Nominal group technique. A method of decision-making by committee

Abstract

Committee-work which involves decision-making from a range of alternatives is frequently time-consuming, inefficient, and frustrating. Nominal Group Technique is a structured method of group decision-making which allows a rich generation of original ideas, balanced participation of all members of the group, and a rank-ordered set of decisions based on a mathematical voting method. A brief description of a Nominal Group Technique session is given and its application to decision-making by committees of anaesthetists is illustrated by an example.