Although the value of surveys cannot be denied, and the stakeholders’ feedback, in general, is so valuable in
improving the service they receive; I am in the habit of volunteering very little time for filling-in
surveys!!
Simply for many reasons about the survey itself:
- -
Not my business.
It is not directly contributing to my own business objectives,
only indirectly through the service I receive from that service provider.
- - Accountability.
In all ways, the service provider is accountable to deliver the
service of highest quality based on its experience with its business, not based
on the experience I transfer to it.
- - Prioritization.
My feedback as an end user to a service provider is voluntary,
not explicitly a measured output for my day work, so it is with low priority
unless there is a specific reason to change that.
- - Time.
It is time consuming, filling the survey is a commitment, which
consumes time in context switching from other day activities into opening the
survey tool, and reflecting on my past experience to fill-in the answers
appropriately. It is not very accurate, in reality, to measure that by the few
minutes consumed in checking the radio buttons.
- - Fun.
it is boring; it usually lacks any fun. Especially those typical direct expected questions
like “Rate your satisfaction with that specific service in the scale A-D”, “Do
you think we are doing good in delivering our service A?”
What I would suggest is to
vary the tools to obtain the same desired output.
For example:
- - Feedback can be much more diverse and innovative
through focus groups.
- - Highest reliability can be achieved through direct
interviews with staff, where the input is based on real stories.
- - Much more engagement can be achieved through
introducing gamification into the process.
- - Improving the effectiveness of a specific tool might
be reached through combining two tools together, such as focus groups and
targeted surveys.
