the tool name below. To return to this
list, simply click on the name of the tool on the page it is presented.
Enjoy your foray through these tools.
List of Problem-Solving Tools
- Affinity Diagram
- Benchmarking
- Brainstorming
- Check Sheet/Tally Sheet
- Control Chart/Shewhart Chart
- Decision Tree
- Fishbone/Ishikawa Diagram
- Five Whys
- Flowchart
- Force Field Analysis
- Gantt Chart
- Goals Grid
- Histogram
- Mindmap
- Nominal Group Technique
- Paired Comparison
- Pareto Chart
- Relationship Diagram
- Run Chart
- Scatter Diagram/Scatter Plot
- Standard Data Displays
- Stratification
- Tree Diagram
- Weighted Comparison
Tool Categories
The tools listed above fit into three basic categories: Visualizing Problem Structures, Displaying Data and
Information, and Problem-Solving Techniques. The tools are sorted into these categories at the end of this
paper. To access that page, click here. To return to this page, click on the title of the category page.
For Additional Information
There is wealth of information about these tools on the internet, easily accessible and, for the most part, free
of charge. Simply Google the name of the tool about which you want more information.