ABSTRACT
At its simplest, the technique is a meeting for up to 12 people, conducted under special rules designed to delay the judgement of individuals' ideas as they appear, to a later stage. Brainstorming sessions can be active and noisy, often requiring two people to capture all the ideas as they are voiced, onto flipcharts. Brainstorming can be conducted in waves, each wave of ideas generated acting as 'triggers' for individuals to generate yet further ideas in succeeding waves. The first wave is the most important and will tend to determine the shape of later waves of ideas. When planning a brainstorming session, we need a location without distractions, prepared blank flipcharts on the walls, and flipchart pens. The chief advantage of the Nominal Group Technique is that it permits the team to meet formally, without restricting independent thinking, as tends to occur through the personal dynamics of an interacting group where status prevents brainstorming.
