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Affinity diagram
An affinity diagram is a good tool for helping to systematize notes from interviews and observations , and thus arrive at some results. It can be created by means of post-it notes and provides a visual overview of the main results. This could, for example, be in connection with a more in-depth understanding of an OHS problem or about the possibilities of implementing a solution. It can be created by you alone or with the participants in a workshop if there is a need to systematize a number of ideas that have emerged during a brainstorm.
Steps 1. You must use post-its in several colours. 2. Look through your notes or recall what you remember from interviews or observations. 3. Find important statements – something that the interviewee has said or something you have observed. 4. Write statements on post-its. Only one statement per postit. Use the same colour post-its. 5. When you have finished filling in post-its, you select one to begin with. 6. You then look through all the others and find the ones that you think belong with the one you have selected first and place them together. Do not place more than 4-6 post-its in the same group. 7. Then proceed with another post-it and again find the other post-its which are about the same thing. 8. After all the post-its have been divided into groups of 4-6 pieces, you must start naming the groups. This is a very important step in the method. The name of a group should briefly summarize the contents of the 4-6 post-its. The name must in itself be a statement, so that it sounds as if the interviewees or observed persons are talking to you. 9. Group names are written on a different colour post-it and placed above the group.
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9 • Tools 1 : PreParatIon of desIgn sPrInt
10. Finally, you may to try to see whether you can find connections between the groups you have arrived at. Are there some factors that affect or presuppose each other?
Tips Neutral group names do not work well. “The IT system” does not tell you anything. Is it good or bad? In turn, “We have not received sufficient training in how to use the IT system” tells you something about a possible cause of an OHS problem.
Our work is unpredictable We do not know each other’s tasks.
Baby boom
Mould in kindergartens Relocation to the municipality
New managers with new ideas Bottleneck when Lone is sick
The reporting system is difficult No time for knowledge sharing
Lack of time for reflection together
Our tasks are unevenly distributed
Too long hours on hotline duty Peak load in team B at the change of a month Difficult to share cases
The affinity diagram here is from case 2. In their brainstorming, some topics emerged that were similar. The participants gathered them together, and the OHS adviser gave each topic a descriptive heading.
9 • Tools 1 : PreParatIon of desIgn sPrInt
