Yesterday I facilitated a workshop on market research for a group of farmers seeking to diversify into new businesses related to conventional farming. At the end of the session – we were discussing evaluation forms. One of the participants said “I hate those bloody forms!”. I asked him to continue.
Interestingly, he didn’t talk about the content of the forms. It was more the context within which they were used. His experience was that they were treated flippantly – that they were “thrown in a box”. He also spoke about how they’re typically a “rush job” – being handed out when people are on their way out. His impression of them was that the facilitating organisation often was just paying “lip-service” to the evaluation process. He was fairly animated about this – and other heads around the table were nodding in agreement.
If you ask your members, customers or any group of stakeholders for their opinions, be courteous and be mindful of their time & schedule. If you’d like advice or help in this area please get in touch!
