I refuse to use standard employee surveys to gather feedback about how I manage and what employees need to be great in the workplace mostly because I don’t think the standard answers of “agree,” “strongly agree,” or “strongly disagree,” really tell anything.

Today’s managers need information to help them engage and inspire employee performance, but the survey process used by many companies rarely generates meaningful information. Don’t do without this critical information – instead change how you gather it from your employees. You need to know what they know.

In today’s intellectual world, it is important for managers to create a strong working and personal relationship (contact) with each employee. This personal connection allows them to solicit information, share feedback, and help in development; this personal connection is key to inventing a new “share information” process. Try this new approach to gather the information you need to help your employees perform at their best:

Weekly, ask all employees one question – a question that will give you feedback about their attitude, the workplace, their engagement level, their skill level, your effectiveness as a manager, etc.

Then consider the following ways to ask the question:
• E-mail it to the team.
• Post it prior to a staff meeting and ask for responses at the meeting.
• Ask it personally to each employee during the week.
• Post it on the company or department intranet – and ask for responses by a particular date.

Take Action: Each week, ask a new, meaningful question; ask it in a different way. This helps you connect in a more meaningful and personal way with your employees and gather critical information to help them maximize their performance.