An extract from the Manual that was originally published by Taylor Management Centers in Boulder, Colorado. To enable an organization to explore differences, commonalties, and desired direction without using meeting time. A questionnaire is sent out to numbers of people asking their informed opinions on a subject.
People read each other's ideas and answer the question again.
As information is exchanged, people incorporate each others' perspective and information into their thinking and arrive at a fairly accurate understanding of the critical issues to consider in their decision making process. Clarify what information you need and why Make it an objective tool, i.e., responses are for gathering information about future directions and not as an evaluative statement for the past or present. It is possible to manage many Delphi questions at once. Decide the purpose for the overall Delphi process and then send different questions to different people. Determine who your respondees will be.