Extension educators have for a long time used various techniques in the.

hopes of ensuring Involvement and commitment of 'fair and their client/consumers. Many of these techniques are group oriented, Brain storming, for example. has the obective of giving Participants an opportunity to engage in creative Problem solving. Another approach, the nominal group technique (NGT), uses a more structured format to obtain multiple inputs from several people on a particular problem or issue. Each technique may be appropriate given a specific situation; however, NGT is probably not used as often as it should be. This technique was originally developed by Delbecq and VandeVen and has been applied to adult education program planning by Vedros. Brainstorming In one research experiment, individuals working alone. and then in groups were asked to brainstorm a list of ideas using procedures that encouraged creativity and discouraged criticism and evaluation. The scores of the individuals who worked alone were combined. averaged, and compared with the scores of the groups. The results indicated that " individuals not only produce more Ideas when working alone but they do this without sacrificing quality."1 One possible explanation is that people. fear they'll look foolish or stupid, and ,therefore censor themselves. This may occur despite instructions in how brainstorming is to be done (that is, without criticism or evaluation) Nominal Group Technique A possible alternative to brain storming is NGT. This technique was originally developed by Delbecq and VandeVen2 and has been applied to adult education program planning by Vedros3. This technique is a structured variation of small group discussion methods. The process prevents the domination of discussion by a single person, encourages the more passive group members to participate, and results in a set of prioritized solutions or recommendations. The steps to follow in NGT are: 1. Divide the people present into small groups of 5 or 6 members, preferably seated around a table. 2. State an open-ended question (" What are some ways we could encourage participants to car pool?"). 3. Have each Person spend several minutes in silence individually brainstorming all the possible ideas and jot these ideas down. 4. Have the groups, collect the ideas by sharing them roundrobin fashion (one response per person each time), while all are recorded in key term, on a flipchart. No criticism is allowed, but clarification in response to questions is encouraged. 5. Have each person evaluate the ideas and individually and anonymously vote for the best ones (for example, the, best idea gets Points, next best 4 Points, etc). 6. Share votes within the group and tabulate. A group report is prepared, showing the ideas receiving the most points. 7. Allow time for brief group presentations on their solutions. NGT Advantages and Disadvantages As with any technique, there are advantages and disadvantages. NGT Is no exception. Some of the obvious advantages are that voting is anonymous, there are opportunities for equal participation of group members and distractions (communication "noise") inherent in other group methods are minimized. As to disadvantages, opinions may not converge in the voting process,

cross-fertilization, of ideas may be constrained, and the process may appear to be too mechanical. NGT can be one more tool for Extension Educators to use in helping staff, volunteers. clients, and consumers improve their ability to make sound decisions. Nominal Group Technique (NGT) Description Nominal group technique (NGT) is a structured method for group brainstorming that encourages contributions from everyone. When to Use Nominal Group Technique

When some group members are much more vocal than others. When some group members think better in silence. When there is concern about some members not participating. When the group does not easily generate quantities of ideas. When all or some group members are new to the team. When the issue is controversial or there is heated conflict.

Nominal Group Technique Procedure Materials needed: paper and pen or pencil for each individual, flipchart, marking pens, tape. 1. State the subject of the brainstorming. Clarify the statement as needed until everyone understands it. 2. Each team member silently thinks of and writes down as many ideas as possible in a set period of time (5 to 10 minutes). 3. Each member in turn states aloud one idea. Facilitator records it on the flipchart. o No discussion is allowed, not even questions for clarification. o Ideas given do not need to be from the team members written list. Indeed, as time goes on, many ideas will not be. o A member may pass his or her turn, and may then add an idea on a subsequent turn. Continue around the group until all members pass or for an agreed-upon length of time. 4. Discuss each idea in turn. Wording may be changed only when the ideas originator agrees. Ideas may be stricken from the list only by unanimous agreement. Discussion may clarify meaning, explain logic or analysis, raise and answer questions, or state agreement or disagreement. 5. Prioritize the ideas using multivoting or list reduction. Nominal Group Technique Considerations

Discussion should be equally balanced among all ideas. The facilitator should not allow discussion to turn into argument. The primary purpose of the discussion is clarification. It is not to resolve differences of opinion.

Keep all ideas visible. When ideas overflow to additional flipchart pages, post previous pages around the room so all ideas are still visible to everyone.

When to use it Use it when you want to Use it when the group is less comfortable with more psychological methods. Use it when individuals in the the group may repress ideas because of timidity or dominance of others.

Quick

Long

Logical

Psychological

Individual

X Group

How to use it Clarify objective Make sure the objective of the session is clearly displayed, for example by writing it on a whiteboard, and ensure everyone understands it. Silent writing of ideas Silently and privately, the team writes down their thoughts and ideas on 3" x 5" cards. When individuals have finished, they should wait quietly for others to finish. Share and understand The leader collects the cards, shuffles them (to ensure individual people's ideas are not in batches), then reads them out, one at a time. If the idea is unclear, the team may discuss it, but only for clarification of meaning, not general debate. The agreed final wording is then transcribed onto a flipchart or other surface that can be easily read by the whole team. If it is agreed that the point from a card has already been transcribed, then it need not be copied again. Vote

When all cards are transcribed and their meanings understood, vote on which are to be selected. Voting is done by each member of the team, silently and privately writing down votes for the listed ideas. Each vote is written on a 3" x 5" card, along with the text of the item for which the vote is being cast. Example A product line team cannot agree on the best sound-proofing for a plate press, and the production manager will not pay until they agree. They get the line facilitator to run an NGT session to help uncover the real problems. This reveals that a couple of people have preferred brands and no trials have been done. After a visit to a local trade show and internal trials, they agree on a compromise system. How it works The Nominal Group Technique (or NGT) provides a structured method of collecting and organizing the thoughts of a group. This is done in a way that prevents the originator of individual thoughts becoming known. Hence it is a 'nominal' group. This anonymous gathering of ideas results in the loss of the synergistic benefits of Brainstorming, where people key off each others ideas. However, many 'Brainstorming' sessions are in fact solely used for gathering the opinions of the group, rather than the original purpose of creative idea generation. In such circumstances, NGT is a quite suitable tool.