An Example of the Use of a Relations Diagram
A small hospital was concerned about the productivity of its doctors, as they were the most expensive employees and were critical for the treatment of the patients. Having taken numerous steps toward ensuring high productivity, hospital management was baffled when productivity steadily declined month after month.
Since this disturbing development was unexplainable, management decided to gain some insight into causes and effects among the different factors at play. A relations diagram was seen as an ideal vehicle for this, and the following factors were included in the analysis:
- The number of scheduled appointments per doctor
- The number of emergency appointments per doctor
- Administrative workload per doctor
- The number of changes in scheduled appointments
- Equipment quality and reliability
- Nurse availability
- Availability of other support functions
- The pay level of doctors
When the relations diagram had been completed, attention shifted from improving the doctors’ work situation to ensuring the availability of nurses, other support functions, and operational equipment.
Excerpted from Root Cause Analysis: Simplified Tools and Techniques, by Bjørn Andersen and Tom Fagerhaug, pages 106–107.
Download the entire excerpt on relations diagrams (PDF, 3.54 MB).
Create your own relations diagram using these tools:
- Checklist (Doc, 140 KB)
- Relations Diagram Template
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