What is the Crawford Slip Writing Method?

The Crawford Slip Writing Method helps project managers quickly collect ideas and feedback from team members—particularly those who are uncomfortable sharing ideas openly.

This method was developed by Dr. C.C. Crawford, a Professor of Education at the University of Southern California (USA), in 1920. In this method, he distributed paper slips and collected input from the team members.

This survey tool uses brainstorming to collect knowledge from team members, giving them equal weight and providing a sense of involvement.

You can easily gather ideas from large gatherings of people (up to 5,000 people, though easier for  50–200). It is a form of brainwriting, and for small groups, it reduces to a simple “private idea generation” phase.

What is the Crawford Slip Writing Method?

Crawford’s Slip Writing Method is an ideas collection technique where you can distribute paper slips to attendees to collect the ideas. These days, people use sticky notes instead of paper slips.

This brainstorming technique motivates attendees and allows them to feel valued and involved, so they provide honest feedback with no interruption.

This technique can collect responses anonymously, and people can share their thoughts freely, something not possible in open discussion. Also, many who are not outspoken or shy about speaking in an open platform can provide their input without hesitation.

This method levels the playing field for all attendees.

Note that the Crawford Slip Writing Method only helps collect ideas. Other techniques (e.g., the Modified Borda Count Technique, the Delphi Technique, etc.) are used to analyze these ideas or reach a consensus.

Using the Crawford Slip Writing Method

• Develop the Plan: Develop a plan to explain the problem and collect feedback. Keep enough sticky notes for distribution. Consider distributing 5-10 slips per participant and ask them to provide at least five ideas.

• Start the Task: Brief the attendees on the task, problem, and process, then distribute slips. Explain how you will use their feedback. Instruct them to write one idea per paper slip, give them enough time to do so, and then collect the sticky notes for your review.

• Analyze the Collected Ideas: After collecting the ideas, analyze each one and discard the duplicates. Afterward, logically categorize them for further analysis.

Experts analyze the ideas immediately after the session and refine them to reach a consensus.

However, doing so will nullify the key benefit of the Crawford Slip Writing Method, which allows all attendees to share ideas easily. In an open discussion, aggressive team members can dominate the session and ignore useful opinions in their favor.

Pros of the Crawford Slip Writing Method

• Simple and easy to implement
• Provides many ideas quickly
• Allows for quick adjustments and changes
• Useful for getting ideas from a large group of people
• Encourages free and fair collaboration
• Effective for dynamic or rapidly changing requirements

Cons of the Crawford Slip Writing Method

• Limited scalability
• Not suitable for larger or more complex issues
• Lack of formal documentation and planning

Summary

Crawford’s Slip Writing Method is a simple yet effective type of brainstorming method to collect ideas from all attendees. Various professionals use it in all industries and sectors to collect people’s thoughts quickly. After collecting the ideas, analysts can analyze them and discuss them further to reach any conclusion.

Reference

Crawford, C., Demidovitch, J., & Krone, R.M. (1984). Productivity Improvements by the Crawford Slip Writing Method: How to Write, Publish, Instruct, Supervise, and Manage for Better Job Performance. School of Public Administration, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA).