Every person holds innumerable insights and opinions within them. Organizations stand to benefit big time if they can communicate with groups of people in such a way that participants feel compelled to offer up honest ideas and bits of feedback. But getting to that point is not as simple as it appears at first glance.
Why not? Well, first of all, humans are social creatures. Large-group dynamics affect individual choices and modes of expression. Furthermore, polling is a two-way conversation more than it is a one-way flow of information. If you’re in the position to poll a group, people are looking to you for cues on how to proceed. Even the seemingly most minute choices can contribute to the type and quality of feedback you receive on a given day. For instance, let’s say you’re surveying employees on their engagement level. The ramifications for skewed results could be steep; it’s highly important to capture how your workforce really feels about their jobs so you can make adjustments as necessary.
Consider these guidelines for effectively polling a group next time you’re tasked with doing so. After all, you may not get a second chance to elicit honest answers—making the initial Q&A session is paramount.
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Offer the Option of Anonymity
The best thing you can do to promote honest is to offer the option of anonymity in your polling process. Sure, some people will always be willing to stand behind their ideas publicly. But others will not, electing instead to say nothing. For presenters and leaders, the “show of hands” method is less than efficient, as is calling on individual volunteers.
Another benefit of anonymous polling using audience response technology, besides making people more comfortable, is improving response rates. This tactic allows you to garner anonymous feedback on the spot rather than relying on post-event means like an email survey. Higher response rates help ensure you’ve collected statistically valid, useful information from most—if not all—participants, which will aid in decision-making moving forward.
Consider Your Framing
The way you frame your questions has a huge impact on the answers you’ll receive. Understanding how to ask bias-free questions is key to eliciting honest, accurate feedback. Here are a few guidelines to consider as you craft your questions:
- Avoid “shaping” the conversation with yes-or-no questions; instead, leave questions open-ended.
- Avoid providing a finite number of concrete options when participants’ experience may fall outside of these choices; again, leave room for subjective answers.
- Avoid making assumptions about your audience, their experiences or their answers; instead, let participants share their perspective.
- Avoid combining multiple questions into one query; instead, let each question stand on its own for maximum impact and clarity.
Provide All Relevant Information
An effective survey provides participants with all the information they need to confidently answer its questions. By the time you’re polling your audience, there should be no head scratching or frustration. As one University of Wisconsin Survey Fundamentals guide notes, “An effective survey question provides the respondent with a context for the question by announcing the topic and defining the timeframe for events or behaviors that are to be included in the response.”
Asking respondents to make assumptions is a risky proposition that could skew results. When in doubt, always provide more than enough context for people to answer confidently. If you’re asking for feedback on a specific corporate event, training session or meeting, explicitly state these parameters up front.
The primary guidelines for effectively polling a group are: clarity, bias-free questions, plentiful context and anonymity when appropriate.
About Carson Derrow
