What is an Affinity Diagram?

An Affinity Diagram is a tool that gathers large amounts of language data (ideas, opinions, issues) and organizes them into groupings based on their natural relationships (Viewgraph 1). The Affinity process is often used to group ideas generated by rainstorming. Why should teams use the Affinity process? The Affinity process is a good way to get people to wor! on a creati"e le"el to address difficult issues. #t may be used in situations that are un!nown or une$plored by a team, or in circumstances that seem confusing or disorganized, such as when people with di"erse e$periences form a new team, or when members ha"e incomplete !nowledge of the area of analysis. When should we use the Affinity process? The Affinity process is formalized in an Affinity Diagram and is useful when you want to (Viewgraph %) &ift through large "olumes of data. 'or e$ample, a process owner who is identifying customers and their needs might compile a "ery large list of unsorted data. #n such a case, creating an Affinity Diagram might be helpful for organizing the data into groups. (ncourage new patterns of thin!ing. An Affinity e$ercise is an e$cellent way to get a group of people to react on a )gut le"el) rather than mulling things o"er intellectually. &ince rainstorming is the first step in ma!ing an Affinity Diagram, the team considers all ideas from all members without criticism. This stimulus is often enough to brea! through traditional or entrenched thin!ing, enabling the team to de"elop a creati"e list of ideas. When shouldn't we use the Affinity process? As a rule of thumb, if less than 1* items of information ha"e been identified+ you can s!ip the Affinity process. #nstead, you can clarify and combine the ideas and then use one of the Decision,-a!ing Tools to identify the highest priority items. How is an Affinity Diagram created? Affinitizing is a process performed by a group or team. The idea is to meld the perspecti"es, opinions, and insights of a group of people who are !nowledgeable about the issues. The process of de"eloping an Affinity Diagram seems to wor! best when there are no more than fi"e or si$ participants. efore we go o"er the steps used to create an Affinity Diagram, we need to loo! at some uni.ue features of the Affinity process that are important to its success/ Affinitize silently. The most effecti"e way to wor! is to ha"e e"eryone mo"e the displayed ideas at will, without talking. This is a new e$perience for many people. #t has two positi"e results/ #t encourages uncon"entional thin!ing (which is good), while it discourages semantic battles (which are bad). #t also helps pre"ent one person from steering the Affinity. Go for gut reactions. (ncourage team members not to agonize o"er sorting but to react .uic!ly to what they see. &peed rather than deliberation is the order of the day, so !eeps the process mo"ing.

Handle disagreements simply. The process pro"ides a simple way to handle disagreements o"er the placement of ideas/ #f a team member doesn0t li!e where an idea is grouped, he or she mo"es it. This creates an en"ironment in which it is o!ay to disagree with people ha"ing a different "iewpoint. #f consensus cannot be reached, ma!e a duplicate of the idea and place one copy in each group.

1ow let0s wal! through the step,by,step process of creating an Affinity Diagram (Viewgraph 2). This se.uence has been adapted from the The Memory Jogger Plus+ 34ef. 15. Step ! Generate ideas. 6se the rainstorming tool to generate a list of ideas. The rest of the steps in the Affinity process will be easier if these ideas are written T- on post,its . Step " ! Display the ideas. 7ost the ideas on a chartpac!, a wall, or a table in a random manner. Step # ! Sort the ideas into related groups. The team members physically sort the cards into groupings, without tal!ing, using the following process/ &tart by loo!ing for two ideas that seem related in some way. 7lace them together in a column off to one side. 8oo! for ideas that are related to those you9"e already set aside and add them to that group. 8oo! for other ideas that are related to each other and establish new groups. This process is repeated until the team has placed all of the ideas in groups. 1:T(/ #deally, all of the ideas can be sorted into related groups. #f there are some )loners) that don0t fit any of the groups, don0t force them into groupings where they don0t really belong. 8et them stand alone under their own headers. Step $ ! %reate header cards for the groups. A header is an idea that captures the essential lin! among the ideas contained in a group of cards (Viewgraph ;). This idea is written on a single card or post,it and must consist of a phrase or sentence that clearly con"eys the meaning, e"en to people who are not on the team. The team de"elops headers for the groups by 'inding already e$isting cards within the groups that will ser"e well as headers and placing them at the top of the group of related cards. Alternati"ely, discussing and agreeing on the wording of cards created specifically to be headers. Disco"ering a relationship among two or more groups and arranging them in columns under a superheader. The same rules apply for superheaders as for regular header cards. Step & ! Draw the finished Affinity Diagram. <rite a problem statement at the top of the diagram. 7lace header and superheader cards abo"e the groups of ideas. 4e"iew and clarify the ideas and groupings. Document the finished Affinity Diagram (Viewgraph *). How can we practice what weve learned?

