How can you use the nominal group technique for brainstorming?

2 How to prepare for NGT?

Before you start using NGT, you need to have a clear and specific problem statement or goal that you want to address. You also need to gather a group of people who have some knowledge or interest in the topic, and who are willing to participate actively. Ideally, the group size should be between five and nine people, to ensure diversity and efficiency. You also need to prepare some materials, such as paper, pens, flip charts, sticky notes, and a voting method (such as dots, stickers, or ballots).

3 How to conduct NGT?

The first step of NGT is to ask each participant to write down their ideas or solutions for the problem or goal on a piece of paper, without discussing with others. This allows them to generate their own thoughts, without being influenced by others. They can write as many ideas as they want, but each idea should be brief and clear. This step should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

The second step is to ask each participant to share one idea at a time, in a round-robin fashion, until all the ideas are presented. The facilitator should record each idea on a flip chart or a sticky note, and assign it a number. The participants should not comment or evaluate the ideas at this stage, but only listen and ask for clarification if needed. This step should take about 20 to 30 minutes.

The third step is to ask the participants to clarify any questions or doubts they have about the ideas, and to eliminate any duplicates or similar ideas. The facilitator should guide this discussion, and make sure that everyone understands the meaning and intention of each idea. The participants should not criticize or argue about the ideas, but only seek to clarify them. This step should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

The fourth and final step is to ask the participants to vote for their preferred ideas, based on their relevance and feasibility. The facilitator should explain the voting method and the criteria for ranking the ideas. Each participant should have a limited number of votes (such as three or five), and they can distribute them among the ideas as they wish. They can vote for their own ideas, or for others'. The facilitator should collect and count the votes, and announce the results. The ideas with the highest votes are the ones that the group agrees on as the best solutions. This step should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?