Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Affinity Diagram 2
A process for categorizing Utility knowledge needs in a diagram format to exhibit differences
and relationships.
Supports: group learning, knowledge audit
LEVEL OF EFFORT
SIZE OF UTILITY
SCOPE OF WORK
LOW
SCALABLE
NARROW
The Affinity Diagram can be used to take specific knowledge needs, group them, and create
representative categories called content centers. The Affinity Diagram is a simple tool that
enables the user to enter the knowledge requirements of some process, issue, or situation;
gather similar requirements together into small groups; evaluate those groups; and decide on a
category name for each grouping. The groups you will develop will serve as content centers for
the development of communities of practice as part of the knowledge management system.
Constructing an Affinity Diagram
The most effective group to do an Affinity Diagram is one that has the necessary knowledge
to uncover the various dimensions of the issue, process, etc. This works best when the group or
team is accustomed to working together and there is representation from all departments
involved in this area of knowledge. This enables team members to communicate clearly
because of their relationship and common experiences. Personnel should be included that
have valuable input and who may not have been involved in the past. Also, keep the team fluid;
bringing in resource people as needed. There should be a maximum of five to six members on
the team. Since the team will explore the categorization of drinking water utility knowledge
needs, it should also ensure that the team members are personally aware of user knowledge
requirements.
1. Phrase the issue for discussion:
The issue seems to work best when vaguely stated. For example, ―What are the main
communities of practice needed to help the Utility become more valuable and effective?‖ To
review, communities of practice are groups of people whose responsibilities require access to
similar information. Once everyone agrees on the question, place it at the top of the diagram.
2. List and Display all your knowledge requirements.
To begin this exercise, refer to your knowledge requirements. All of these should be transcribed
so that the team can see them clearly. Enter all the knowledge requirements onto the small
note cards, one idea per card. Whenever possible the knowledge requirement should have a
noun and a verb (i.e., complete status report). This tends to make the statements clearer to
understand.
2 Adapted from the Department of the Navy Knowledge Centric Organization Toolkit.
C-6
©2011 Water Research Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.