What is Nominal Group Technique?
The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a consensus-building tool used to arrange ideas or issues into a prioritized list. It is a structured decision-making process that identifies concerns and arrives at decisions through constructive input from a group of people. NGT is a great way to generate ideas, map out strategies, or rank items while giving everyone’s voice equal weight.
NGT begins with a group of people sharing their ideas on a given matter. The group then collaborates to analyze the ideas and decide on the best ones to prioritize or select. After that, each group member ranks their choices in order of importance. Finally, the team comes to an agreement on the collective result, often by voting.
Process and Steps of Nominal Group Technique
The process of Nominal Group Technique begins with each group member developing a thoughtful list of ideas. Through discussion and collaboration with other members, the list is narrowed down to the best ideas. Next, every group member anonymously ranks their own list and submits their selections to the facilitator.
The facilitator then determines the overall priority of all the ideas by collecting individual votes into a single list. Finally, the list of priorities is displayed to the group members so that they can come to a collective decision. The most important priorities are commonly chosen by unanimous vote or by a supermajority.
Advantages of Nominal Group Technique
Nominal Group Technique offers numerous advantages over traditional decision-making processes like brainstorming and consensus building. Firstly, it allows everyone’s opinion to be equally taken into consideration regardless of gender, age, or other demographics. It is also a great way to explore multiple perspectives and solutions to complex problems. Finally, it encourages critical thinking and decision-making skills through giving each person a voice and allowing them to be a part of the process.
FAQs
How can organizations benefit from adopting NGT?
Organizations can benefit from the Nominal Group Technique by arriving at decisions more quickly and efficiently than with traditional methods. It also encourages input from all members of the team, ensuring that everyone’s opinion is taken into consideration and that the best solution is chosen. By using NGT, teams can form more consensus-based decisions which tend to be more widely accepted within the organization.
What are the five phases of the nominal group technique?
The five phases of the nominal group technique are:
- Brainstorming: Generate a list of ideas and topics for consideration.
- Clarification: Discuss each idea and clarify any nuances to each topic.
- Voting: Place votes on each topic, with each person having the same number of votes.
- Discussion: Talk through the voting results and discuss further ideas or solutions.
- Decision: Unanimously agree on the best solution or come to a consensus.
