The Listening Cycle · episode 4
Keep the Qualtrics file
Composite scenario. Unofficial analysis for illustration. Not a named firm.
The organisation
A UK university — 4,200 staff, academic and professional services, two campuses in the Midlands. Qualtrics XM is already paid for. The PVC People will not open a second collector. Last census: 41 items, nine Qualtrics dashboard categories, n=1,847. Council received a Qualtrics export. They argued about the categories for twenty minutes and never reached the actions.
The constraint
Keep Qualtrics. Upgrade comprehension. Do not create a Pindrop campaign. Dual mapping is one fieldwork, two true stories: their Qualtrics categories, and a science map on the same items. The pack has to land in the University’s PowerPoint master. If their layout is named ‘Section’, not ‘Section Header’, say so.
Three decisions
1. The Qualtrics file is the cycle. Do not replace it
IT will not license a second collector. The People team of five cannot run two fielding stacks. Sidecar is the product: workbook in, analysis here, no fake Pindrop survey. If we cannot take their file, we should not take the work.
2. Two maps, one fieldwork
Mapping 1 is their nine Qualtrics categories — the language Council already uses. Mapping 2 regroups the same 41 items (meaningfulness, safety, availability) so a PVC can ask ‘is that engagement or safety?’ in the room. The switcher is a meeting control, not a second census.
3. Their master, their words, our stamp
The April People Committee pack is the University .potx, not Qualtrics chrome. Dual language on the slide. Trust pack on Export. Keep Qualtrics. Upgrade comprehension.
The cycle
| Channel | When | Who fields |
|---|---|---|
| Staff forum sees the instrument PVC People + JNCC | January, before fielding | Offline — the consultative committee already exists |
| Qualtrics census (theirs) Head of OD | February, all staff, 41 items | Qualtrics XM — keep it. We stitch the workbook |
| Dual-mapped Council pack PVC People | April, University master | Analysis here. No Pindrop campaign. Export into their .potx |
| Exit conversations HR business partners | As they leave | Offline — already happening, previously uncoded |
- Sep — Sign the cycle. Confirm Qualtrics stays the collector. Name the two maps before anyone opens a dashboard.
- Oct–Dec — Teaching term. No pulses. Exit conversations continue.
- Jan — Staff forum sees the 41-item instrument. Do not add a Pindrop pulse ‘because we can’.
- Feb — They field in Qualtrics. We do not.
- Mar — Stitch the workbook. Map 1 = their nine categories. Map 2 = the science regrouping of the same items.
- Apr — People Committee pack in the University master. Switch mapping in the room if a PVC asks which story they are in.
- May — Four faculty-level actions as WOOP, GAS dates in November. Not a kanban dumped on heads of school.
- Jun–Aug — Quiet. Review whether the next cycle still earns sidecar-only, or whether a short pulse is earned.
What we will not ask
- A second collector next to Qualtrics.
- A Pindrop campaign for a cycle they already fielded.
- A new 41-item census in our colours.
- Industry benchmarks. Their history, or a set they own.
- A silent fallback when their layout is named ‘Section’.
90-minute workshop
15 min · Open their file, not ours
The Qualtrics workbook on the wall. No product chrome. The room agrees the cycle starts from this file, or we stop.
30 min · Two maps, same 41 items
Their nine categories beside the science regrouping. Pick three items and say both names out loud. If the switcher would embarrass anyone in Council, it is not ready.
25 min · Whose master
Open the University .potx. Name every layout. Where ‘Section’ is not ‘Section Header’, write the mapping on the wall.
20 min · Sign sidecar
Who fields (them). Who analyses (here). Who signs the pack (PVC People). Keep Qualtrics. Upgrade comprehension. Or do not take the work.