1.5 - About University

P ROCESSSTEPSStep❶ Materials❷ Develop and post aclear, focalquestion.❸ Generate ideas(if data is not alreadyavailable).❹ Display and readPost-It ® Notes.❺ Cluster the Post-It ®Notes.❻ Name that cluster!❼ Reflect on thenames.Specifics❑ Lots of 4 × 6- inch Post-It ® Notes; felt pens; flip chart sheets; a large, clear wall surface.❑ E.g., “What must we focus on over the next three years in order to be leaders in ourfield?” or, “What information do we include for customer use in our new handbook?”❑ If you are experiencing difficulty formulating this frame question, see ☛ 7.1 ProblemFraming.To solicit data, here are two common ways to generate ideas for the affinity diagram.i. Ask participants to reflect privately, then write their thoughts on the Post-it ® Notes.ii. Use the brainstorming process (ground rule: no judging or evaluating), with peoplecalling out ideas that are immediately recorded on Post-It ® Notes. [☛ 6.9Brainstorming]❑ When posting data, the rules are:One idea per Post-It ® Note, each more than one word but no more than one sentence.Write with a felt pen, neatly enough for others to read it.Ensure that the sticky part of the Post-It ® Note is at the top (upper horizontal) side.❑ When everyone’s ideas are captured on Post-It ® Notes, have people place all theirPost-It ® Notes in random fashion on the wall.❑ Everyone moves along the wall, reading all the notes in silence.❑ The task is for people to cluster or group Post-It ® Notes, together with others theyconsider to have something in common—a natural affinity. Explain the rules. Thisprocess is done in complete silence. (Some claim that using the unpreferred handphysiologically forces one to think more consciously and less automatically!)❑ If you see a Post-it ® Note that you believe fits better in another grouping, remove it andplace it in that other grouping, being conscious of your own reasoning for doing so.Another person who disagrees may move it again.❑ When the activity stops (like popcorn popping stops), the group works with the leaderto clarify how many clusters have been created. Create a vertical column out of eachcluster, spacing them out to clearly identify the groupings. Leave the orphans—lonePost-It ® Notes—alone.❑ Asking “What is the name that best describes this grouping?” read all the notes in thecluster aloud. Of the various suggestions, the group itself will usually acknowledge thebest name with a loud “Yes!”❑ Using a different colored pen, write the name of the cluster on another note and post itat the top of the vertical column. (Sometimes, the best name is actually one of thenotes.)A verb + noun format will often better suggest action; e.g., Accelerate Skill Developmentinstead of Training.❑ Continue this process until all the groupings have been named. During this process, thegroup will often decide that a note fits better into a new grouping, or that twogroupings belong together. Lone notes will also find a home.❑ Connect the focal question to the names and the groupings. For instance, using ourexample focal question, you might say, “So, through this process, we are saying that if,for the next three years, we focus on (heading one, heading two, heading three, ... etc.),we believe we will become leaders in our field.”228 SECTION 7 TOOLS FOR PROBLEM SOLVING, DECISION MAKING, AND QUALITY