About Us
Each day you communicate with multiple people in various ways. You chat with coworkers, email clients, meet with your boss, etc. As specialists in employee surveys, what we hear from clients — and what we see in reports — is shortcomings in communication. Sometimes the problem is the method of communication, sometimes it’s the timing… and sometimes it’s the perception that offering honest feedback is not worth the bother or the risk.
Because communication touches on all parts of one’s professional (and personal) life, continual improvement in this area is vital. Gathering honest feedback should never be relegated to annual employee surveys or performance reviews.
We designed Virtual Suggestion Boxes to show you how ongoing feedback tools can be adapted to any organization’s, manager’s or individual’s needs. Which Virtual Suggestion Box product is best for you? See our product descriptions to determine which of our solutions fits best with your goals and environment.
With that in mind, I created a range of solutions that can be:
- Sent as a survey, posted on a Web site, emailed as a link or incorporated into an email signature
- Email signature usage shows people you are committed to ongoing feedback and creates a “halo” effect for you, elevating your image to clients, coworkers, supervisors and others with whom you interact regularly
- Anonymous, optionally anonymous or with identities fully disclosed
- Styled like a forum, blog, survey or combination
- Used for mass communication or one-on-one feedback
- Accessible to the public or restricted in access
- Focused on a specific target group (i.e., employees, customers, members…or a combination)
- Affordable and cost-effective for any size organization, department or person
This does not mean the end of regular meetings or direct email. Suggestion Boxes are intended to be used to encourage constructive communication between you and others. They are not a substitute for one-on-one conferences, nor will they replace face-to-face meetings — at least, not in most cases. Suggestion Boxes can, however, make meetings more effective, their outcomes more meaningful and, ideally, save time by moving some items online.
Virtual suggestion boxes are intended to expand overall communication by documenting and tracking your feedback, ideas and suggestions without revealing individual identifying information. Problems, complaints and difficulties concerning specific incidences or people are normally best resolved through other channels.
Individually identifying information is never revealed — either on-screen or in any reports — unless you authorize it be. Any contact information you provide is voluntary. An exception is some blog-style suggestion boxes which have elected to require membership. In most cases, however, you need not use a “real” name for your ID.
