This article covers the process of testing and activating a project in EFS, as well as exporting results. It provides step-by-step instructions for activating a project, testing the questionnaire and feedback center, resetting the project, and exporting various types of data.
Activating the Project
Before starting the feedback process, you need to adjust the basic settings of the project in the Survey menu.
Step 1: Specify Project Duration
Specify the beginning and end of the project. Confirm with Save.
Step 2: Activate the Project
In the “Status” line, you’ll see that the project has been created and is currently in the status “survey compiled”. Click on the active button to change the status to “active”.
Note: The interval specified in the survey menu is the field time of the project itself. Individual feedback waves may have shorter field times, but these must be inside the overall project field time.
Testing the Project
Before entering the field, you need to test both the questionnaire and the feedback center.
Testing the Questionnaire in Preview Mode
In the “Distribution” section of the survey menu, click on the Questionnaire Preview icon and check the survey from the point of view of a participant. Go through the questionnaire and try whether filters, hiding conditions, and plausibility checks really work.
Testing Questionnaire and Feedback Center with Test Participants
- Create a test wave in the menu Participant administration → Waves.
- Create participants manually and define a feedback constellation, or import a list of test participants into the test wave.
- To access the questionnaire from the perspective of a feedback provider:
- Open the feedback provider overview: Participant administration → {Selected wave} → {Selected focus person}.
- For the desired test feedback provider, click on the code link in the “Code” column.
- The questionnaire will open, allowing you to check wildcard replacement, routing, etc.
- To access the feedback center from the perspective of a focus person:
- Open the focus persons overview: Participant administration → {Selected wave}.
- For the desired test focus person, click on the Edit focus person icon.
- In a second browser window, open the menu Process Configuration → Feedback Center. Click on the feedback center URL to open the login.
- Copy the e-mail address and initial password of the test person into the login form.
- You can now check the feedback center from the test focus person’s perspective.
After completing all tests, remove the test wave and delete all remaining test persons from the Participant pool.
Resetting the Project
All data created during tests in productive mode must be deleted before the start of the feedback process.
Steps to Reset the Project
- Go to the menu Test and validation → Reset survey.
- Select “…reset survey completely…”
- Click on Reset survey.
Important: If you have created superfluous questions, pages, or answer options, delete them before resetting the survey and inviting participants. Deleting or changing elements in a live survey can lead to data loss or misinterpretation.
Exporting Results
EFS includes various export features for downloading participant data, results, and other information for analysis and presentations.
Exporting Participant Data
Two exports are dedicated to participant data:
- Participant data of the whole participant pool: Participant administration → Participant pool → Excel export / CSV export
- Participants of an individual wave: Participant administration → {Selected wave} → Excel export / CSV export
Exporting Return Statistics
To download the return rates of one or several waves:
- Go to the menu Participant administration → Waves
- Mark the desired wave(s)
- Select “Export return rate” in the drop-down list
- Click on Execute
Exporting Results
In addition to the usual EFS result exports, two dedicated MSF-specific result exports are available.
- MSF participant export with result data:
- The familiar EFS Survey result data, the feedback identifier (u_link_id), all master data and some selected process data.
- Requires read rights to “loft_export_combined”.
- MSF export with anonymous result data:
- The familiar EFS Survey result data, the feedback identifier (u_link_id), and merely the process data feedback role (role) and wave (u_group).
- Requires read rights to “loft_export_anonym”.
Access Control for Multi-Source Feedback
The following table lists all MSF-specific ACL rights:
| Right | Read | Write |
|---|---|---|
| access_restrictions | With write permission, you can access the Access Restrictions tab. | |
| leadership_report_manager_download | With read permission, you can download reports on the Report manager tab. | |
| loftpartadm | With read permission, you can view the participant list in multisource feedbacks. | With write permission, you can edit the participant list in multi-source feedbacks. |
| loft_detail_view | With read permission, you can access the statistics of current and completed feedback processes. It shows for each process how many respondents are involved. | |
| loft_export_anonym | With read permissions, you can export anonymous result data in multi-source feedback. | |
| loft_export_combined | With read permissions, you can export address and result data in multi-source feedbacks. | |
| loft_fbcenter | With read permission, you can change the type of the external view. | |
| loft_peergroups | With read permissions, you can edit peergroups. | |
| loft_report_extern | With read permission, you can open the Report definition menu and edit external reports. | |
| loft_report_intern | With read permission, you can open the Report definition menu and edit system-generated reports. | |
| report_360_dl | With read permission, you can download reports in multi-source feedbacks. | |
| view_loft_passwd | With read permission, you can view passwords in the participant administration of multi-source feedbacks. |
Mail Template Types
When selecting mail templates via the EFS mail forms, only templates appropriate to the current operation are available. For instance, when inviting participants, only invitation mail templates are offered. This is controlled by assigning templates to specific mail template types. The following table provides an overview of the mail template types used in multi-source feedback and their respective applications:
| Mail template type | When it is used |
|---|---|
| Default mail | Is available in all non-automated dispatch processes. |
| Invitation mail | Used to invite participants to provide feedback. |
| Reminder mail | Used to remind participants of feedbacks they have not completed yet. |
| Notification before end of survey | Used to notify EFS admin area users of the upcoming end of their survey.This notification may be requested in the dialog used to create and change projects.If users have requested the notification in a given project, but no mail template has been selected (e.g. because the users do not have sufficient rights), they will receive a mail with default text. |
| Notification by exchange platform | Only on installations with EFS Secure Exchange activated: Mail template used to notify project staff of changes on the exchange platform. For more information on the optionally available platform refer to the special documentation “EFS Secure Exchange”. |
FAQ
What should I do before activating a project?
Before activating a project, you should specify the beginning and end dates of the project in the Survey menu and save these settings.
How can I test the questionnaire before publishing it?
You can test the questionnaire in preview mode by clicking on the Questionnaire preview icon in the Distribution section of the survey menu. Additionally, you should create a test wave with test participants to test all features under real-live conditions.
Why is it important to reset the project before starting the feedback process?
Resetting the project is crucial to delete all data created during tests in productive mode. This ensures that your actual feedback process starts with a clean database.
What types of data can I export from EFS?
You can export participant data, return statistics, and results (both with and without participant data). Specific exports are available for MSF (Multi-Source Feedback) data.