December Newsletter
Win an iPod and receive it in time for Christmas!
We are currently researching the area of Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) and would like to hear your opinions and experiences in a short on-line survey. In return we will enter you in a competition to win a very cool 1GB iPod shuffle, and for it to be in your hands, before Christmas. There's a catch though...if you've not done an SJT yet, now is your chance to try, an albeit festive, one. One of Santa's helpers has a tricky decision to make - what would you do? You have until 12 noon on Dec 19th to let us know.
Santa plc warns investors that Santa might not make it to every home before day break. Shares tumble 35%
Worries are growing that Santa can’t keep up with demand as inside sources say that he plans to change the way deliveries are made. ‘No fixed plans have been made and we want to know where the press got this information from’, a spokesperson for the firm said. More...
Best practice - making the case
Do you want to know the secrets to the success of those making the case for resources for projects? Are you sure that the project you’re planning or involved in has the right ingredients from the start? Life at work isn’t perfect but if something’s not in place now, do you know whether it will trip you up later?
Read an extract of our report for The Best Practice Club on the techniques used by senior change agents and find out their secrets.
Other news:
Web Site Resources
If you didn't make it to our site last month, here's a reminder of the resources that are available to you, with our compliments:
Change Management Health Check Tool
Communications Health Check Tool
Executive Briefing on Situational Judgement Tests
Santa plc report continues...
OK, not a great way to start the Xmas season, but if there were suspected problems in meeting expectations, then surely the first step would be to establish what real expectations exist and who holds them.
Does Santa conduct customer satisfaction surveys? Well, not that we’ve seen, but if we were to consider the matter for a moment, if might not be as daft an idea as it first sounds.
There are some practical considerations to make – firstly who the customer is – is it the child, or the parent or guardian? Well, they both are, but for different reasons and we might want to ask these different groups different questions and possibly in a different way. And who determines these questions: the reindeer, the elves, the parent? - you get the picture.
Similarly, how many in each group of parents or children should be asked and how much detail should we ask for. Do we want to ask them about what they ‘feel’ or ‘think’ about the here and now? Do we want to know what works well, or not so well, to inform us about where we might want to change things? Or, if we know what changes we have to make, should we be finding out what the impact might be?
In terms of timing, is now the time to ask opinions, or the time to get some data on current performance?
A survey may choose to consider most of these issues and this is of course a bit of fun, but wouldn’t you be surprised to receive a reply-paid card back from the North Pole asking some questions on a scale of 1 to 5!
Here are our seven key considerations for good survey design and execution.
1. Be purposeful to drive beyond the anecdote, worry or concern.
2. Be inclusive, so as not to miss issues or ideas.
3. Ensure confidentiality and integrity, so that you hear the truth.
4. Communicate, so that your intentions are understood and not misinterpreted.
5. Determine sample size and statistical analysis, so that you are ‘rigorous enough’.
6. Use a mix of qualitative and quantitative, because both have value.
7. Avoid pitfalls in question design such as leading, being vague, closed or creating a negative impression.
If we can help you develop and implement a survey in your business, do contact us. See also our pages on Employee and Customer surveys on our web site.