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.

An affinity process is often used to group ideas generated by brainstorming. The affinity process is formalized in an affinity diagram.

When should the affinity process be used?

The affinity process is used to:

• add structure to a large or complicated issue
• break down a complicated issue into easy-to-understand categories
• gain agreement on an issue or situation

When should the affinity process NOT be used?

As a rule of thumb, if less than 15 items of information have been identified, you can skip the affinity process. Instead, you can clarify and combine the ideas and then use one of the Decision-Making Tools to identify the highest priority items.

Features of Affinity Process

Affinitizing is a process performed by a group or a team. The idea is to merge the perspectives, opinions, and insights of a group of people who are knowledgeable about the issues. The process of developing an Affinity Diagram seems to work best when there are no more than five or six participants.

• Affinitize silently

  The most effective way to work is to have everyone move the displayed ideas at will, without talking. It has two (2) positive results:

  1. It encourages unconventional thinking (which is good), and
  2. It discourages semantic battles (which are bad)
     
     
• Go for gut reactions

  Encourage team members not to agonize over sorting but to react quickly to what they see. Speed rather than deliberation is the order of the day, so keep the process moving.

• Handle disagreements simply

  The process provides a simple way to handle disagreements over the placement of ideas. If a team member doesn’t like where an idea is grouped, he or she moves it. This creates an environment in which it is okay to disagree with people having different points of view. If a consensus cannot be reached, make duplicates of the idea and give one (1) copy to each member of the group.

How to Contruct an Affinity Diagram

Sample Problem: What are the issues in implementing continuous process improvements?

Step 1 - Generate ideas

Use the brainstorming tool to generate a list of ideas. The rest of the steps in the affinity process will be easier if these ideas are written on Post-it™.

Step 2 - Display the ideas

Post the ideas on a chartpack, a wall, or a table in a random manner.

Step 3 - Sort ideas into groups

Sort the ideas into related groups. The team members physically sort the cards into groupings, without talking, using the following process:

• Start by looking for two (2) ideas that seem related in some way. Place them together in a column.
• Look for ideas that are related to those you’ve already set aside and add them.
• Look 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.

Note: Ideally, all of the ideas can be sorted into related groups. If there are some ideas that do not fit into any of the groups, don’t force them into groupings where they don’t really belong. Let them stand alone under their own headers.

Step 4 - Create Header Cards

Create header cards for the groups. A header is an idea that captures the essential link among the ideas contained in a group of cards. This idea must:

• be written on a single card or Post-it™,
• consist of a phrase or sentence that clearly conveys the meaning, even to people who are not on the team

The team develops headers for the groups by:

• finding already existing cards within the groups that will serve well as headers and placing them at the top of the group of related cards,
• alternately discussing and agreeing on the wording of cards created specifically to be headers,
• discovering 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 5 - Draw the finished diagram

• Write a problem statement at the top of the diagram.
• Place header and superheader cards above the groups of ideas.
• Review and clarify the ideas in groupings.
• Document the finished Affinity Diagram.

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