Getting the best from research: Surveys

I’ve blogged recently about focus groups and interviews. The other most used research method of mine is surveys. And they’ve been keeping me very busy over the last few weeks. The design, the build (with no little help from Survey Monkey) and, most of all, the reporting and analysis.

The great advantage of a survey is to quickly get the opinions of as many people as possible. Unless you’re planning a schedule of pop-up surveys, this is your one chance for the maximum information. But get tempted to ask too much and your recipients switch off. Unless they’re 100% convinced that they’ll see action off the back of your survey – and who can guarantee that? – too long or too complex a survey will see them answering without due consideration, not expanding on answers, or simply abandoning.

So, what’s to do? Well the best place to start is at the end.

If you know what you really, really want to get out of the survey, then you can focus on that, and start to be brutal about what you cut. Yes, you can get still get plenty of other information out too. And some clever question and page design can improve the flow and how long the survey feels. 

And that focus will help in the analysis. Even with just a handful of questions with a few options each, there’s already a lot (tell me if the maths is too complex…) of ways you could cut that data. The other temptation is to start asking “How did female middle managers who replied on a Wednesday compare?” It’s unlikely that that’s where the big story is. If there is another big story, and your analyst is worth their salt, they’ll find it.

A couple more points:

• Free-response questions. Some of the big employee surveys include a couple, and then provide no analysis on them. Crackers. That’s where the context is. Throw in the questions, be careful about whether you require people to answer them, then get them analysed.
• Following up: Of course, you can’t interrogate people’s answer in a survey. So get their permission to follow up, to perhaps come to focus group, be interviewed or have a handful of more precise questions put to them.

Then you’ll get genuinely valuable insight, and not just a benchmark. Of which more soon…

First Year Review

I’ve been out on my own for just over a year now. I missed the precise anniversary. But then I recently managed to miss the precise 10-year anniversary of meeting Rachel, so I’ve got form here…

As I reflect on what I’ve done and learned, what tops the list is that I’ve become a far better at business than I was. That’s manifested itself in lots of ways:

·         Business development is an obvious one. I’ve got two A4 pages of my potential and current clients, when and what I last spoke to them about, stuck right in front of my face. I can’t miss it; there’s no excuse not to pick up the phone. And it’s the current clients that are really important. Without a bit of love and nudging, they quickly become ex-clients.

·         New skills is another. Often a particular project will force me to get better at some aspect of research: of the design, the analysis, the reporting. But in my down-time (and there is some…) I’m actively looking for things that I’ll need to learn to make the next project easier to deliver and give a better result.

·         New offers too. So far what I can do and add to my clients’ capabilities has synched well. But it can be added to. I have some plans - watch this space!

·         Showing my value is vital. I developed some values for myself and giving extra value to clients is central to them. It’s about things they don’t expect and offering new ideas. It’s (hopefully) not about just doing the job, but doing it well enough to give them a reason to return. It’s also important for…

·         Justifying my time. There has to be some give and take. And I’ll have preliminary discussions or draft a proposal with anyone, anytime. But once we’re signed-off and working together, I won’t be timid about scoping and then charging all my time. Then I’ll absorb a little overrun, but once we’re into a substantial new piece of work, it’s the same process.

·         Being up for it is also written into my values. I want clarity on what I’m doing, but never at the expense of actually getting on with a project.

·         And last of all getting paid. I thought this might be harder than it’s actually been. But with all the above in place, and with a willingness to engage accounts depts and to ask the questions like “Are you sure I don’t need a PO number?” – it kinda falls into place.

Now, what all of these have in common is that previously I would have told you I was too busy to do them all consistently. Now, as I continue, if I expand, or if I ever take a salary again, I’ll be far more focused on making sure I’m busy at all of the above. It’s good business.