Nominal Group Technique, abbreviated as, NGT is a structured method used for brainstorming in a group to encourage participation from all the team members. It helps to view a problem statement through different point of views.
let's understand in detail about nominal group technique-
What is Nominal Group Technique?
Nominal Group Technique is a brainstorming process where people working together in a group share their ideas, discuss in detail considering both pros and cons and after a consensus, make a final decision.
Let’s understand this with an example. For instance, there is a new feature that must be updated in a software. Let’s say, a company wants to add a feature of attendance regularization in their app, then they will get to the tech team and the HR team to take this process further. There they will come together, brainstorm the idea of having such a feature like what can be added, how it can work.
Once everyone is done with brainstorming, they will discuss the idea in front of everyone. The ideas will be discussed and best of them will be prioritized. Then through voting and ranking, the best idea will be used.
It is a structured and step by step technique developed by Andre Delbecq and Andrew Van De Ven in the late 1960s. Till now, this theory holds the importance from the government institutions to the privately owned businesses.
Benefits of Nominal Group Technique
Working in a constructive group brings in more collaboration resulting in overall growth, both for team and organization. Every idea brings something unique on the table.
Some of the major benefits of nominal group technique are-
- Equal Participation: NGT provides equal opportunities to everyone in team and ensures equal participation. Everyone brings together their exceptional mindset, which helps them to grow themselves and achieving team’s objectives.
- Diversified ideas: More people, more ideas comprehensive decision-making. Different sets of ideas bring different approach to reach a solution. Any one idea might not wholly solve the problem but a part of it can. This leads to an easier approach to work through a situation.
- Exceptional Growth: Nominal Group Technique help the individuals to grow as a team as they work together towards the same goal or the problem. Every single idea holds the potential to help the entire team to move forward.
How does Nominal Group Technique work?
Let’s understand working of NGT with step-by-step guide given below-
Step 1: Silent Brainstorming
The participants are welcomed and introduced with the purpose and procedure of the meeting. The person who does so is called a facilitator. The facilitator makes sure that everyone understands the topic or the problem they are going to solve.
Once the participants are aware about what they must do, they are given a paper to write down whatever comes to their mind when they think of the question. Generally, at this time the participants put only his mind and thought process to the question. There is no other person’s involvement in their space.
Step 2: Idea reduction
Once everyone is done with their part on a personal space, the facilitator invites every participant one by one to share their ideas to everyone present in the room. This is the moment when you judge yourself to see how much you are understanding about the concept.
Step 3: Idea prioritization
This is the most interesting part of the NGT when people are formed in a group to discuss everyone’s ideas with each other. Facilitator ensures that the process is done on time and there is no misunderstanding before they reach a solution. Participants in group discuss the pros and cons of their ideas and they reach to an agreeable point.
Step 4: Consensus building
This is the final step of the process. In this step all the ideas are brought in front of the facilitator or the final decision-making authority. The voting and ranking are done to see whose idea is the closest to the original question.
How NGT is Different from Delphi Technique?
Delphi Technique is nothing but a process where certain problems are solved by the experts rather than the unstructured group of the organization. This ensures the risks are minimized by a knowledgeable group of people rather than the less experienced ones. Questionnaires are used to conduct a survey to know reach a solution.
| Nominal Group Technique | Delphi Technique |
|---|
- Nominal group technique involves the team members.
- Small groups are formed in nominal group technique where all the team members follow a
particular process.
- Nominal group technique takes lesser time to complete.
- In nominal group technique, the process of the decision-making is declared on the spot.
| - Delphi technique involves higher authority member of the organization.
- Delphi technique is usually done in an isolated manner with not as such stringent process.
- Delphi process is a longer process as compared to NGT.
- In Delphi technique, the process doesn’t involve live participation of the employees.
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According to this report by Gartner, Building and maintaining high performing teams have become increasingly critical for organizations to successfully operate in remote work environments and collectively achieve business objectives.
“Success is best when it’s shared”- Howard Schultz
We’ll keep bringing in more for you. Till then keep reading, keep thinking and keep HRing!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Nominal Group Technique?
Nominal Group Technique, often abbreviated as NGT is a technique where a group of people come together to bring their ideas, share them together, discuss them and then decide about a problem or the purpose.
When to use Nominal Group Technique?
Nominal Group Technique can be used in the following scenarios,
- When other members of the group are vocals than some of them. It encourages them to speak up.
- When some of the group members need time to think. There are people who cannot think on the spot very quickly and need time to think through. NGT is a perfect technique to give them time to think about the things and brainstorm their minds to the best.
- When there is a new member in the team. New member takes their own time to set comfortable in the group. To ensure that they are not having a FOMO (feeling of missing out), NGT is the best technique to make sure that they are all set to go with the vibe.
What are the steps for Nominal Group Technique?
Steps involved in the process of Nominal Group Technique are:
- Introduction: The participants are introduced with the purpose and the procedure of the meeting.
- Silent Brainstorming: The participants sit quietly and generate the ideas for the given problem.
- Sharing ideas: Ideas generated are then shared with everyone present in the room.
- Group Discussion: The participants are divided in a group to discuss their ideas along with the pros and cons and other aspects of their thoughts.
- Voting and Ranking: Once the discussion is done, the voting is done, and the ideas are ranked to see which one is the closest to the given problem.