Nominal Versus Interacting Group Processes for Committee Decision-Making Effectiveness

Abstract

The article reviews literature dealing with the relative effectiveness of interacting (spontaneous group discussion) versus nominal (individual silent effort in a group setting) group processes for problem-solving committees. The authors conclude that the optimal combination of group processes for a problem-solving committee is: (1) the use of nominal group processes for fact-finding, idea generation, or initial subjective probability estimation in the first phase of a committee's work; (2) the use of structured feedback and interacting discussion in the second phase; and (3) nominal group voting for final independent individual judgments in the final phase.