Meetings and Decision-Making Methods Discussion: Barbara’s Bouquets and the Nominal Group Technique

Meetings and Decision-Making Methods (Graded Discussion): Barbara’s Bouquets

Barbara’s Bouquets has six locations in Global Springfield and has done well since opening in 2015. Each store has four employees and sells cut flowers and potted plants, but not much else. In bad economic times fewer people buy flowers, and the perishable product concerns owner Barbara Mae Roman. She wants to stay in the floral business but expand, so she has called a meeting to discuss ideas, and each store will send one employee.

Choose one decision-making method you feel would work well for this scenario.

• In a first paragraph, describe the method and give its pros and cons.
• In a second paragraph, explain why it suits the scenario and suggest how to manage the meeting itself, writing from experience and critical thinking rather than source material.
• At the bottom, give the full URL (not a text link) for the source(s) used in the first paragraph.

Original example for study purposes (about 330 words). Write the second paragraph from your own experience, as the prompt requires.

Method: nominal group technique (NGT). The nominal group technique is a structured method in which members first write ideas silently and independently, then share them one at a time in a round robin while a facilitator records each idea without discussion. The group then clarifies each idea, combines duplicates and ranks or multivotes to set priorities (ASQ, n.d.). Its main advantages are that every member contributes equally, quieter or newer members are not overshadowed by louder ones, many ideas are generated quickly and the ranking produces a clear, documented priority list. Its disadvantages are that it is more rigid and time-consuming than open discussion, the limited debate can leave good ideas underdeveloped, it needs a skilled facilitator and the final vote reflects preferences at that moment rather than full analysis of costs and risks.

Why it fits Barbara’s Bouquets. NGT suits this meeting because the six employees come from different stores, may not know each other well and are meeting with the owner, which can make people hesitant to speak. In my experience, when the boss is in the room, employees often wait to hear what she thinks and then agree, so the silent idea step would protect the frontline knowledge that Barbara most needs, such as what customers ask for that the stores do not sell. To manage the meeting, I would send the question in advance (“What products or services could we add that sell well even when flower sales are slow?”), ask Barbara to share her ideas last or let a neutral employee facilitate, and set a 90-minute agenda with time limits for each step. I would keep a visible list on a whiteboard, use dot voting to rank the top five ideas, such as event décor, gift baskets, plant-care workshops, corporate subscriptions or online delivery, and close by assigning two employees to research costs and report back. That structure keeps the meeting fair and productive and ends with action rather than just a list.

Source:
https://asq.org/quality-resources/nominal-group-technique

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