Delphi Technique in Project Management

The Delphi Technique is a method used in project management in order to get expert opinions to be able to reach a decision at the end. Participants respond anonymously and confidentially to questionnaires or polls created by a group moderator. Responses are analyzed and compiled before the next round of questioning, allowing each participant to receive feedback on their contribution and adjust as necessary. Though a straightforward technique it can be highly effective when implemented correctly and with relevant participants.

Delphi Technique is likely to be used in planning performance domain in project management. It may be used for scope management, and risk management as well.

In order to solve the problems you will encounter throughout the project life cycle, you need to use a number of tools and more importantly, learn the opinions of the experts in the subject. While the process of learning ideas by asking these questions may sound quite simple, obtaining accurate and useful information is a delicate and important task. The main area of use of delphi technique is to accurately analyze the needs in projects. In fact, we can call it deciding on needs. In this respect, it is a decision making technique.

Letting the experts to stay unknown and unidentifiable comes first among the unique features of the delphi technique. Thus, participants who are consulted for expert opinion can express their opinions clearly without any worries.

See also: 

Multicriteria Decision Making