FOCUS
FORWARD
Communication Surveys
January 29, 2003
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
To
fulfill its objective to Increase participation and involvement of Library
staff in planning, problem solving, and communication . . . , the Microcosm
Group requested feedback from the Focus Forward participants regarding communication.
A two-part survey a Communications Checklist completed by each attendee
and a Two-Way Communications Worksheet completed collectively at each table
was created by the Microcosm Group and distributed at the Focus Forward meeting.
Following is a summary of the results of both survey components.
Communications
Checklist
One
hundred and forty-four (144) forms were completed and tallied.
Of the thirteen (13) Communications Vehicles on the Checklist, seven (7)
or 54% were ranked as having a High Degree of Importance.
These items, sorted by the percent of attendees making this evaluation,
follow. Information regarding the Frequency
of Information Received is also included in the table.
| | Vehicle | HIGH
DEGREE OF IMPORTANCE | Percentage of
Respondents | Frequency
of Info Received | Percentage
of Respondents |
|
1 | 12 | Information
from Supervisor | 72.90% | Often | 36.81% |
|
2 | 13 | Staff
Feedback to Supervisor | 58.33% | Often | 29.86% |
|
3 | 8 | Regularly-Scheduled
Dept Meeting | 58.33% | Often | 31.25% |
|
4 | 11 | Information
from Colleagues | 57.64% | Often | 55.56% |
|
5 | 5 | YULIB
Listserv | 47.22% | Always | 35.42% |
|
6 | 4 | YUL
Web Sites | 47.22% | Often | 40.28% |
|
7 | 10 | Tea/Meeting
with Alice | 21.53% | Sometimes | 81.25% |
Noteworthy
is the significance assigned to personal interactions with the Supervisor, both
on a one-to-one basis Information from Supervisor and Staff Feedback to Supervisor
and in the context of a Department Meeting.
Identical
in number, seven (7) Vehicles were considered as Always to Often in the Frequency
of Information Received category. The Frequency is noted at the Vehicle-level.
| | Vehicle | FREQUENCY
OF INFORMATION RECEIVED Always to Often | Percentage of
Respondents | Degree
of Importance | Percentage
of Respondents |
|
1 | 11 | Information
from Colleagues (Often) | 55.56% | High | 57.64% |
|
2 | 4 | YUL
Web Sites (Often) | 40.28% | High | 47.22% |
|
3 | 12 | Information
from Supervisor (Often) | 36.81% | High | 72.90% |
|
4 | 5 | YULIB
Listserv (Always) | 35.42% | High | 47.22% |
|
5 | 8 | Regularly-Scheduled
Dept Meeting (Often) | 31.25% | Low-Moderate | 58.33% |
|
6 | 2 | Yale
Daily News (Often) | 29.86% | Sometimes | 50.00% |
|
7 | 13 | Staff
Feedback to Supervisor (Often) | 29.86% | High | 58.33% |
Personal
contact is also obviously valued as a frequent source of information, as noted
in Information from Colleagues and in Information from Supervisor.
These vehicles scored fourth and first for High Degree of Importance
and first and third for Frequency of Information, respectively.
Of
the total fourteen (14) Vehicles, all but two (2) Tea/Meeting with Alice and
Yale Daily News appear in both rankings.
Blank
spaces were left for respondents to add and evaluate other vehicles.
Of the forty-five write-ins, four (4) received five (5) or more citations.
OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS VEHICLES 5 or More Citations |
|
Grapevine/Gossip
(within and outside Yale) | 9 |
|
Department
or Committee Meetings /Forums | 6 |
|
Interaction
with Faculty, Students, and/or Users | 5 |
|
E-mail | 5 |
TOTAL | 25 |
The
top three (3) vehicles repeated the earlier-identified trend favoring personal
interaction.
Two-Way
Communications Worksheet
Twenty-two
(22) forms with 238 responses were gathered from the twenty-one (21) Tables.
(Note that one (1) Table submitted two (2) forms.)
These responses were very diverse and require detailed analysis to identify
the most useful. It is worth noting that
of the forty-four (44) responses to the first question What method of follow-up
communications do we want regarding any open issues from today (e.g.,
the Forward Focus meeting) . . . seventy percent (70%) cited three (3)
methods.
COMMUNICATIONS
METHODS Responses to Question # 1 |
|
E-Mail | 16 |
|
Meetings
(Group or Face-to-Face) | 10 |
|
Web
Sites | 5 |
TOTAL | 31 |
