What Is a Pulse Check?

Learn more about Pulse Checks® and the questions we ask.

A Pulse Check is a quick way to get a "pulse" on the experiences of people in your community and organization.  
We send routine, succinct questions via SMS and email, using accessible wording that translates well in over 100 languages. 
Pulse Check questions are standardized for our partners to allow for points-of-comparison between schools and districts across the country. 

Email Pulse Check surveys are delivered between 9am - Noon local time.

SMS Pulse Check surveys are delivered between Noon - 6pm local time.

 We use a formula for our Pulse Check Sequence:
  • First, we ask the Sentiment Question: "Are you happy with {school, district, or organization name} at this time?" Respondents can answer "yes", "mostly", or "no".
  • If respondents answer the Sentiment Question with "yes", they will be asked a standardized question welcoming praise, ideas, and questions. If respondents answer "mostly" or "no", they receive a standardized question asking about needs and concerns.
  • Finally, respondents are asked if they would like to share their name or remain anonymous.
  • Also: We can send an optional customized Bonus Question based on what you would like to ask your people. This can be the only question in the Pulse Check, or it can be asked first or second. Your Customer Relationship Manager will help guide you with the wording and order of the question to help you get the most responses from your community.
This mix of questions gives you quantitative and qualitative insight into the world of your staff, families, students, or other community members. See the Pulse Check in action in the following videos!
 
 

Keep reading for additional information on the Sentiment Question and Bonus Questions or learn more about the intention behind Pulse Checks here.

The Sentiment Question

The Sentiment Question helps you understand the general sentiment of your community in a quantifiable way.

You will be able to see how people's sentiment toward your organization is changing over time, and if their expectations for happiness, needs, or comfort are being met. 

Possip asks this Sentiment Question to both staff and parents routinely for partner organizations, schools, and districts nationwide. We help you collect insight for your community, and over time we can help compare how your data measures up to that of similar organizations.

Measuring sentiment helps our partners track leading indicators for data points such as student enrollment and staff retention. 

Possip helps you measure two primary sentiments:

  1. Happiness helps you keep a pulse on social-emotional wellbeing and culture.
  2. Needs help you keep a pulse on community needs such as technology, professional development or academic needs, food, scheduling assistance, and more.

The Bonus Question

The Possip Bonus Question (BQ) is optional. It's a powerful tool to leverage when you have high priority questions or need to quickly share links and invitations with staff, families, or students. 

You may want to ask Bonus Questions about future scheduling, reactions to past events, attendance, health and safety, or more. View sample Bonus Questions and gain inspiration here.

What Happens After the Pulse Check?

After each Pulse Check, our reporting team of experienced educators, administrators, and counselors organizes responses in a recommendation report. They highlight praise and categorize needs, concerns, ideas, and questions to help you follow up. 

Learn more about Pulse Check Reports here.