Research
Advice and guidance about surveying internally
Many of us are not professional researchers, yet from time to time we need to gauge peoples’ opinions, or feelings about an issue. Here are some useful points that we’ve picked up over the years.
What a survey can do and what it can’t
An online survey will not replace getting people together and discussing things with them. The latter is the best way to get in-depth information about peoples’ views. But that’s not always easy to do in the short term; an online survey gets you started.
Don’t try to make it perfect
The 80:20 rule - doing something that is pretty much OK for the job, is far more productive than thinking and re–thinking forever. This is especially pertinent in two common situations:
Try to keep it brief
When you start designing a survey, it’s many peoples’ experience that more and more ideas occur and you strive to make it ever more comprehensive. The end result can be so time consuming for people to complete, that in practice few ever do. We can advise you how long is too long!
Get a committee to decide the objectives, not the questions!
If you want a super-scientific, statistically valid survey, get professional market researchers to design it for you. That’s not us, by the way, though we do know some that could help you. If you have too many people trying to design it, you’ll usually get something nobody wants. The best way – get all stakeholders to thoroughly agree what you’re trying to achieve. Then give one or two people the accountability – then talk to us.