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Today I’m giving you a sneaky peak at the research process I use to run research projects for clients. It’s the same process I go through in my online course ‘How to run research’.
Read time: 2 minutes
tl;dr: Embrace process. We need process to help our work run smoothly, consistently and to avoid things going wrong. A research process is a very handy tool for your toolbox.
Embrace the process
I’m a huge fan of process. Systemising the things you do on a regular basis can help you become more efficient, deliver to customers more consistently and avoid things going wrong.
Process can be constantly reviewed and automated to make it even better. Check out ‘kaizen’ – the Japanese philosophy on developing process – if this is an area that excites you too.
You may not be carrying out research all that often so it’s unlikely you have a process for it.
No worries, you can use mine.
The research process
Ta da! Here it is.
This is my tried and tested way of making sure projects go well, deliver what clients want and make an impact. I hope it looks straightforward – because it is. Simple processes work best.
Research is not brain surgery, nor is it rocket science. But it’s NOT a walk in the park either. There are various ways to trip up along the way.
Good process helps you avoid the common pitfalls, such as:
- No one’s filling in my survey
- We didn’t find out anything useful
- It took way longer than we thought
Some things to note
A couple of immediate things to note if you’re thinking about running your own research:
Don’t jump into collecting data
It’s really tempting to start off by asking questions – chucking out a survey or getting potential customers to take part in an interview.
You’ll notice ‘data collection’ is the 4th step in the process, not the 1st. There’s a chunk of planning you need to do first to figure out why you’re doing research, what you need to find out and designing the right approach.
Implement your findings into action
Lots of opportunities are missed from good research because it’s not turned into positive action. Developing ways to create action from research findings is where the true value lies.
Any questions? Get in touch. Otherwise, enjoy the process!
Thanks for reading
