All participants need to know you want their help, so it’s best to think of this as a project, beginning with a launch meeting.  What do you say?  Tell them the story about to unfold.  What will they experience, in what order, to create what result.  For example, “tomorrow you will all receive an email with a link to a survey; enter the password, and plan to spend 10 to 15 minutes.  The format is multiple choice.  One option is “don’t know”, since some of you: suppliers, customers, contractors, and channel partners, won’t know all the areas that employees do.  On each page, you have the option to add any comments if you wish. The results are anonymous.  If you choose, you can let Engaging ChangeTM know you may be contacted.  The summaries will be available to everyone, and we will use the information to guide our decisions for making this a more profitable company and a great place to work.  Please be honest; we can only learn from the data and improve if it’s accurate.  The survey will be closed at 5:00 PM on Friday.  It would be great if everyone participates, because we are all going to use the data to create our future.”

Build Trust

Remember, initially, trust is an issue. Leaders have both the ability to reward and punish. No matter how pure your intentions, some people will be cautious with their answers unless you safeguard their anonymity. The best way to do this is through a third party, like Engaging ChangeTM, who will conduct the survey and will conceal individual identities.  If you can have a representative on the phone or in person who is responsible for  gathering the data and publishing the summaries, all the better.  This gives people assurances that the third party is there to protect their anonymity, and the opportunity to ask specific questions. 

Be Light

Keep the meeting light.  It’s a good idea to joke about receiving terrible scores.  Since people are concerned that negative information will create hard feelings, your lightheartedness will model for others that nothing bad is going to happen, no matter what the scores reveal.  The survey is for learning what is great, and what is not-so-great.

Change Starts

Once you have gone public and release the survey boat from shore, the excitement begins. You will be amazed.  When companies solicit ideas from people and involve their observations and suggestions, good things begin to happen.  There are things that need to be changed, and hope for a more profitable and enjoyable future will build as you move further from shore.

Change begins as soon as minds ponder questions.

 

 

Keywords: Culture survey, change agent, business culture, change leadership, engaging change

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Michael Cushman, The Engaging Guru, wants you to master enrolling others in your truth, get the goodies of life, and change the world.  www.engagingchange.com