The Pareto Principle is a useful tool when analyzing the frequency of causes of a problem or a gap in performance to determine the key causes to address or remove. The Pareto Principle or “80-20 rule” states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from about 20% of causes. 

This activity provides an introduction to using data to better understand a problem, highlighting Pareto Graphs as one tool teams can use to analyze local data.

This set of resources includes the following materials:

• Pareto Graph Activity: Facilitator’s Guide – Outlines the activity objectives and structure
• Pareto Graph Activity: Introductory Slides – Introduces the Pareto Principle and provides an example of how to create a Pareto Chart; also includes the answer key for the small group activity
• Participant Handouts – Includes data for sample problem (attrition in developmental math sequence) and blank template for creating a Pareto Chart

During this activity, participants will create a Pareto Graph to better understand the variation in a data set about different causes of a sample problem and use the graph to identify which causes contribute to the problem most significantly. The activity begins with a brief overview of the Pareto Principle and how to create a Pareto Chart based on an example (see introductory slides below). Participants then have the opportunity to create a Pareto Chart in small groups using sample data from a community college, which tracks student attrition in the developmental math course sequence.

Download Pareto Graph Activity: Facilitator’s Guide (PDF)

Download or Copy Introductory Slides

Download Participant Handouts (PDF)

Pareto Chart Quick Reference Guide

Using Data for Improvement: Data Infrastructure Activity