We value your opinions

We value your opinions.

Those that want your money, those that want your vote. Those employers who want to better understand your needs.

Trouble is… there’s no value in distributing a survey. It’s TOO easy, TOO cheap. And so, rarely is much value placed in designing a survey. (HT @ballantine70 for this point).

Over and over, I see examples where the options limit your answer, stop you expressing your true opinion, or where the design forces you to quit … or tick a meaningless box. Or they just bore you to submission.

If the design is rubbish, you can be damn sure the output is rubbish.

Fewer people take part, those that do will drop out more. Those that persist give more rote, unconsidered, even absurd answers.

It’s got to be worth their time to take part, and to do so fully.

You might offer an incentive, or the promise of feedback and action.

But what if you can’t?

Then, your survey must sing.

It must be engagingly written, it must offer variety, ideally wit, it must pose intriguing, accessible questions.

Want people to give up five minutes of their time? Five! Know how many Tik Toks they can get through in that time? It simply has to offer them more – and in return you’ll get far better data, and far better insight.

(And, a great platform to explore more)

“Effectiveness” might be the language internal comms needs

I attend lots of IC events and get-togethers, “Measurement” is a regular topic.

IC pros recognise they need to get better.

It proves their worth, it gives their expertise a louder voice.

But. Next session; same topic.

I have to wonder whether the word – measurement – is a barrier.

Too high a bar? Too precise, too scientific, too hard?

People say “I’m hopeless at maths!” in a way they never say “I’m barely literate!” Is this at play?

So, I’m going to talk about Effectiveness.
a) Because no good professional is ever shies away from demonstrating they know their sh*t. It’s underlining the positives.
b) Because it wraps in the piecemeal, anecdotal and pre-work that happens already. Impromptu group to see if people get a message – that’s testing Effectiveness! Gauging response to the idea of Slack – that’s testing Effectiveness!
c) Because it’s not absolute – not black and white. There’s scale, with an acceptable range of success No-one pretends a condom is 100% effective – but lots are happy to use them!

Now, I DO want to set a very high bar. I want to prove your comms make your organisation more successful – but I also see the need for accessible entry points.

How can you test your #effectiveness today #internalcomms?