Affinity Diagram Template and Example

What this artefact controls

Affinity Diagram Template and Example should be treated as a decision instrument, not as paperwork completed for its own sake. Its practical value comes from making the underlying decision, evidence, ownership and review cycle visible. In this handbook, the supplied source structure is retained as the factual basis while the surrounding guidance explains how to complete, review and maintain it in day-to-day project delivery.

The source set repeatedly links project documents to broader control relationships: scope creates the work to be scheduled and costed; resources execute that work; stakeholders influence acceptance and change; risk captures uncertainty; quality establishes evidence of conformance; and performance information explains whether the project is still moving toward its intended outcome. Affinity Diagram Template and Example belongs in that integrated system. It should therefore use identifiers and terminology consistent with adjacent project records so that a reviewer can trace a decision across documents without relying on memory.

Before filling any field, write one sentence describing the decision or control action the completed artefact must support. Then identify the accountable owner, contributors, reviewers, approval authority and next review trigger. This prevents a common failure in project documentation: every box is filled, but nobody can explain what decision the document enables or who must act when conditions change.

How the information fits together

This visual is an HTML/CSS interpretation for the KEVOS article reader. It conveys the decision structure without embedding the supplied source artwork as a screenshot.

Complete the template with traceable information

The following field map is extracted from the supplied blank or completed source document where text was available. Wording has been normalised for web readability, but the source structure remains the basis. Where a field is not applicable, record why rather than silently leaving a potentially important control blank.

Blank web-ready structure

This compact version is designed for copying into a project working note or for translating into your organisation’s controlled form. It is not a claim that these are the only fields required by every organisation, contract or jurisdiction.

What the uploaded example demonstrates

The source set uses a recurring worked project — Mary’s Consulting and its new company website — to show how project artefacts connect. The examples are useful because the same scope, team, costs, risks, stakeholders and milestones recur across multiple forms, allowing the reader to see how one project decision propagates through the documentation system. Any numerical value below is a source example or a calculation explicitly identified as such; it should not be treated as a universal project standard.

• Question: ________________________________________________
• Project Date May 21,
• Title: Prepared: 2026
• Question: What makes the new marysconsulting.com website successful? Brainstormed ideas grouped by theme.

Step-by-step workflow

For controlled project records, the final step is not “save the file”. The final step is to make the current approved state discoverable, communicate the decision to affected people and define the next review trigger. That trigger may be a phase gate, threshold breach, approved change, new stakeholder, supplier event, forecast movement, risk trigger or a scheduled review date.

Review checklist before approval or use

• Each metric has a definition, unit, source, frequency and owner.
• Acceptance limits are distinguished from internal targets.
• Test and inspection methods are repeatable.
• Defect categories are consistent enough to trend.
• Corrective actions address causes, not only symptoms.
• Quality reporting links findings to decisions and follow-up.

Run the review from the perspective of a competent person who did not attend the drafting meeting. If they cannot reconstruct the basis, current state and required next action from the record and its cited evidence, the artefact is not yet controlled enough for a material decision.

Common mistakes and recovery actions

Keep the document alive after first approval

A project artefact is only useful while its status is known. Give it a unique identifier, version, owner, approval state and effective date. Define what types of change require reapproval and what updates can be made administratively. Retain superseded versions when the record is needed to explain a historical decision, claim, audit, acceptance or lesson.

Use the document in reviews by focusing on exceptions and decisions rather than reading every field aloud. Ask what has changed since the last review, what assumption has been invalidated, what threshold has been crossed, which decision is now due and which action remains without an owner. This converts the artefact from static documentation into a control mechanism.

At hand-off, confirm that downstream users can interpret the identifiers, units, assumptions and status values without relying on the original author. For project close-out, make sure unresolved items have an operational owner and a clear retention location. A closed project should not leave behind orphaned risks, undocumented support obligations, unverified benefits or ambiguous acceptance evidence.

Source basis and limitations

Current authoritative context used for the reference pages: Project Management Institute, PMBOK® Guide — Eighth Edition and the 2026 PMP Examination Content Outline. The article package does not reproduce substantial PMI publication text.

Related KEVOS pages