A survey is a fast, efficient way to hear from a large group of people.
It helps spot patterns, surface shared experiences, and highlight areas that need improvement. Surveys work best when questions are clear, simple, and easy to answer—using formats like checkboxes, rating scales, or short text. While they can’t capture everything, surveys are powerful for gathering board input and guiding smarter, more inclusive decisions.
Best Practices
Put easier questions first. People may drop off before reaching harder or more personal ones.
Make questions:
- Free of jargon
- Focused on one topic at a time
- Neutral and non-leading
- Specific and easy to understand
Save demographic questions for the end.
Basic Steps
1. Start with a brainstorm. List the key things you want to learn. Look for proven questions from past surveys or research.
2. Think about how you’ll use the answers. Choose question types (ratings, checkboxes, open-ended) that match your goals.
3. Keep it short. Focus on only the most important questions. Aim for under 10 minutes to improve response rates.
4. Choose the format. Decide if it will be digital or paper, anonymous or identified.
5. Test it. Ask a few people to take the survey and explain what they think each question means. Revise as needed.
6. Send it out. Share it through the right channels to reach your audience.
Benefits
- Reaches out to a lot of people quickly—across teams, regions, or the whole enterprise
- Tracks change over time to help monitor trends or shifts in experience
- Encourages honesty and more candid feedback through anonymity, especially on sensitive topics
- Supports inclusion and elevates a wide range of voices
Our Recommended Resources
Surveys are ideal when you need input from a broad group, especially to identify trends, measure change, or compare experiences. They’re useful when time or scale makes interviews or focus groups impractical and they can be good starting point for identifying deeper questions to explore later.