SURVEY DATA DURESS

[Doha]

The entire purpose of devoting resources to launch a survey program is to use the resulting data to guide your organization and make informed decisions— decisions that aren't based on conjecture, but facts. Because this kind of deliberate decision making is rooted in data, it's more likely to positively affect your bottom line. So before you start drowning in data, grab our lifeline.

First up, let's cover the two most common reasons why survey data analysis gets stalled before it can turn into smart decision making and meaningful action.

1. CONFUSING REPORTING: Whether you're trying to measure customer satisfaction, track employee engagement or view the test scores of your trainees, one thing is clear: your survey data must be easy to understand. That sounds easy enough, right? Not necessarily. Data in the aggregate is overwhelming, making it difficult to pull out important trends and performance metrics. Even when data is displayed in charts or graphs, your understanding can still be muddied by the following:

•  poor graphics 
•  limited time frames
•  outdated results
•  extra, irrelevant information

For example, if you notice customer satisfaction dipped in December, you need to conduct a historical analysis to see if it's part of a downward trend, or just an irregularity. Furthermore, once you notice the drop, you have to keep a close eye on satisfaction, and monitor it in real time to make sure it doesn't continue to plunge. 
Now imagine doing this by running separate reports for each month and trying to make comparisons by inputting the data into an excel spreadsheet. Long processes that involve different systems and manual data entry are time consuming and filled  with opportunities to miss something important.

2. LACK OF DATA DISTRIBUTION:  The scope of successful survey programs usually requires the involvement of multiple departments and management levels within an organization. Not only do you need buy-in from the people who are directly tasked with designing and sending the survey, you have get the support of the people who have the power to make changes based on what the feedback reveals. That means the big bosses.
For example, if your organization's HR department is interested  in how a new policy influenced employees, multiple people  need access to the final survey results. In addition to stakeholders from the HR department, senior leaders will need to see reports, so they can determine whether or not they need to change or modify the policy.

This becomes complicated if one person or a department has to serve as a middleman between C-suite executives and the survey program managers. Emailing reports or trying to verbally relay information isn't nearly as efficient or compelling as allowing everyone to log in and see what they need to  firsthand. Oftentimes, the right reports aren't distributed to  the right people because wires  get crossed or it becomes too time consuming.

Source: Inquisium