Sociometry — a team retrospective, from text to a map of relations

Raw data sample_sociometry_team_retro.csv · 27 rows

Entirely synthetic — not a real retrospective, and unrelated to real people or organizations. The statements were designed so that star, bridge, clique and isolate all appear together.

The study, step by step — what was actually produced

1. ① Pulling out the relational statements

   Across the 27 turns we looked for sentences carrying “who does what toward whom” and drew out 18 candidate relation tuples. What the AI found is only a first pass — deciding whether it is right belongs to the researcher in the next step.

   First-pass candidates (some) — from→to · kind · supporting excerpt Junho→Minseo · relies on · “When the analysis stalls, Junho is the first person I go to” Minseo→Taeyun · trusts · “I trust Taeyun with anything to do with the schedule” Haeun→Seoyeon · relies on · “For anything that needs judgment I lean on Seoyeon” Taeyun→Jihun · distance · “Jihun’s way of working does not fit mine” Jihun→Junho · relies on · “If it still will not come out, I lean on Junho” Yerin→Seoyeon · trusts · “I find myself going to Seoyeon” Haeun→Yerin · works with · “Next quarter I would like to try working together” Seoyeon→Haeun · trusts · “Haeun is the one person I talk things over with beforehand” … and 10 more candidates

2. ② The researcher confirms

   Each of the 18 candidates was checked one by one against its supporting sentence: 16 were accepted and 2 were corrected — the machine’s suggestion is a first pass, and the accuracy of the map comes from the researcher’s confirmation. (1) One dropped: Haeun→Yerin “works with” rested on “Next quarter I would like to try working together”, which describes a wish rather than something that happened, so it was kept off the map. (2) One direction fixed: “When the analysis stalls, Junho is the first person I go to” is Minseo speaking, so it became Minseo→Junho rather than Junho→Minseo.

3. ③ Building the matrix

   The 16 confirmed tuples became a 7×7 adjacency matrix. A choice counts when trust, reliance or working together is named; the single “distance” tuple was kept on a separate negative-nomination layer — drawn on one sheet, reliance and distance make each other unreadable.

   Matrix summary — 7 members · 15 positive choices · 1 negative nomination · 5 mutual pairs (Minseo-Junho · Minseo-Taeyun · Junho-Taeyun · Seoyeon-Haeun · Taeyun-Haeun).

4. ④ Running the sociometry

   The map is drawn — 5 pairs chose each other, and 1 member is not reached by any connection. Seoyeon is the star, where five people’s trust and reliance gather; Minseo, Junho and Taeyun form a clique that chose one another; Haeun is the bridge, tied mutually to both groups; Yerin is the isolate, with no choices received. Not being reached is the present shape of the relations, not a judgment about the person.

Key results

Representative quotes

Every quote is a sentence that exists in the raw data (excerpt-existence check passed).

• “I find myself going to Seoyeon”

  Star · Yerin

• “When the analysis stalls, Junho is the first person I go to”

  Clique · Minseo

• “A lot of what I do is going back and forth between two sides and joining them”

  Bridge · Haeun

• “Rather than going up to anyone first, I am learning how things flow”

  Isolate · Yerin

Paper-ready tables