Your need
Our starting point is understanding your research or communication requirement. What is it you want to understand about your organisation and why? Do you want to examine a specific issue or put tools and processes in place which support an ongoing dialogue with your people? Do you need benchmarks against which you can measure progress or simply a one-off snapshot of the state of the organisation now?
Through conversations with senior leaders and key stakeholders we challenge and refine your requirement. We also begin to explore some of the issues - the appropriate methodology, tools, communication strategy and so on - which will be key to any project's success.
Jump back
Content
The questions asked are key to any project - whether quantitative or qualitative. Pulse Check can draw on a vast bank of tried and tested questions covering a wide range of topics; however, we strongly believe that questions must be asked using the language of your organisation, and so we recommend that content is developed and refined through a process of iteration and testing with user groups.
In addition to this organisational validation Pulse Check are able to provide 3rd party, technical validation. By utilising our independent panels we get the data we need to establish the statistical ‘reliability’ of the questions we ask. Pulse Check can provide panels of any size and any demographic character required.
Jump back
Dimensions
This stage of the development process involves defining the dimensions in terms of which data can be analysed. As such it is a critical piece of the development process. The starting point is simply imagining all the different ways in which you might want to look at data e.g. Function, Region, Role etc … For survey work, the end is designing a sign in process, and sign in logic, that will deliver the dimensions you need – whether through a self-selecting sign-in process or through integration with your existing HR systems.
Jump back
Logic
In survey work, a function of sign-in fields is that they can be used to push different questions to different audiences depending on how the user signs in. For example, dependent on the outcome of the content design phase you may wish to ask different questions of different parts of the organisation.
Any number of forms of logic - question piping, skip logic, survey sets - can be applied to the survey itself.
Jump back
Communication
The research context - whether the instrument is a web-based survey or a series of focus groups - must be communicated effectively in order for the process to work. As such, a key part of the design phase is designing a communication strategy which supports the research.
For surveys, part of this communication piece is the look and feel of the tool itself. A survey tool – although primarily designed to gather information – is also conveying a message to those who use it. As such it is important that the tool has a look and feel which conveys the right message to those people . At the top level, the design process will focus on usability, alignment with existing branding and interactivity. However, beyond these key elements we consider the character of the experience you want users to have.
Jump back
Feedback
Feeding back data (and the interpretation of data) to those who take part in the research process is vital. Without a strategy for doing this the research can becomes a source of cynicism rather than a living part of an engaged organisation. This is a separate issue to the presentation of metrics and analysis to the executive board or various management groups. It is about people feeling that their views count and we need to consider the different communication channels you have at your disposal in order to make this happen.
Jump back
Organisation Process
Do you have the processes, systems and personnel in place to facilitate both the project itself (design, comms, engagement strategy) and its outputs (reports, presentations, action planning)? It’s vital to factor in these requirements at the beginning of the project and Pulse Check can draw on our extensive experience of the organisational issues arising from such projects to get this right from the start.
Jump back
Web-based
On completion of the design phase our web-based solutions – including setting up extranet links and any required security - can go live in a matter of days.
Pulse Check’s web-based survey solutions are flexible, scaleable and secure. Because everything is hosted by us there are no IT overheads for you. Our platform can support any required language - from Hebrew to Korean. We can implement any required level of security and are happy to undergo penetration testing if required. Our web-based solutions are compatible with all the main browsers and meet UK accessibility standards.
Jump back
Paper-based
As well as web-based surveys Pulse Check provide a full paper-based survey service – from design and printing of forms, through distribution and collection, to scanning and data formatting.
Jump back
Interview
Pulse Check use in-depth interviews in a wide variety of situations: When discussing a sensitive subject; when looking for detailed explanations of behaviour; when interviewing high status respondents or professionals with particular expertise (to avoid problems of posturing, deference or confidentiality); and when overcoming the logistical problems inherent in convening certain audiences in the same place at the same time.
However, outside this prescribed set of circumstances, Pulse Check always consider whether interviews add potential dimensions to a project as part of a mixed methodology.
Jump back
Focus group
Focus groups allow interviewers to study people in a more natural setting than a one-to-one interview. In combination with participant observation, they can be used for gaining access to specific groups and addressing issues particular to them.
Pulse Check use focus groups to discover attitudes and opinions; explore how people think and the language they spontaneously use; identify differences in two or more groups' perspectives; learn the bases for beliefs, preferences and priorities; or simply to generate the information needed to design a robust quantitative study.
Jump back
Quantitative
Pulse Check's reporting and analysis tools allow client's themselves to analyse data and build reports both in real-time and on a survey's completion.
However, in addition to these tools, Pulse Check use statistical analysis - structural equation modelling, factor analysis, regression analysis, cluster analysis, and key driver analysis - to refine survey data into actionable intelligence.
Jump back
Qualitative
Effective qualitative analysis is notoriously difficult but Pulse Check follow a rigorous approach both to data collection and analysis. Key stages include:
- The identification of patterns;
- Working out the limitations, exceptions and variations present in whatever is being investigated
- Generating tentative explanations for the patterns and seeing if they are present or absent in other settings or situations;
- Working explanations into a theoretical model.
Presentations and reports represent the culmination of a project and we ensure that all deliverables are of exceptional standard; providing the same clear, actionable recommendations we bring to our quantitative projects.
Jump back
Reporting
Password protected online reports, available from launch through your own client account, let you analyse data in real-time.
A proprietary offline application allows you to conduct multi-dimensional analysis of your data and to build reports in PowerPoint, Excel or Word.
Pulse Check can also build bespoke reports and presentations for specific groups within your organisation and deliver them in a variety of formats: digital dashboards, workshops, presentations, and micro-sites.
Jump back
Leadership
The final stage is validation – both with leaders and project stakeholders. Given the project goal, did it deliver the insight required? Did we ask the right questions? Did we factor in all required organisational dimensions? Does the data make sense in terms of what we already understand about the organisation? Validation provides a critical sense test before an action planning process can begin.
Jump back
Stakeholders
The validation process must also include key project stakeholders. Again, the key question is, does the data make sense in terms of what these constituencies already understand about the organisation as they experience it? However, here, another important question is the extent to which the perspective of these specific constituencies is in conflict with that of other constituencies and what this might mean for the organisation.
Jump back