Prior to constructing a cause and effect diagram, what is an important preparatory step?

Before constructing a cause and effect diagram, brainstorming ideas is a crucial preparatory step. This process allows the team to generate a comprehensive list of potential causes related to the problem being addressed. By encouraging free thinking and collaboration, participants can share their insights and experiences, which helps ensure that a wide range of factors is considered.

This step lays the foundation for the diagram, enabling the team to visually map out the relationships between causes and effects effectively. The richness of the brainstorming session directly impacts the quality and comprehensiveness of the final cause and effect diagram, making this step vital for understanding the problem's root causes and facilitating more effective problem-solving discussions.

Focusing solely on problem outcomes, plotting separate charts, or identifying stakeholders, while important, do not directly facilitate the generation of potential causes needed for the diagram and can take place after the brainstorming session to refine the ideas further.