Focused Affinity Matrix

So what is this thing?  The Focused Affinity Matrix is a tool to figure out where in the process the problems are happening, and then find the causes in each of these areas.

To begin, we'll start off with Areas of Focus.  An Area of Focus is another name for the biggest area of problems in the process.  Identification of Areas of Focus is done by reviewing the process, and determining where in the process there are the most opportunties for solutions to the problem.  We name these areas of the process Focus Areas, and fill out the top of the matrix with each Area of Focus. 

Next we select a list of pre-defined Affinities from the millions of Affinity Diagrams done over the last century or so.  We choose 5 or 6 Affinity Groups, and populate the left side of the matrix. 
Finally, at each intersection of the matrix, we ask how the aligned affinity causes the problems in the aligned area of focus. 

At the end of this part of the exercise, we have a list of causal factors so that Root Cause Analysis can be completed.

Thanks for reading, hope it was helpful.  If you need more information, contact me at webkaizenevents@gmail.com.  

Kate Cornell  www.webkaizen.com