Benefits:
- Promotes group participation in the decision making process where all voices and ideas are equal.
- Engages both extroverted and introverted team members.
- Uses priorities of each group member to discover the overall priorities of the group.
- Use with small groups (5-10 people) to:
a. Develop solutions (changes) that can be tested using PDSA cycles.
b. Reach consensus on what change to test first.
c. Can also be used to identify the key problem.
Prepare the NGT
Ready the room for your group:
- Post-It Notes
- A flipchart or whiteboard to place Post It Notes
- A marker
Write your NGT question at the top of the flipchart.
Examples:
- How can we reduce no-shows to intake appointments?
- How can we increase referrals from juvenile justice to our IOP program?
Do the NGT – 5 steps with (time limits)
Silent idea generation (3 min)
- Each team member silently records one idea per Post It note until they run out of ideas.
- No talking
Recording of ideas (5 min)
- Go around the table asking one person to read one Post It note, then the next person, continue until all ideas are shared.
- Change Leader places each Post It note on the flipchart after it is read.
- Refrain from discussing each idea – read only.
Idea discussion (4 min)
- Group can ask questions of each other to clarify the meaning of each idea.
- Do not say things like “that will not work” or “we’ve tried that already.”
Voting (2 min)
- Each group member gets to cast 3 votes.
- Using the marker, each person places a check mark by the three ideas they would like to test.
Reaching consensus (2 min)
- Total the votes. Which ideas rose to the top?
- The idea with the most votes will be tested first. (PDSA cycle #1)
- In the case of a tie vote, have team members cast one vote each to determine a winner.
- Save all ideas for future reference and possible PDSA cycles.