SYNTHESIS / ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE

49 KJ Technique

When the traditional meeting format fails to achieve group consensus, the KJ Technique can be used to help teams work through a problem space and prioritize what should be focused on first.¹

The KJ Technique is a consensus-building exercise that helps teams organize a complicated range of ideas and information. When used as a format for a team meeting, the KJ Technique is an effective way to externalize all of the information that is in everyone’s heads, and then organize and prioritize the data in a way that builds group consensus.

In traditional meetings, there is rarely enough time for a problem space to be described, let alone be better understood. This is not a symptom of team dysfunction; rather, it is a limitation of the traditional meeting format. The KJ Technique is designed to succeed in ways that typical meetings fail because it focuses the team on one focus question, and then sets everyone to work on the same task at the same time. Other key strengths of the KJ Technique include:

The KJ Technique is silent. Everyone in the group is provided with blank sticky notes and markers, and then asked to write as many problems, insights, data, or opinions as they can think of—in silence. This way, everyone is provided with an equal opportunity to express his or her points of view, and has the assurance that their issues are being represented and shared.

The KJ Technique makes effective use of time. In traditional meetings, only one person can speak or draw on the white board at a time. With the KJ Technique, all of the sticky notes are posted simultaneously, opening up the opportunity for a holistic assessment of the problem space. This process helps everyone to understand that it is not about “my opinions” versus “your opinions,” but rather “how do my opinions relate to yours, and how do our concerns paint a broader picture of our challenge?”

Group pressure won’t affect outcomes. The KJ Technique promises equal representation, regardless of the politics and personalities involved. It doesn’t matter who has the most power or who can most eloquently argue their point of view. By providing a framework where everyone silently works together as a team, decisions are made democratically, with little or no opportunities for coercion.²

Within one to two hours, a team can organize their notes into an affinity diagram, which is a relational visual representation of a team’s observations, knowledge, concerns, and ideas. Although results of the KJ Technique are subjective and qualitative, it is a powerful way for teams to come together, solve problems, and prioritize next steps.

1. Jiro Kawakita, a Japanese anthropologist, created the KJ Technique in the 1960s. It is one of the seven management and planning tools used in Total Quality Control. See: Kawakita, Jiro. The Original KJ Method. Tokyo: Kawakita Research Institute, 1982.

2. Spool, Jared. “The KJ-Technique: A Group Process for Establishing Priorities,” 2004, http://www.uie.com

Further Reading

Kuniavsky, Michael. Observing the User Experience. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2003.