What needs to be asked so that you can take action afterwards?
2. Keep your survey focused.
Focus on only 1-2 key topics of interest per survey.
Questions at the beginning of the survey should be general, getting narrower with each question.
3. Keep your survey short.
Make a survey that can be completed in less than 2 or 3 minutes.
A pulse survey often has no more than 10–12 questions.
4. Keep your survey simple.
Avoid longer words; short words are easier to read and are less mentally taxing on your survey-takers.
Use words that have a clear meaning rather than words that could be interpreted in multiple ways.
Avoid technical jargon; use everyday language.
Keep your survey questions short.
Avoid negative words, such as “not,” “can’t,” or “don’t”
PRO-TIP: Include only one thoughtper question; avoid having multiple ideas in one question, which is often the case when words like “and” or “or” are used.
5. Aim for rich, meaningful data.
If you want to ask a yes/no question, consider if a yes/no item actually makes the most sense for what you're trying to understand about your employees' experiences.
If you’ve just written a rather long question, ask yourself: can it be split into two or more questions?
If you want feedback about a past event, how long has it been since that event occurred?
If you want feedback about an upcoming event, how much time will you have to process and act on survey results?
6. Make sure the response options make sense.
The same number of response options should be used for all items of the same kind, such as all multiple-choice questions listing 5, 6, or 7 points.
Strike a balance with the number of response options a question has. This is why 4- to 7-point response scales are so popular; there are enough options to be specific, but not so many that the difference between one response option to the next is meaningless.
For questions that involve choosing one option from a list, include an “other” option that respondents can then fill in.
Include an “out” response options when appropriate. These response options are generally “I don’t know” and some form of non-applicability, like “n/a,” “not applicable,” or “This doesn’t apply to me.”
Make sure response options don’t overlap. For example, if respondents are asked how many hours they worked on a certain project, and the response options are “1 – 5 hours,” “5 – 10 hours,” “10 – 15 hours,” and “15 or more hours,” then respondents who worked exactly 5, 10, or 15 hours can choose two options – with both options technically being true.
7. Walk away for a day.
After you create a survey, set it aside for a while.
Take time for a final read-through and editing process before sending the survey to respondents.
