This article explains how to create, send and follow surveys on Comms and docs > Surveys. Users with Communication Module Administrator Permission do this.
Before you start
The survey's recipients must be active employees.
If you want to be informed of responses immediately, decide on an email address for notifications.
Step by step
1. Creating the survey and questions
In the left menu, go to Comms and docs > Surveys and click Create Survey.
In the Create Survey step, type the Survey Title (required) and click Add Section. The survey is saved as a draft at this point.
Type the section name in Section Title and add questions with Add Question. For each question:
Question Text (required) and an optional Description.
Question Type: Single Choice, Multiple Choice or Text Answer.
For choice questions, enter the Answer Options with Add Option; use Add Other Option for a free answer.
The preview on the right shows how the survey will look to employees.
Instead of writing the questions yourself, click Create with AI (Generate questions with AI when the survey already has sections), enter the purpose, an optional audience, the Number of questions (between 5 and 20), the Tone and the Survey language, and the AI prepares the sections and questions as a draft. Each successful draft uses 1 credit of digital credit; you confirm with Confirm and create for 1 credit, and nothing is charged if the draft cannot be prepared. In the result, click Use the draft if the survey is empty, or choose Replace or Add at the end if it has sections. The draft is not saved on its own; it is saved when you edit it and click Next. Details: Onboarding evaluations.
Click Next. To give up, Cancel closes the window.
2. Configuring the settings
In the Settings step:
Recipients: In Who should the survey be sent to? choose branches, departments, positions and employees. You must select at least one employee.
Timing: In When should the survey be sent? enter the send date (today or a later date) and the Survey closing period in days. The survey closes this many days after the send date.
Notifications: An information email is sent to the Notification email address each time a response arrives. With Anonymous responses on, this email does not show the employee's name and links to the response list instead of the single response. In Send reminder email, type how many days before closing a reminder should go out and press Enter (you can enter several days; at most the closing period). Reminders go to recipients who haven't answered yet.
Additional Settings: With Allow comments on survey on, HR can add comments to answered forms. With Anonymous responses on, Anonymous appears instead of the employee name in the list and on the response screen.
Click Next.
3. Previewing and publishing
In the Preview step, check the survey summary, recipients and submission settings:
Save as Draft: The survey stays a Draft and is not sent to anyone.
Complete and Publish: If the send date is today, the survey is sent immediately; if it is a later date, it is sent on that day at 08:00.
The send date and closing period of a published survey can't be changed.
Tracking results
The page opens on the Surveys tab: every survey you created is one row. A row shows the survey name and its number of questions, Status (Published or Draft), the number of people it was Sent to, Answered (how many answered and the rate) and the Created date. Search by name with Search surveys... at the top, or show only published or draft surveys with the Status chip. Use the Actions (⋯) menu at the right of a row to View, Edit or Delete the survey. If there are no surveys yet, the list says "No surveys yet" and you can create the first one with Create Survey right there.
Click a survey, or pick View responses in its menu: the Responses tab opens with that survey's responses, one row per person. On the Responses tab the Survey chip in the toolbar shows the chosen survey; the × clears it and the responses of all surveys show. The Status chip filters the list to Sent, Not Answered or Answered and shows how many responses are in each status. The same row has the employee search and the Survey Name, Branch and Department filters; the search and the filters work as one criterion, picking one clears the others. To sort, click a column header or Sort at the right end of the row (ascending, descending, off); on a narrow screen the list turns into cards.
From the row's Actions menu:
View: Opens the answers; from here you can export the response with Download Excel and Download PDF, and if comments are enabled add a note with Add Comment.
Resend: Sends the survey again to an employee in Not Answered status.
Delete Response: Deletes only that employee's response (confirmed in "Delete survey response"); the survey itself stays. To delete the survey, pick Delete in its Actions (⋯) menu on the Surveys tab (confirmed in "Delete survey").
To get all responses as Excel, click Download Excel on the right of the page title. The file follows the selected survey, the Status chip and the search. When it is ready, the Your list is ready notice appears in the bottom right corner and you get it with Download; earlier lists are under the My lists button (Downloading a list as Excel and My lists).
Result
On the send date every recipient receives a survey invitation email and the survey opens on the employee's home page (Answering a survey). On reminder days, recipients who haven't answered receive a reminder email at 09:00. When the closing date passes, unanswered surveys become Not Answered and can no longer be answered.
Common problems
Symptom: Editing an answered survey shows "This survey already has answers, so questions, options and sections cannot be added or removed and question types cannot be changed."
Cause: Once a survey has answers its structure is locked so the answers keep matching their questions.
Fix: You can still edit the title, question and option texts. If you need new questions, create a new survey.
Symptom: When I click Next, I get "Select At Least One Employee".
Cause: No employee was selected in Recipients.
Solution: Select at least one employee.
Symptom: A reminder day isn't added.
Cause: The day you entered is 0 or greater than the closing period.
Solution: Enter a number of days between 1 and the closing period.
Symptom: The survey was published but didn't reach employees.
Cause: The send date is a later day.
Solution: The survey is sent at 08:00 on that day. Check that the survey doesn't show Draft under its name in the Survey chip's list; a draft survey is not sent.