Surveys are a necessary evil.
As it stands there probably isn’t a better way to get market intel, but bloody hell don’t we have enough to be dealing with without another form to fill in – however pithy the request.
We are knee deep in this subject at the moment because we have been working with a partner to try and understand the requirements members have around staff training & development.
It’s a genuine request because it will shape how we budget for the miacademy into the new financial year, and what that curriculum will look like. The problem is that even after you accept the fact that the sheer action of asking for help is an imposition, you are faced with a secondary challenge about what the survey looks like.
Short & snappy with just a few questions will get a much better response rate, let’s face it its much easier when you can say ‘just 30 seconds of your time’ please. The downside is that for this particular survey that just wasn’t going to cut it in terms of the information we needed to allow us to get genuine value from the responses.
What that means is that when we finalised on the format of our current survey it required a little more application, and time, to complete. And at this stage I act as the test sample and attest top the fact that when I completed it, it was fifteen minutes of my life I am just not going to get back.
So (I hear you thinking) why should I bother?
Well, not only do we really appreciate hearing from you, but we will be using this data to help plan the next phase of the miacademy project. We think we know what direction to go in, but in reality we don’t know what we don’t know and this feedback is absolute gold.
And finally this piece isn’t an exercise in chivvying you along a bit. The response from members so far has been above average for these sorts of requests according to our partner. The reason we made the decision to keep the survey open was because the take up was so strong, and we wanted to ride that wave for a little longer and get a little more insight.
Right, that’s the pitch over. If you are a member and haven’t completed the survey yet, and you think you can spare fifteen minutes, then please check your inbox or contact Alice for more details. You will be making a difference, you will be shaping the output of the association, and we really do appreciate it.
