Canadian Rural Partnership
Community Decision-Making Toolkit

Decision-Making Tools

The list of Decision-Making Tools below contains a variety of methods to help communities generate ideas, prioritize issues and weigh options. Simple to use, these tools can easily be adapted to fit the needs of your particular community requirements.

• Asset Mapping
• Brainstorming
• Charette Procedure
• Community Dialogue
• Dotmocracy
• Effort-Impact Grid
• First Impressions
• Force Field Analysis
• Multivoting
• Nominal Group Technique
• Plus/Minus Implications
• Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats Analysis (SWOT)

ASSET MAPPING

What is it?

Asset Mapping is a method used to both collect information on the positive attributes of a community, and to discover why people value those assets.

Why use it?

Asset Mapping produces a common view of what is considered important in a community. It provides a useful starting point, potentially leading to a strategic planning process and/or community/organizational development.

How is it used?

Three approaches exist to Asset Mapping: Whole Assets (described below), Storytelling, and Heritage.

• Begin by encouraging each participant to identify the top six assets in their community, and have them record these assets on three separate cards.
• Have the participants post their cards under asset categories on a wall. Examples of asset categories include: Built, Social, Service, Natural and Economic.
• Encourage the group to discuss why these assets are important. Possible questions to ask include: Were there any surprises? What do those surprises mean?
• Afterwards, have each participant identify the most important asset in each category by posting a dot beside that item. The item containing the most dots becomes the most important asset for the group.
• Divide participants into smaller groups of five to seven people. Each group selects the asset category with which they would like to work.
• Each small group should discuss asset supports and threats, and identify ways in which the asset can be preserved or strengthened.
• Have the small groups present a summary of their thoughts to all participants.
• Finally, encourage the larger group to determine next steps.

For a more detailed description of the three approaches to asset mapping see:

http://www.rural.gc.ca/conference/documents/mapping_e.phtml - Canadian Rural Partnership

BRAINSTORMING

What is it?

Brainstorming is a popular method used to generate many ideas in a short period of time without fear of criticism.

Why use it?

Brainstorming helps encourage positive group participation when exploring an issue. It fosters new idea generation, while challenging old ways of thinking. This process allows participants to build on ideas and feel they are part of a solution.

How is it used?

Brainstorming should be conducted in groups of no more than ten people. Large groups can be divided into two groups. A facilitator and person dedicated to recording responses on a flipchart are required. It is important to remember that there are no bad ideas in this process.

• Begin by writing the community question or issue on a flip chart. It may be necessary to clarify any process questions at this stage.
• Invite each participant to suggest one idea on the question/issue. Non-traditional responses should be encouraged. Try to avoid group discussion at this point.
• After all participants have had a chance to contribute, open the floor to additional suggestions and build on previous ideas. Continue until the group offers no new information.
• Discuss each idea with the group. It may be useful to combine similar themes.
• Finally, agree on a preferred option(s) for moving forward.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/facts/01-039.htm#brainstorming - Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
http://www.jpb.com/brainstorming/brainstorming.php - Jeffrey Baumgartner

CHARETTE PROCEDURE

What is it?

The Charette Procedure is an idea generation and prioritizing tool designed for larger groups. Lasting four to seven days, this collaborative planning process consists of a series of meetings, design sessions, public workshops and open houses.

Why use it?

The Charrette tool is useful when a group knows what it wants to achieve but is unsure of how to accomplish it. Benefits include: simultaneous resolution of multiple issues, active group participation, shared leadership opportunities, idea building and community engagement.

How is it used?

The following description is a condensed version of the full Charette Procedure, which normally occurs over a period of several days.

• Begin by dividing the larger group into several small groups of five to seven people. Provide each group with a discussion topic, and have them select a person to record ideas on a flipchart. Establish a time limit for gathering suggestions.
• After the time limit has expired, move the recorder and flipchart to the next group. The recorder provides clarification of listed ideas to the new group and captures additional suggestions.
• Repeat the process until all groups have discussed all issues.
• In the final round, have the groups prioritize the most important ideas on their sheet.
• Reconvene the larger group. Display and summarize the prioritized topic results.
• Provide the larger group an opportunity to discuss the small group reports, review priorities, and reach consensus.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/communities/tools/decisions/charette.html - Iowa State University

COMMUNITY DIALOGUE

What is it?

The Community Dialogue tool engages participants in a face-to-face information exchange in order to help develop community solutions to concerns and opportunities.

