Welcome to part one of weeks three and four of the Capstone Project. Communicating change at the workplace needs to be managed carefully, as new procedures, practices or policies can be stressful and challenging as staff adopt new ways of doing things. As such, managing the effective communication of change is as important as managing change itself. It is because of the importance of handling change effectively that you now have to seek the views of at least two professionals on what are some good ways to communicate the area of change that you have identified? The main task is to design a short survey, or conduct a short interview, with the aim of getting two professional views, on what is, or are best ways to communicate change in your particular globalized workplace setting. At this point of the course, you will have decided on one of the following areas of change that needs to be communicated to colleagues. Changes in procedures, policies and practices. Changes in management lineup, changes in expectations and standards. So in weeks three and four, we will consider the following topics in relation to the Capstone project. Designing a good survey 1: Types of questions. Designing a good survey two: Content of survey questions. Designing a good survey three: Language, tone, and organisation. Designing and conducting an interview: Non-verbal behaviour. An email to request for help to complete a survey or for an interview, 1. An email to request for help to complete survey for an interview, 2. So let's start with a few reminders on how to design a good survey. The survey will consist of an orderly list of about 6 to 8 questions used to reflect what the respondents think about good ways to communicate changes at the workplace. And why they think in certain ways about these good practices. There are different types of survey questions, with different functions depending on the aims of the questions. They could be open-ended, dichotomous, multiple-choice, rating, or ranking. This is an example of an open-ended question. In your opinion, how can change be best communicated? This is an example of a dichotomous question, with a limited set of responses, usually with the two to three options provided, the e-mail is the best platform to communicate change to colleagues. Agree, Disagree, or No opinion? This is an example of a multiple choice question with an others options for the respondents suggestion. Tick the channels you would use to communicate change to colleagues. Water cooler talk, Mass email, during meetings, written note, and others. This is an example of a rated question which seeks a judgement of quality from the respondents. How do you rate the efficiency of the email as a platform to communicate change? Excellent, Good, Average, Fair, Poor. This is an example of ranking question that requires specific judgements on efficiency, ranking of different avenues. Rank the following channels of communicating change in order of efficiency. Five being the most efficient and one the least. Water cooler talk, Mass emails, Formal meetings, Written notes, Others. Open-ended questions are easy to design, but you may get a range of answers from the respondents. These general questions are good If you would like your respondents the space to bring out various ideas in their responses. On the other hand, dichotomous questions limit responses to a limited set. Perhaps to two or three options as those are the only options that are of interest to you. Multiple-choice questions provide some leeway between open-ended and dichotomous questions, as they allow a set of responses. Very often, such questions have in all this category, so that respondents may raise an option other than those listed. Rating and ranking questions fulfill the purpose of reflecting respondents judgement on the standing or status of a list of items, when they are compared relative to each other. Depending on the aims of the survey, a variety of questions is often used to draw out certain opinions from the respondents. In summary we have looked at five types of survey questions, and their various uses. Perhaps you can think about the aims of your survey, and also the number and types of questions, that will possibly be helpful to get the answers you need.
