Compare and contrast brainstorming and the nominal group technique (NGT).

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Brainstorming is one of the most common forms of team decision making.
Brainstorming should be used when the team needs to produce a creative solution. It
enhances the creative process because idea generation is separated from idea
evaluation. Members are trained not to critique ideas but just to write them down as the
group generates solutions to a problem. Ideas are typically written on flip chart paper or
a whiteboard so that everyone can see them. The team meets in a separate session to
evaluate the ideas generated and decide on a course of action.
The NGT is a more structured process that may be effective if there are status
differences in the team or if the team has one or more dominating participants. The
group meets face-to-face, but the discussion is more restricted than in brainstorming or
consensus decision-making. This process reduces status differentials since participants
write their ideas on index cards, and they are collected by a facilitator. This process is
particularly effective when the team has a dominating participant who shuts down the
team discussion with criticism. Research has indicated that NGT works better than
brainstorming. NGT is often used by senior management teams as a preparation tool for
productive strategy meetings. The steps for the NGT follow:
1. Each team member independently writes their ideas on the problem on 3 × 5 cards or
slips of paper.
2. Each member presents one idea to the team. The cards are collected by the
facilitator who can either read them or redistribute them randomly to the team members
who then read the ideas on the card. This way, no one is identified with a particular
idea.
3. The discussion continues until all ideas are heard and recorded.
4. The team discusses the ideas and asks questions to clarify them.
5. Each team member then silently ranks the ideas independently. The idea with the
highest total ranking is the final decision.