What is the nominal group technique?
The nominal group technique (NGT), developed by Delbecq and Van de Ven in the late 1960s, gives every member of a group an equal voice. Ideas are generated individually before they are discussed, and priorities are set by private ranking rather than debate. The result is a ranked list that reflects the whole group, not just its most confident members.
The four steps
- Silent generation (5–10 min): everyone writes their ideas alone, without talking.
- Round-robin: each person in turn gives one idea, which is recorded without comment, until all ideas are listed.
- Clarification: the group discusses each idea to make sure everyone understands it, and combines duplicates. No arguing for or against.
- Ranking: each person privately ranks their top N ideas; the points are totalled to give the group's priorities.
Nominal group technique example
Five people from production, quality and engineering look for ways to reduce first-pass failures at final test. After the round-robin, eight ideas are listed. Each person ranks their top three (3, 2 and 1 points). An in-process leak check after brazing gets 11 points and replacing worn test fixtures 10, both ranked by all five participants. Automating torque recording gets 4 points from two people. The stacked bars make the difference clear: the top two have broad support, the rest have champions.
Facilitation tips
- Phrase the question carefully, ideally as an open "how can we…?" question.
- Enforce silence in step 1 and no debate in step 2; discussion belongs in step 3.
- Collect rankings privately on cards or a form, then enter them here.
- Discuss surprising results before acting: a large spread may mean the ideas were understood differently.
- Group many ideas first with an affinity diagram, or narrow them with multivoting.
How to use this Nominal Group Technique tool
- State the question. Write a clear question the group will answer.
- List the ideas. After silent generation and the round-robin, add each idea (or paste the list).
- Add the participants. Name the participants and choose how many ideas each will rank (e.g. top 5).
- Record the rankings. Enter each participant's private ranking: 1 for their best idea, 2 for the next and so on.
- Read the result. Ideas are ranked by total points; the bars show who gave the points, so you can see how broad the support is.
- Export. Export the rankings and the chart to PDF or Excel.
Frequently asked questions
What is the nominal group technique?
The nominal group technique (NGT) is a structured method for a group to generate ideas and rank them. Participants first write ideas silently and alone, share them one at a time in a round-robin, clarify them together, and finally each rank their top choices privately. The individual rankings are added up into a group priority list.
What are the steps of the nominal group technique?
1 Silent idea generation: everyone writes ideas alone. 2 Round-robin: each person shares one idea per turn until all are listed, without discussion. 3 Clarification: the group discusses what each idea means and merges duplicates. 4 Ranking: each person privately ranks their top N ideas; the points are totalled.
How are the rankings scored?
If each participant ranks their top 5, their first choice gets 5 points, the second 4 and so on down to 1. Points from all participants are added for each idea. The number of participants who ranked an idea at all is a second measure of support and breaks ties.
Why is it called "nominal"?
Because during idea generation and ranking, people work individually: the group exists in name (nominally) but does not interact. This prevents dominant personalities, hierarchy and groupthink from steering the result, while discussion still happens in the clarification step.
When should I use NGT instead of brainstorming?
Use NGT when the topic is sensitive or controversial, when some members are much more senior or vocal than others, when the group is new, or when you need a defensible ranking rather than just a list of ideas.
What is the difference between NGT and multivoting?
Multivoting gives each person a set of equal votes to spread; NGT asks each person to rank, so a first choice counts more than a fifth. NGT also includes the structured idea generation steps. Multivoting is faster for narrowing an existing list.