General overview of how to implement it

The development of the Delphi technique is based on conducting a series of surveys/questionnaires on the same issue or problem over time, which may take a few hours or even a few months, depending on the objectives and scope of the study.

Before conducting a Delphi process, it is necessary to bear in mind that this method is based on three fundamental principles:

• the anonymity of the participants;
• repetitiveness and controlled feedback;
• group response in statistical form.

In addition, a number of preliminary tasks should be carried out before starting a Delphi technique:

• Delimiting the context and the time horizon in which the forecast on the topic under study is to be carried out.
• Choose a group of experts and secure their agreement to collaborate. The individuals chosen should not only be highly knowledgeable about the subject of the study, but they should also represent a range of perspectives. This plurality should avoid the appearance of bias in the group’s information..
• Explain to the experts how the method works. The goal is to obtain reliable forecasts because the experts will always know what the goal of each of the processes required by the methodology is.

In any case, there should be at least two rounds of questioning among the experts or participants involved. In general, three phases are recommended, but even more can be held. In between each phase, a report or summary will need to be drafted, summarising the main conclusions drawn from each phase. In a nutshell, after being informed of the results of the 1st round, the participants are invited to provide new answers and justify them if they believe there is a significant degree of divergence with respect to the group consensus in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round, each expert will be asked to share his/her thoughts again on the arguments of the counter proposal or proposals differentiated from the group consensus.

It is therefore possible to summarise the process as follows: