How To Use Online Survey To Collect Ideas From Your Teammates

Online polls and surveys are great ways in which you can gather ideas about anything. For instance, whether your employees are happy with the work culture or not, whether the customers like the products, whether improvement is required in the products/services, asking about the next blog topic from the avid blog readers and much more. You are already aware that online polls are very effective and efficient in gathering data or useful insights from your customers and clients, or employees. But can you implement the concept of online polls while getting ideas from your teammates? Can you use online surveys and polls to bring innovation in thinking?

Well, yes! This is the most simplified answer, but how it can be performed is a more important thing that needs proper understanding. 

How Online Polls Or Surveys Could Be Used For Collecting Ideas From The Teammates?

Surveys for teammates and employees are quite effective for various reasons. Some of the most common reasons are listed below.

• Through online surveys or polls, you get the answers or feedback at a faster rate and in the most efficient manner.
• Surveys/polls are effective in one-to-one meetings. It is helpful in gaining ideas from smart, but introverted teammates.
• The analysis of the survey results/feedback is a stress buster. You would feel an increase in productivity. 
• Surveys provide you with unbiased and honest answers to sensitive questions.
• Surveys/Polls are a fun way to get innovative ideas in a fun and entertaining way.

A. Use Surveys To Know What Each Team Member Is Thinking:

Most often it happens that the people who are vocal would convey their work and ideas, but some would shy away. That does not mean they do not have proper ideas. They are just unable to explain. With online polls/surveys, everyone can provide answers to the questions which would directly reach the team lead. It is an effective way of gaining ideas from the people who shy away from sharing ideas. 

B. Use The Online Survey/Poll To Get Vote For The Better Idea:

Sometimes it happens in the organization or company that the main team lead is facing a problem while deciding between the two good ideas to be implemented. To avoid confusion, you can make use of the online polls. With the polls, the ideas that get more votes would be implemented for the company. This would also seem fair to those whose ideas were not selected, as the poll verdict is a team decision.

C. Online Surveys/Polls Are Effective In Choosing The Topics To Be Discussed in Meeting:

Everyone would have shared their ideas with you, but not everyone’s idea would be having the actual content. Moreover, if there are more than 20 to 30 ideas, you cannot discuss them all in a single meeting. So you can take the votes of your teammates in selecting the best ideas shared to be discussed in the meeting. 

Here are some of the important tips that you can use while designing online surveys/polls and getting ideas from teammates.

#1 Do Not Try To Criticize Any Idea:

Criticism is something that no one likes, especially if done publicly. So when you are getting ideas from the teammates for future work or assignment, then share and let your teammates select the best idea for the meeting. 

#2 Don’t Ask Personal Questions Or Questions Irrelevant To The Work:

Whether it is regarding any teammate or regarding the organization’s sensitive information, make sure these questions are not included in the surveys. 

#3 Make Sure That The Surveys/Polls Are Fun & Interesting:

One of the most important things that you need to understand is that the surveys/polls you are conducting should not be boring. It should be engaging, so people would be encouraged to answer.

#4 Distribute Or Share Survey Results:

It is not enough only to get ideas from the teammates, you must also share the results with the team. This way the teammates have the trust that the options that they are choosing are being actually selected and used by the company. So you must share these survey results with all the teammates and increase the reliability of the online surveys/polls.

Summary:

You can make use of PollDeep for creating online polls/ surveys and designing them. You can use multiple templates and even customize them according to your preferences - use different colors, patterns, company logos, and various other things to improve the effectiveness of the online surveys.