Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
NOMINALGROUPTECHNIQUE
PURPOSE
Thenominalgrouptechniqueisusedtoengageinconsensusplanningforthepurposeofprioritizingissues.
NEEDSASSESSMENTAPPLICATIONS
Whencollectingdataforaneedsassessment,prioritizingneeds,ormakingrecommendationsforaction
basedonneedsassessmentfindings,thenominalgrouptechniquecanbeavaluabletoolforfacilitating
groupdecisionmaking.Thistechniqueprovidesastructuredprocessforworkingwithgroupmembersto
prioritizetheirideas,concerns,orotherinputstothedecisioninaformatthatisbothinclusiveand
consensusbuilding.Duringdatacollection,forinstance,youcanuseanominalgrouptechniquetohelpa
unitordepartmentidentifypriorityperformancemeasuresorperspectivesondifficulttomeasure
indicatorsofresults.Similarly,whenmakingrecommendationsbasedonneedsassessmentfindingsyou
canusethenominalgrouptechniquetofacilitatetheprioritizationofneeds(i.e.,gapsinresults)inorderto
determinewhichordertheyshouldbeaddressedthroughassociatedperformanceinterventions.This
dynamicgroupdecisionmakingprocessisflexibleenoughthatyoumayusemultipletimesatdifferent
stepswithinyourneedsassessment;wheneveragroupwithmultipleperspectiveshastomakeadifficult
decision.
ADVANTAGESANDDISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
Thenominalgrouptechniqueismorestructuredthanthetraditionalfocusgroupapproach.
Throughanominalgrouptechniqueeveryoneinthegroupisgivenanopportunitytocontributetothe
discussion,whileavoidingthelikelihoodofonepersondominatingthegroupprocess.
Thenominalgrouptechniquecanbeusedwithsmallgroupsaswellaswithalargernumberof
participants.
Youcangetasenseofpriorityconcernsrepresentedamongthemembersofthegroupbyusingthe
nominalgrouptechnique.
DISADVANTAGES
Thesynergismthatisexperiencedinmoreopenendedfocusgroupsmaynotdevelopaseasilyinthe
nominalgroupapproach.
Thenominalgrouptechniquemayfeelsomewhatmechanicaltosomeparticipants.Thiscanbe
circumventedtosomeextentbyensuringthatthefacilitatorshowsflexibilityinprocessand
implementation.
Whilethereisarangeofgroupsizeswithwhichthenominalgrouptechniquecanbeused,itishardto
implementiteffectivelywithlargeaudiencesunlessverycarefullyplannedbeforehand.
GENERALPROCEDURES
1. Fromthelistofinformationrequiredfortheneedsassessment,identifythoseelementsthatmaybestbe
attainedthroughthenominalfocusgrouptechnique.
2. Createafacilitatorsguideorprotocoltoguidethenominalfocusgroup.Intheprotocolensurethat
requiredinformationregardingboththecurrentresultsandthedesiredresultsoftheneedsassessment
arerepresented,alongwiththerequiredinformationateachleveloftheprogram/projectresultschain.
3. Scheduleattimeforthefocusgroupwhenthehighestpriorityparticipantsareallavailable.Verifythat
youhaveafocusgroupfacilitatoravailableatthescheduledtime.
4. Tobeginthenominalfocusgroup,giveeachgroupmembersomepaperandawritingimplement.
5. Presentthesingletopicforthesessiontothegroupmembers.Forexample,thegroupmemberscouldbe
presentedwithacontextforwhythegroupismeeting,andaskedtoidentifywhatresultsyoushould
beaccomplishingbutarenotabletoatthistime,listallofthethingsthatcouldbeimprovedabout...
ortothinkofallthethingsthatcouldbecausing....Onlyonekeyquestionshould,however,beusedin
asessioninordertomaintainaclearfocusandobjective.
6. Givethegroupmembersanopportunitytoaskanyquestionsthatcometomindortodiscussanything
thathelpstoelucidatethescopeandspecificsofthetopic.Inotherwords,accommodateinteractionthat
willhelpincreaseclarityforthediscussion.
7. Askthegroupmemberstotakesometime(generallyafewminutes)tothinkaboutthetopicandto
writedownsomenotesfortheirresponses.Encouragegroupmemberstowritedowntheirthoughtsina
bulleted,abbreviatedformat.
8. Onaturnbyturnbasis,askeachgroupmembertotakesometimetoshareoneoftheirresponseswith
thegroup.Aseachgroupmembershareshis/herresponse,writeitdownonaflipchart.Invitethe
groupmembertoelaborateifappropriate.
9. Onceallgroupmembershavegivenoneresponse,goaroundtheroomagainandaskeachgroup
membertogivenasecond,andthenathirdresponse.Continuethisprocessuntilallanswershavebeen
writtenontheflipchartsheets.Askparticipantstoscratchitemsfromtheirindividuallistsastheyare
addedtotheflipcharts(toavoidduplication).
10. Hanguptheflipchartsheetsnexttoeachother,sothatallofthemcanbeseenatthesametime,andby
allgroupmembers.Assignalettertoeachdiscretecontributionontheflipchartsheets.Eachitemonthe
flipchartsshouldhaveauniqueletter,tofacilitatediscussion.
11. Giveeachgroupmemberastackofindexcards.Askeachgroupmembertoidentify,forexample,the
fiveresponsesthattheyfeelaremostimportant,identifyingeachresponseonaseparateindexcardby
theletterithasbeenassignedontheflipchart.
12. Next,askthegroupmemberstorankorderthefiveresponsestheyselectedinorderofpriority,from
onetofive(fivebeingthehighestpriority,andonebeingtheleasthighpriority).Theyshoulddothisby
writingtherankordervalueofeachresponsenexttotheletterfortheresponseontheirindexcard.
Whendone,askthegroupmemberstoreorganizetheirindexcardsinalphabeticalorder.
13. Readingfromtheflipchart,readthroughthelistofresponsesinalphabeticalorder.Asyoureadoutthe
lettercorrespondingwitharesponse,askeachgroupmembertostatetherank(ifany)thattheygaveit.
14. Aggregatealltheranksforeachresponseontheflipchart.Thoseresponseswiththehighestaggregated
valueconstitutethetopprioritiesforthegroup.
15. Ifnecessary,asecondroundofrankingscanbedonetofurtherreducetheresponsestoagroup
decision..
TIPSFORSUCCESS
Eachnominalgroupsessionthatyouconductshouldlastbetween30minutesandfourhours.Each
sessionshoulddealwithonlyonekeyquestionpresentedtotheparticipants.
Arrangetohavethefollowingsuppliesavailableatthegroupmeetingsite:Flipchart,maskingtape,
markers,paper,indexcards,pens/pencils
Ifyouareworkingwithalargergroup,youcanassignindividualparticipantstosmallergroups,
assigningeachgroupaleader.
REFERENCESANDRESOURCES
Witkin, B.R., & Altschuld, J.W. (1995). Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments: A Practical Guide.
Sage Publications, Inc.
WEBSITES
UsingNominalGroups:
http://ppa.aces.uiuc.edu/pdf_files/NomGroup1.PDF
TheNominalGroupTechnique
http://syque.com/quality_tools/toolbook/NGT/ngt.htm
(ThiswebsitefromQualityToolsincludesaworkedexampleofthetechniquebeingimplemented).
ExpressedSatisfactionwiththeNominalGroupTechniqueamongChangeAgents:
http://cogprints.org/4767/01/Gresham.pdf
(Thisisadissertationdocument;howevertheliteraturereviewprovidesinterestingandindepthinformationonthe
useofthenominalgrouptechnique).