Why use it?

A process that works equally well with five or five hundred people, Community Dialogue is employed to:

• Identify issues,
• Build capacity to act on ideas,
• Break through community "turf wars", and
• Build community consensus.

How do you use it?

Establish a team to "host" the dialogue. Invite participants to choose the facilitator. Choose and discuss questions in categories. For example:

• Community (what is a healthy community?)
• What is working? (examples of people working together)
• Issues (2-3 most important issues facing the community)
• Causes and Barriers (what keeps your community from moving ahead?)
• Policy and Practice (possible actions and solutions)
• Community Action (best ways to engage other community members)

Detailed description is available through the Rural Dialogue Toolkit: http://www.rural.gc.ca/dialogue/tool/index_e.phtml 

DOTMOCRACY

What is it?

Dotmocracy is a prioritization tool that allows groups to quickly see which proposals or ideas are the most popular by allowing participants to vote with "dot" stickers.

Why use it?

This tool is useful because it does not require significant time. It allows quiet participants to contribute to decision-making, avoids loud debate, and can be conducted with many people. In addition, Dotmocracy produces a fully documented record of what participants think is most important.

How is it used?

• Write ideas that need to be prioritized on individual pieces of paper. Secure the papers to a wall.
• Give each participant a designated number of round or "dot" stickers*. Have them place the stickers next to those items they think important.
• Add the number of stickers by each item. The item receiving the most stickers is considered to be the most popular.
• Alterations to this method are possible. For example, participants can be provided with stickers of different colours so that important items are selected with a red sticker while the most doable items can be voted on with green stickers. Advanced Dotmocracy goes further by allowing participants to grade their level of acceptance of an item.

*The number of stickers given out to participants can vary depending on the situation, although the practical limit is about 10 stickers per person.

For a more detailed description see:

http://cooptools.ca/tiki-print.php?page=Advanced%20Dotmocracy - Coop Tools

EFFORT-IMPACT GRID

What is it?

The Effort-Impact Grid is designed to evaluate possible solutions to an issue.

Why use it?

This tool is useful for assessing the costs and benefits of various options. It is particularly effective when there is limited time available option evaluation.

How is it used?

Each idea is placed in one of the quadrants shown below, based on group assessment of the impact and effort required to implement the idea.

• Ideas placed in quadrant 1 are easy and cheap but produce minimal benefit. They are appropriate when they can be included in annual plans or address existing problems.
• Ideas placed in quadrant 2 are easy and cheap and produce significant benefit. They are easy to implement quickly.
• Ideas placed in quadrant 3 are difficult and expensive and produce minimal benefit. Ideas from this quadrant should generally be discarded.
• Ideas placed in quadrant 4 are difficult and expensive but will result in significant benefit. If these ideas are considered, appropriate time and resources should be made available for their exploration.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.banffcentre.ca/departments/leadership/library//pdf/LC7_Doctor_article.pdf - The Banff Centre

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

What is it?

First Impressions is a structured process that reveals the first impression a community conveys to outsiders. It offers a fresh perspective and helps communities learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Volunteer "visiting teams" from other communities do incognito visits, record their observations and provide constructive feedback to the community.

Why Use It?

It is often difficult to look at your own community objectively. It is easy to overlook the positive aspects and those things that would be problematic to a newcomer to your community. First Impressions provides information that can form the basis for developing action plans and setting priorities in the community.

How is it used?

The most effective exchanges are between communities of similar size and characteristics.

Visiting teams of 5-8 volunteers with a mix of backgrounds, occupations, ages etc look at the community from different perspectives e.g. retiree, business person, tourist, youth.

The teams visit each other's community, prepare a written report and meet to discuss their findings.

The visits can be repeated several months later to provide a progress report

• The Province of Ontario has a formal First Impressions programme. Ontario communities may enquire about being part of this programme.
• Southwestern Saskatchewan has also recently implemented a pilot First Impressions project.
• Other communities could look at this approach on their own.
• More information and resources are available at http://www.reddi.gov.on.ca/index.htm

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS

What is it?

Force Field Analysis is a way of analyzing a situation by examining all relevant pros and cons.

Why use it?

By identifying the driving and restraining forces to a possible solution, this tool encourages group agreement through discussion of a problem's underlying causes. As a result, a community may be better equipped to develop a plan of action.

How is it used?

