Susan Walker, a specialist in communication evaluation and measurement, says that effective measurement has two essential steps: getting the basics right and developing a strategic approach. She talked about how you can measure your communication and how this can help you achieve your communication or organisational goals.
 Susan said that successful measurement involved five key steps:
1. Have clear and achievable objectives
2. Involve your colleagues
3. Build on a firm foundation
4. Tell the story – get below the figures
5. Identify clear action points
She said that in a survey the figures are one thing, but dig deeper and you will find “a true story of the company”.
Susan added: “Start with asking 'what action do we want?' If I was presenting the results what would I want in those results? Once you have that work back to how you are going to get it.”
Susan says you should measure the three Ms.
- Media – what channels are you using?
- Messages – what are you sending out and getting back?
- Meaning – what does it mean to people?
She said that there is a common theme for successful companies and it stems from three things:
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Personal involvement/time/visibility of the MD/CEO
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Opportunities/encouragement of upward communication: both questions/suggestions and ideas
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more use of new media such as blogs
“You must talk to your stakeholders about what they want from the survey – this is management information and valuable", said Susan.
Is there a best way to measure? Is it a focus group or survey? Susan says it depends upon what you are trying to find out and your audience.
“Focus groups and in-depth interviews are qualitative and telephone, face-to-face, postal, group self-completion and electronic can be quantitative,” she said.
“Focus groups can be useful – a survey might tell you that x% think something, but a focus group will tell you why. But it can be difficult to track change over time.”
Susan said that more and more surveys are being done online, but you need to think about your methodology.
“People who answer 'don't know' are important,” Susan said. “These people can be persuaded one way or another. Also include 'No' type questions to stop people just running through and answering 'Yes, Yes, Yes'.”
Make sure that you test your questionnaire too – and watch your language. In a recent survey Susan was told that a lot of youngsters didn't know what the word “seldom” meant.
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