Protocol
Use a nominal round before the vote
Let participation become visible before preference becomes public.
When it fits
- A group must prioritize options but status, confidence or speaking order may distort whose ideas reach the ballot.
When to avoid it
- A ranked consensus is still a judgment, not empirical proof. Use evidence and tests for consequential choices.
Why it matters
Start with individual idea generation. Share one idea per participant in rounds until the pool is exhausted, clarify duplicates and meanings, then rank privately against the stated question. Discuss large differences afterward instead of using discussion to create the first score.
Steps
- Every participant had a path to contribute before the group saw the ranking.
An example
For improvement priorities, each analyst contributes one item per round before anyone argues for a favorite; final rankings are submitted privately.
Check your result
Every participant had a path to contribute before the group saw the ranking.
Keep this limit in mind
- A ranked consensus is still a judgment, not empirical proof. Use evidence and tests for consequential choices.
Connected ideas
Useful withPrune impossible combinations before judging attractive ones
Evidence and sources
Nominal Group Technique commonly separates individual idea generation, sharing, clarification and prioritization or ranking.
NGT structures participation and prioritization; consensus is not evidence that the selected idea is correct.
How to use the nominal group and Delphi techniques · Method overview