• Begin by identifying the topic to be discussed.
• On a flip chart, write a group goal statement that is measurable, realistic and timely.
• Create two columns on the flip chart:
  • Driving Forces (forces that will help in reaching the goal), and
  • Restraining Forces (forces that will hinder reaching the goal).
• Under the "Driving Forces" column, list forces that help or could help.
• Under the "Restraining Forces" column, list forces that are hindering or could get in the way.
• Identify what could be done to reduce or eliminate Restraining Forces.
• Problem-solve ways in which to deal with Restraining Forces.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/facts/01-039.htm#analysis - Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/communities/tools/forcefield.html - Iowa State University

MULTIVOTING

What is it?

Multivoting is a group decision-making tool used to reduce a long list of ideas to a workable number. It encourages group effort by allowing each individual to assign importance to an item.

Why use it?

This tool can be useful in quickly reducing numerous options to a workable number, with limited discussion and difficulty. Multivoting can be employed to prioritize a large list, and allows a group to focus on ideas that have the greatest potential.

How is it used?

Work from a large list of ideas (possibly generated from a Brainstorming session). It may be useful to combine similar items.

• Assign a letter to each idea.
• Have each participant select their preferred top third of the ideas.
• Assign a check mark next to each letter for each vote received.
• Tally the votes.
• Retain the ideas with the most number of votes for a subsequent round of voting.
• The end result is a list of ideas, each with a number of votes. The ideas receiving the highest ranking should be considered priorities for action.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agpsd/multivot.pdf - University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture

NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE

What is it?

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a ranking method that allows groups to prioritize a large number of issues, especially those that are emotional or controversial.

Why use it?

This tool is useful in neutralizing potential domination by some group members. Although the end result may not be everyone's first choice, the NGT does achieve a consensus that participants can generally accept. The process is effective at reducing the number of issues, incorporating team member input, and prioritizing ideas.

How is it used?

Part 1

• Write the issue on a flip chart.
• Have individuals write down their possible solutions on a piece of paper.
• Ask each team member to offer one solution, and record it on the flip chart.
• Continue until all ideas have been listed.
• Clarify the meaning of any statements.
• Combine similar ideas.

Part 2

• Assign a letter to each solution.
• Have participants independently rank the ideas from most to least important.
• Collate and total rankings on the flip chart.
• Rewrite the list based on priority.
• Confirm that participants can accept the final list.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/communities/tools/decisions/nominal.html - Iowa State University
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/facts/95-073.htm - Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

PLUS/MINUS IMPLICATIONS

What is it?

Plus/Minus Implications (PMI) is a tool designed to weigh the pros, cons and implications of a decision.

Why use it?

This tool is useful for assessing decision appropriateness. It confirms that the benefits of a decision outweigh the challenges. PMI can change initial group judgements and perceptions, and can broaden viewpoints.

How is it used?

• Begin by identifying the decision to be discussed.
• Prepare a flip chart with three columns:
  • Plus
  • Minus
  • Implications
• Ask individuals, pairs or groups to Brainstorm items in each category. It may be clear at this stage whether to implement the decision.
• If there is no clear outcome, ask individuals to weight each item from -10 to +10.
• The total weighted scores will give a clearer indication of the appropriateness of the solution. A negative score may be a good indication that the proposed action should be abandoned, or that a different approach should be adopted.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.mindtools.com/pmi.html - Mind Tools Decision Making Techniques

STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES/OPPORTUNITIES/THREATS ANALYSIS (SWOT)

What is it?

The SWOT Analysis provides a way to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with a particular situation or circumstance.

Why use it?

This tool allows groups to assess the internal conditions of a community while taking into account external factors. It identifies issues that are likely to have the greatest impact on the future competitiveness of a community.

How is it used?

All participants answer questions in the following categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Strengths

• What do we do well?
• What assets and resources do we have?
• What do others see as our strengths?

Weaknesses

• What could we do better?
• What have we been criticized for?

Opportunities

• What external opportunities exist that we have not been able to address?
• What trends can we take advantage of?

Threats

• What external obstacles do we face?
• Are there potential changes that may affect us (i.e. political, funding, technological)?

The results of a SWOT analysis provide a clearer indication of possible strategic actions.

For a more detailed description see:

http://www.calpoly.edu/~saffairs/Prof_Dev/How%20To%20Conduct%20A%20SWOT%20Analysis.pdf - ABARIS Consulting Inc.