Tool 102: Linking Diagram


AKA

Abstraction Process

Classification

Evaluating/Selecting (ES)

Tool description

A linking diagram helps a team to narrow down an important issue, problem, or situation by listing all the factors that need to be considered and linked to a particular department or business unit for corrective or process improvement action. Importance weighting is often used to prioritize listed factors.

Typical application

  • To narrow down complex issues into related and contributing factors for analysis.

  • To link potential action to organizational units responsible for completing the action.

  • To group business units that control a particular process.

Problem-solving phase

Select and define problem or opportunity

Identify and analyze causes or potential change

Develop and plan possible solutions or change

Implement and evaluate solution or change

Measure and report solution or change results

Recognize and reward team efforts

Typically used by

Research/statistics

Creativity/innovation

1

Engineering

Project management

2

Manufacturing

3

Marketing/sales

Administration/documentation

4

Servicing/support

5

Customer/quality metrics

Change management

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links to other tools

before

  • Brainstorming

  • Surveying

  • Attribute Listing

  • Interview Technique

  • Benchmarking

after

  • SWOT analysis

  • Gap Analysis

  • Force Field Analysis

  • Barriers-and-Aids Analysis

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis

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Notes and key points

  • To indicate importance, value, or any other factor, a weight can be assigned to each element. Typically, scale of weight is 1–5 or 1–10, 10 being the highest rating.

Step-by-step procedure

  • STEP 1 A problem, issue, or condition is written on a whiteboard or flip chart.

  • STEP 2 The team narrows down the problem, issue, or condition by identifying potential action items or solutions. See example Goal—Increase Market Share by 25 Percent.

  • STEP 3 Next, participants rate the items (objectives) by their importance. The scale for weighting is usually 1-10, 10 being most important.

  • STEP 4 Once all of the factors have been listed, organizational units are identified that are directly involved in the completion or supporting of an action item.

  • STEP 5 Finally, a line is drawn to link involved organizational units to specific factors (items). This will provide some idea of complexity and resource requirement.

  • STEP 6 The completed linking diagram is checked for completeness and accuracy and then dated.

Example of tool application

click to expand




Six Sigma Tool Navigator(c) The Master Guide for Teams
Six Sigma Tool Navigator: The Master Guide for Teams
ISBN: 1563272954
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 326

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