Feedback Deep Dives are opportunities to examine a specific feedback topic in-depth. These sessions are facilitated by an experienced feedback practitioner who helps participants delve into a portion of the feedback loop. Throughout the session, participants learn feedback tips and good practices, examine relevant case studies, learn from their peers’ feedback journeys, and receive coaching from feedback trainers.
Survey Development & Asking the Right Questions
In our latest Deep Dive on “Survey Development and Asking the Right Questions,” participants in the T. Rowe Price Foundation’s capacity strengthening program explored how to craft an effective and compelling survey. Participants learned to:
- Create surveys that clients want to answer by highlighting changes that have already been made from feedback loops, introducing the feedback purpose and process, building trust through confidentiality, and keeping surveys short and sweet.
- Focus on actionable questions by keeping the goal in mind, planning the analysis from the beginning, and co-creating and/or testing survey questions with constituents in advance.
- Craft appropriate and relevant demographic questions to surface different experiences.
- Close the loop after administering a survey by reporting back to constituents what was heard and how the organization will act.
Feedback Tools
In addition to considering what to ask in their surveys, Deep Dive participants spent time exploring feedback survey tools in the Feedback Labs Tools Repository. They also crowdsourced a list of survey tools they already use, including Google Forms, Qualtrics, QuestionPro, and Formstack.
Rich Discussion
We wrapped up the session with a rich discussion based on Deep Dive participants’ questions, including:
- When is the best time to send out surveys? Should one send surveys right at the end of a program or should they wait a couple of months?
- How do we decide which collection method is the most appropriate for our community? How can one know whether phone surveys, online surveys, or SMS’, would be a better fit for their community?
- Is it better to send multiple smaller surveys or fewer larger surveys? Should one send 2-3 question surveys at regular intervals throughout the year, or is it preferable to send just one comprehensive survey once a year?
- How do we approach impact questions when creating a client perspective survey? While attempting to gain an understanding of clients’ perceptions on programs and services provided by an organization is it appropriate to also try and measure impact?
The Feedback Deep Dive on “Survey Development and Asking the Right Questions” helped emerging feedback champions in the T. Rowe Price Foundation’s community sharpen their ability to collect perceptual data about their programs or services from their clients to improve their organizations’ work.
Learn more about Feedback Deep Dives
If you are interested in hosting a Feedback Deep Dive for your community, email us at [email protected] to discuss your particular needs within the feedback loop and the topics that would be most relevant to your organization and/or grantees.
