The affinity diagram is a great method for quickly organizing data. The tool is also known as an affinity chart, thematic analysis or the K-J method, after Japanese anthropologist Kawakita Jiro, who created the technique.
To create an affinity diagram, you’ll need index cards or sticky notes, some physical space and a group of people. From there, you can:
1.Transfer data to the index cards or sticky notes.
2.Scatter the cards on a table or post the notes on a wall or board.
3.Divide the group of people into smaller groups of two or three.
4.Have one group arrange the cards silently.
5.Rotate the group of participants after two or three minutes. Continue this until the cards or notes are organized into groups of related ideas, issues or topics.
6.Develop titles for each group of cards. If logical, put related groups into larger super-groups.
7.When you’re done, you’ll have something like the affinity diagram in Figure 1.
Procedure for Affinity Diagram
The figure 2 shows the 7-step process which is normally used to develop an affinity diagram:
STAGES 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Idea Generation)
As mentioned above, the idea of affinity analysis is to gather and combine large amounts of verbal information in order to find solutions to a specific problem. Hence, the first two stages of the process will be to define the problem and to generate ideas. While defining the problem, it is very important to reach a consensus on the words that you are going to use. There must be absolutely no doubt about the issue under discussion because if this is the case, it may later on be a very difficult to use the results. The generation of ideas follows the traditional guidelines of brainstorming, structured, or unstructured, with no criticism of ideas, whatsoever.
Each idea is written down on a small card or a Post-it note and placed randomly on the center of the table where everybody can see it.
STAGES 5, 6, and 7 (Idea Grouping and Presentation)
After generation of the ideas, the grouping session starts. The idea is to arrange, the grouping session starts. The idea is to arrange the cards in related groupings. The groupings are done by the entire team and it takes place in silence. In practice, team members start the group by picking out cards that they think are closely related and then placing these at one side of the table or wall, wherever the session takes place. Eventually, groups of cards appear and the grouping session takes place. Eventually, groups of cards appear and the grouping process continues until all members are satisfied with the grouping. If a member is not satisfied, he simply moves a card from an existing group to another which he finds more appropriate. Sometimes, a card keeps moving from one group to another. In such a case, it is good idea to break the silence and dismiss the actual meaning of the working on the card. When a card keeps moving, the usual reason is that the wording on the card is unclear or equivocal.
After the grouping has come to an end, it is time to break the silence. Now the teams discuss the groups and they decide upon headings for the groups. Finally, an affinity diagram showing the entire grouping is drawn.
In our opinion, this technique is very efficient in connection with problem-solving. It may seem very simple and unsophisticated but experience shows that it may be of great help at all levels of management. Furthermore, it is a very fast method due to the silence. Time is not spent in argument, instead you go directly to the point and solve the problem.
As an example, we report the result of a study made by a larger supplier of food. He was interested in getting an idea of what the ordinary female consumer thought characterized the daily meal. He started the study by setting up two focus groups each consisting of eight persons. The first group consisted of females below 35 and the later of females above 35. Within the groups, the members were distributed according to occupation, education, and the family situations.
One of the exercises he groups did was to use the affinity technique (after proper introduction to the technique) to define and group elements they thought characterized the daily meal. They followed the procedure given above and one of the results was the affinity diagram given in figure 3.
The two groups came up with almost identical groupings which in itself is very interesting. The grouping given here is for the 35+ team and the only difference between this one and the one given by the other team was that for the younger females, the fatty content was moved from the healthy group to the quality group. For this team less fat meant higher quality. We should believe that if the affinity technique had not been used, we would never have discovered the difference—a difference which is actually very important that you communicate to your customers.
•Write only one issue or topic on each card or sticky note.
•Do not put the cards or notes into any type of order when setting them out.
•Transfer the data verbatim. If possible, don’t change wording.
•Don’t talk when arranging the cards into groups. While this might be the hardest thing to do for some, the silence keeps people from influencing others.
•Stop the exercise when there are only a few cards left without a group. Duplicate those cards and put them into multiple groups.
•Brainstorm to develop group headings. Post the heading labels. If some groups logically present a common theme, put them together and create a super group label.
•Take time to discuss the resulting diagram. Review any surprises or disagreements that might be the foundation for an action plan.
•Through this exercise, not only have you easily grouped the data, you also have gained the following benefits:
•Speed: Imagine a group discussing how to compile hundreds of bits of data. The affinity exercise forces the team members to use instinctive reactions rather than lengthy discussions.
•Acceptance: Reading, thinking and moving the data builds buy-in from the team. They become more familiar with issues and relationships.
•New thinking: Because of the spatial movement, this exercise forces people to use the creative right side of the brain in addition to the analytical left side of the brain. This combination can open people’s eyes to new ways of seeing issues.
(Source: Fundamentals of Total Quality Management, By Jens J. Dahlgaard, Kai Kristensen, and Ghopal K. Khanji, and other internet sources)
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