&ome practical e$ercises will enable you to apply the s!ills you9"e =ust learned. These e$ercises are intended to be done by a team with the assistance of a facilitator or instructor. ("eryone on the team should ta!e an acti"e part. The first e$ercise ta!es you through the Affinity process in detail, using "iewgraphs to illustrate how the random spread of cards might be grouped to arri"e at a finished diagram. The diagram pro"ided is only an e$ample. #t is different from the diagram in Hoshin Planning 34ef. ;, p. ;,*5 from which it was adapted, and your team9s groupings will probably be different from both of these. The important thing is that the finished diagram should be one that e"eryone on your team can li"e with and support. <hen you ha"e completed the detailed e$ercise, you may want to practice creating an Affinity Diagram for some of the other topics listed after the e$ercise. D'(A)*'D '+',%)S'/ 1ow let9s go through the steps of the Affinity process to create a diagram using the following problem statement and the sample ideas pro"ided in Viewgraphs >, ?, @, and A. What are the issues in implementing continuous process improvement? Step ! Generate ideas. Bopy each of the ideas displayed in Viewgraph > onto post, its or cards, one idea to a card. The facilitator can do this in ad"ance, or the participants can do it at the beginning of the e$ercise. Step " ! Display the ideas. 7lace the post,its on a chartpac!, easel, or wall, in a random manner (Viewgraph >). Step # ! Sort the ideas into related groups (Viewgraph ?). Croup the ideas by mo"ing the cards independently. 7articipants should go with their gut reactions. #f they disagree on the placement of a card, they are free to mo"e it. The instructor should remind them that affinitizing is a .uic! process conducted in silence. Step $ ! %reate header cards. -a!e sure that each header placed at the top of a group captures the essential lin! among all of the ideas beneath it and consists of enough words to clearly con"ey the meaning. 4efer to Viewgraph @ for an e$ample of header cards that ha"e been de"eloped for this e$erciseDor ha"e the participants create their own. Step & ! Draw the finished Affinity Diagram. -a!e sure you write the problem statement on top of the diagram, place a header card abo"e each group of ideas, allow the team to re"iew and discuss points for clarification, and document the finished product. 4efer to the completed Affinity in Viewgraph A for an e$ample+ but remember, it9s only an e$ample. #f the participants de"eloped their own header cards, the Affinity they create will be different. -(H', '+',%)S' (-.)%S/ 1ow try de"eloping an Affinity Diagram for one or more of these topics/ / Eow can we impro"e the readiness of the commandF / <hat can be done about the state of readiness of the fire control systemsF / <hy is our ship dragging anchor in hea"y weatherF

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<hat things do we need to consider in planning a perfect meetingF <hat can be done to ensure proper disposal of recyclable materialF Eow can information flow be impro"ed within our organizationF <hy are the organization9s "ehicles getting poor gas mileageF <hat can be done to ensure fast ser"ice at the pharmacy prescription counterF <hat acti"ities should we plan for the unit Bhristmas partyF