5 Tips for Creating Effective Staff Surveys
Creating staff surveys is a great way to collect information from those you lead. Honest answers provide specifics that can be used when making decisions that affect them. However, many challenges exist when it comes to the creation of the survey and the collection of the information. Sometimes the surveys come too often or are too broad in scope. Other times, busy staff never fill it out. Having a survey that does not provide helpful information should be avoided. This post will outline 5 tips to create effective staff surveys.
Know Your Purpose
Define the goal of the survey. In order to get the information you are seeking, you have to be clear on what the survey is about. Every question should be aligned to that single purpose. If not, it belongs in a different survey. Examples of purpose could be to seek feedback on one particular thing ( curriculum implementation, coaching cycles, staff duties, etc.), or to gather intel so that you can make an informed decision (upcoming schoolwide event, staff requirements, climate check, etc.).
Ask the Right Questions
Use clear, focused, and actionable questions to get useful insights. If your questions are too open-ended, you’ll receive answers that are all over the place. Just like your survey needs one clear purpose, your questions need to be clear as well. Reread your questions to ensure they do not lead the survey taker to respond in a particular way because you want to collect unbiased information. For example, instead of saying “what are your thoughts on our new curriculum?,” you could say, “What are 2 ways the new curriculum has made lesson planning easier?” Asking the right questions, ensure the answers given can be used to make the type of decision you intended when creating the survey.
Keep It Short & Anonymous
Respect staff time and encourage honest responses. If you want quality of information, prioritize your questions and limit the length of the survey. Decide what your most important questions will be and reserve the others for a later date. Staff have limited time to read and respond to emails, let alone surveys, so keeping it short will encourage more staff to complete it. If you allow staff to answer anonymously if they wish, then you get more honest responses due to a lack of negative consequences for sharing their thoughts. This makes it hard to follow up with data outliers but looking for trends from the responses should be the goal here.
Follow Up on Findings
Communicate results and how feedback will be used to drive change. Remember not to ask for feedback unless you intend to do something with it. This encourages staff to take time to be thoughtful in their responses knowing you will be using the information to make adjustments. Following up reveals your dedication to finding favorable solutions to common problems as well as creating opportunities of interest for staff. Transparency in the use of the data collected builds a sense of community and holds everyone to a higher standard.
Make It a Two-Way Conversation
Offer opportunities for discussion or clarification after survey results are shared. Once the data is in, engaging in open dialogue ensure additional details are shared and more questions can be asked. This is now the appropriate time to ask questions you kept off of the survey that were related but would have made the survey too arduous. This continues to build on the safe space you created while allowing staff to feel their opinions are valued and heard. Offer to continue the conversation by other means (ie. email, appointment, future surveys) if staff desires.
Next Steps & Resources
Follow the tips provided in this blog post to create a staff survey. Continue to make improvements and adjustments with future surveys to ensure they provide the information you desire to make quality decisions that impact your staff.
If you are in need of survey resources, items for teachers and leaders are below:
- Surveys for teachers:
- Surveys for leaders:
If you need more resources to help you become an even stronger teacher or coach, browse these printable and digital options. Check out other helpful blog posts here. Be sure to also check out my latest book, Always A Lesson: Teacher Essentials for Classroom and Career Success.
GO BE GREAT!
About the author, Gretchen
I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.
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