Corporate Pitfalls when adopting Survey Software
November 10th, 2006One of the biggest challenges I've seen corporations face as they have begun to adopt survey software is the time to implementation. Beyond learning the survey software system, of which the majority really do have a steep learning curve, is actually adjusting to the new responsibilities in the organization. Whether the corporation has chosen to deploy the software to all employees or a select few, the following items need to be kept in the back of your mind:
- Who will be the administrator — currently a lot of corporations have a department using various platforms
- Reporting procedures and processes will change
- You may have to involve the IT department more than you wish
- The politics of another department competing for a different survey software
- How does the survey software let me control and administer survey privileges to maintain HIPAA compliance–let's face it, if you can comply with HIPAA you can comply with any HR security issues.
Even that list is not fully exhaustive. When an organization is capable of effectively bringing in online survey software to their corporation, they should expect it to take about 1 to 3 months and increase their ability to gather information and give them a very adequate ROI within about 2 months. Ideally, it should be working like a well oiled machine after 6 to 9 months.
When used correctly, every organization I have dealt with has been able to see an ROI very quickly.
Just like any change project in an organization it is essential to map out the political and social changes that will occur in an organization. The most effective way to make a change project succeed is openness from the very beginning. Incorporating survey software into your organization will create changes that threaten individual and will create new political battles. As cool as it is, get ready for a wonderful ride when incorporating survey software in your organization!!