Agile Employee Survey Methods (1): Anne M. Schüller introduces a series of quick, open, and agile survey tools. Today: The Question of Conscience.
Fast, open, agile employee survey methods are needed to explore the highs and lows of internal collaboration, to get to the bottom of any tensions in a timely manner and to quickly set optimization initiatives in motion. The question of conscience is one of them.
Employee surveys can not only capture moods and measure motivation, but can also be used to involve employees in shaping company processes. As “internal management consultants”, they can contribute valuable ideas and provide decisive impetus for improvement. A sense of responsibility and acceptance for implementation measures develop almost automatically.
However, before new procedures, processes and solutions can be implemented, it is necessary to declutter, quickly dispose of outdated methods and relentlessly get rid of obstacles. The main thrust is therefore always this:
What do we no longer want to do, so what needs to go in order to create time and space for progress?
Only then does the question arise:
What needs to be done in a different and better way so that we don’t miss the boat and move quickly into the future?
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In addition to internal blockades, everything that irritates the company’s customers must be cleared away. Unconventional, bold, wild, smart and surprising ideas are also needed in order to be attractive both as an employer and as a provider on the market. And we need many such ideas. Because only those who roll a lot of dice will end up rolling sixes. The best way to do this is to use the “wisdom of crowds” and integrate every helpful idea, no matter where it comes from.
Inventive employee surveys have a lot of potential
However, employees will only share their thoughts if they believe that they will be appreciated. Involvement activities can therefore only bear rich fruit where there is the right breeding ground:
permission to disagree,
a generous sharing of good ideas,
an open-ended learning culture and
freedom to experiment.
Give people room to maneuver and they will amaze you. In positive amazement! We don’t want to be changed, we want to change. Voluntariness is the most important ingredient for drive and change. Then we don’t do something because we have to, but because we really want to.
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And the end result is the “my baby effect”: we no longer abandon what we have created ourselves. This not only generates a feeling of strong solidarity for the common cause, but also the valuable ambassador effect: you talk to many people about it and at the same time try to convince those who think differently of the necessity of the measures you have found.
How the question of conscience is implemented
One of the most productive agile employee survey methods in this context is the “question of conscience”, which goes like this:
Imagine you were our corporate conscience. What would you tell us? What is going great? What could we do better in concrete terms? And what do we need to change as quickly as possible?
If the question of conscience is asked in writing, you can draw a fictitious person with an angel and a devil sitting on their right and left shoulder. This makes things even more emotional – and also draws attention to positive aspects.
Important: Give plenty of space to fill in. Unvarnished answers can reveal a lot of things you’ve always wanted to know. Perhaps the superiors will finally find out what everyone but them already knows due to rumors and what the real reasons for persistent problems are. This is as precious as gold, because only those who know the real causes can take the right corrective steps.
If the corporate culture is poor and trust is low, then such a survey should be carried out anonymously under all circumstances. The questionnaire can be completed on the computer and then printed out and submitted so that the individual employee cannot be recognized by their handwriting.
How to deal with the results
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Following such a survey, suitable suggestions for improvement are worked out by the employees themselves and implemented immediately afterwards. This is never about wallowing in grievances and looking for scapegoats, but always about how any shortcomings can be quickly and constructively eliminated. This can be illustrated using a task board, for example:
Findings and diagnosis today
Where we want to be tomorrow
How we get there together
It is crucial to talk about problems openly and objectively and to look for solutions together instead of having them imposed “from above”. Productively processing the results of questions of conscience also offers valuable approaches for the self-reflection of each individual and the self-therapy of a team.
The following questions should also be discussed:
What happens if nothing (continues to) happen?
What has prevented me/us from doing what is necessary?
Only when the real causes of blockages to action are revealed can something be done about them. There is often a tendency, particularly among managers, to gloss over their own performance or to see it in too positive a light. In the context of our new working world, however, it is essential to shine a bright light on weak points, as every “dislike” can become public.
It makes sense to give the process a resonant name so that the elimination of underperformance can be tackled in a targeted manner and seen as a challenge. Leadership expert Heike Bruch suggests the following: “Defeating the dragon” or “Getting the princess off the ice”.
Anne M. Schüller is a management thinker, keynote speaker, award-winning bestselling author and business coach. The business graduate is considered a leading expert in touchpoint management and customer-focused corporate management. She gives keynote speeches on these topics at conferences, trade conventions and online events. In 2015, she was inducted into the German Speakers Association Hall of Fame for her life's work. She was named Top Voice 2017 and 2018 by the business network Linkedin. Xing named her Top Writer 2018 and Top Mind 2020. Her Touchpoint Institute trains certified Touchpoint Managers and certified Orbit Organizational Developers.
