Good data opens a world of opportunities
Configuring the questionnaire so it elicits precise and concise information from respondents results in major time savings for all concerned:
For respondents, it’s easy to know if they’ve responded to each criterion if there’s a place to respond for each.
For request managers, it’s easier to know if each submission is compliant if it was impossible for submissions to be missing required information.
For evaluators, it’s easier to give an objective assessment if the information is clearly identifiable as the answer to the question asked.
For report writers, it’s easier to prepare a report if the information is collated and doesn’t need copy-pasting from other media.
This page describes the configuration options for acquiring good data from both respondents and evaluators.
Question/statement configuration fields:
Field Label | Description |
---|---|
Short name/code | Short version of the question for use in Excel reports (column title). Example: WHS Cert |
Question/Statement | A question or a statement to be answered or acknowledge. Example: Do you have an independently certified WHS process? |
Instructions/Notes | Additional information to better understand the question/statement. Example: If “Yes” please upload a copy of your WHS certification. |
Weighted criterion | Option that if selected forces evaluators to score each response to the question. Important! Not displayed to respondents. |
Mandatory criterion | Option that if selected displays the word “Mandatory” to respondents. Important! “Mandatory” as in “Not Optional” - non-compliant if not provided. |
For contract | Option that if selected enables the question and responses to be included in a “For Contract” report. Important! Not displayed to respondents. |
Visibility | Options for who and when sees the question/statement:
|
Optionality | Options for whether or not the question must be answered:
Tip: Don’t allow weighted questions to be skipped. Use skippable questions for information that can be provided later - after the evaluation. |
Display | Options for how the question/statement is to be displayed:
Important! All questions in a series must have the same visibility configuration. |
Show statements drop-down | Option for displaying a drop-down with statements that indicate an answer to the question. Important: Statements can also be specified. If no statements are specified, 360 will assign defaults. Examples:
|
Show data entry fields | Option for display data entry fields in 360’s online questionnaire with options:
Important! Each response option has its own configuration options. Example: Formatted text (HTML) with a minimum of 50 words and maximum of 200 words. |
Show attachment upload button | Option for allowing files to be uploaded with an optional limit. Tip! Only allow one upload if evaluators where it’s logical for just one file to be provided such as uploading a WHS certification where last year’s will be irrelevant. |
Allow reuse of previous answers to this question | Option for allow respondents to copy their previous response to the question when answering the question. Tip! Will automatically to turned on if a question is duplicated (such as copying a request). |
Relative weight | The importance of a criterion for the rankings algorithm. Important! Not displayed to respondents or evaluators. How relative weightings work When you compare criterion A against criterion B, which is more important? Give the most important section/question 100 points and the one that's half as important 50 points. A weighting of 0 points means that scores are recorded but they'll have no effect on the rankings table. 360 will calculate percentages automatically. |
Scoring | Options for how the question responses are to be scored. The list of options is configured in 360’s system settings. Examples:
Important! Not displayed to respondents. |
Evaluation guide | Guidance for the evaluators. Tip: Click “Add Quick Scoring” to enable click-to-score-and-comment short-cuts. |
Files | Files for respondents and/or evaluators. Important! Files for evaluators are not displayed to respondents. |
Trigger(s) | Rules for displaying the question to respondents based on their previous question responses. |
Response form heading | Optional text to be displayed alongside the question number. |
Evaluation plan | Information to provide context for why a question is included in the questionnaire. Important! Not displayed to respondents or evaluators. |
Default score | The default score assigned to each response. Important! Evaluate by exception is useful for simple compliance checks. |
Default evaluation comment | The default comment assigned to each response. Important! Evaluate by exception is useful for simple compliance checks. |
Related articles
How to add a section (group of questions) to a request in the 360 buyers' portal
How to configure an Excel spreadsheet to import a request (for tender) into 360
How to copy a request (e.g. for tender) in the 360 buyers' portal